The Buy American Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which President Obama signed into effect in February 2009, is intended to create and save jobs, jump start the U.S. economy and build the foundation for long-term economic growth.
Buy American provisions are incorporated within ARRA. The BAA section of ARRA basically states:
For contracts valued at $7,443,000 or more, every item that a construction contractor brings to the construction site to incorporate into the final building must either be manufactured or substantially transformed in the U.S. or one of the Recovery Act designated countries.
The Buy American Act (BAA) requires that all the supplies and materials, including construction materials, purchased for the U.S. government using U.S. government money, be manufactured in the U.S. Besides select exceptions, the BAA includes all projects funded using U.S. government money. In other words: If you are being paid for products in part through money that came from the U.S. government, the BAA applies to you.
For a product to qualify under BAA, the product must be: (1) manufactured in the U.S., and (2) at least 50% of the cost of all its components must be from domestic sources. Unless the product complies with the two requirements above, the U.S. government cannot purchase the product; however, there are a few exceptions.
NAFTA and other U.S. free trade agreements that fall under the Trade Agreements Act (TAA) override BAA. According to the TAA, the government can purchase supplies that have been substantially transformed in certain countries, as well as items that are either manufactured or substantially transformed in the U.S.
Engineered Products Company (EPCO) is fully committed to supporting the country through the BAA and the ARRA, and we stand behind these initiatives with our many U.S. manufactured products. A large percentage of EPCO products are compliant to BAA, we strive to help our customers meet their objectives of properly fulfilling the requirements of these Acts for projects that call for compliance. For more than 37 years, EPCO has produced quality products in the U.S., and we are proud to enable our customers to do their part for America.