Letter to Joseph R. Biden Jr., President of the United States - Senator Baldwin to President Biden: Strong Buy America Standards Are Needed Across the Federal Government

Letter

Dear Mr. President:
I write to you today to urge you to use your executive authority to boost the economy by
directing all federal agencies to maximize the amount of American-made materials and products
they purchase, fund, and finance. I know that expanding and enhancing Buy America rules is a
key part of your Build Back Better agenda and I look forward to working with you to revitalize
American manufacturing and create American jobs using the power of the federal government as
a buyer and investor in our industrial capabilities. Additionally, I hope you will lend your
support to legislative initiatives to expand and enhance domestic content requirements,
particularly in advance of a historic investment in our nation's infrastructure.
In the immediate term, I urge you to use your authority to narrow the application of waivers
granted for domestic content preferences throughout the federal government. This includes Buy
America waivers at the Department of Transportation for iron, steel, and manufactured goods as
well as broader waivers granted to the Buy American Act. The effectiveness of the Buy
American Act has been significantly curtailed by the Trade Agreements Act, which allows
almost 60 countries to qualify for treatment as American firms for the purposes of selling
products and services to government agencies.
In addition to restricting the waivers granted, I urge you to use your authorities to increase
transparency of waivers, ideally with a public-facing website. With more visibility into what the
government needs waivers to purchase from abroad, American firms will be able to adjust to
meet the government demand. A new office specifically tasked with increasing American-made
purchasing would be able to oversee the waiver process and establish a partnership with the
private sector to help identify needs and opportunities that American companies could fill instead
of foreign contractors.
In addition to these executive actions, I stand ready to work with you on several legislative
proposals. I have authored legislation to expand Buy America requirements to all federal
infrastructure programs and apply the rules to additional construction materials. Similarly, I have
also authored legislation to require all federal agencies to use domestically manufactured critical
components for all shipbuilding programs. These protections are necessary to maintain a fragile
domestic supplier base, a concern highlighted by multiple Department of Defense industrial base
studies. Finally, any infrastructure proposal must ensure that all funding supports products made
in America produced by American companies
I look forward to partnering with you on this key element of the Build Back Better agenda and
stand ready to assist in any way I can.

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