On March 7, 2022, the FAR council published FAR Rule 2021-008, which makes substantial changes to the implementation of the Buy American Act. The rule is effective on October 25, 2022 and generally does three things:
- Increases the “domestic content” threshold for items under the Buy American Act
- Provides a “fallback provision” so that certain items can qualify as “domestic” with a smaller content amount
- Provides an enhanced price preference for domestic items relative to foreign
Use the following decision trees to understand the changes and more (such as when to use the Buy American Act procedures vs. Trade Agreement Act). Review the Federal Register Notice for complete details about the FAR case.