Biden will require infrastructure projects buy from America first for steel, iron
The 17-page guidance also contains rules by which such requirements can be waived
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The Biden administration will require that material purchased to build projects funded by the $1 trillion infrastructure bill be made in the United States, according to administration officials.
The 17-page guidance being issued Monday also contains rules by which such requirements can be waived if there are not enough domestic producers or the material is too expensive, but the goal remains that fewer waivers will be necessary as U.S. manufacturing increases.
President Biden speaks at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, in Greensboro, North Carolina, on April 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster / AP Newsroom)
Beginning May 14, none of the money allocated to federal agencies for infrastructure projects can be used "unless all of the iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials used in the project are produced in the United States," according to a provision in the infrastructure bill that passed last November.
The guidance also explains that such requirements can be waived if the purchase "would be inconsistent with the public interest," if the needed materials aren’t produced "in sufficient and reasonably available quantities or of a satisfactory quality," or if U.S. materials increase a project’s cost by more than 25%.
In this Sept. 27, 2018, file photo, a United Auto Workers assemblyman installs the front doors on a 2018 Ford F-150 truck being assembled at the Ford Rouge assembly plant in Dearborn, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
The federal government is already spending $350 billion on construction projects this year, though the administration is unable to account for what percentage of materials being used for ongoing infrastructure projects is made in the U.S.
BIDEN CAN'T KEEP CHINA OUT OF ‘MADE IN AMERICA’
The guidance comes as President Biden attempts to create jobs and handle supply chain issues amid skyrocketing 40-year high inflation.
President Joe Biden waits to speak about the recently passed $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act at the Port of Baltimore on November 10, 2021, in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
"From Day One, every action I’ve taken to rebuild our economy has been guided by one principle: Made in America," Biden said last week during a speech at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, in Greensboro, North Carolina. "It takes a federal government that doesn’t just give lip service to buying American but actually takes action."
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.