View source for Buy American Act

{{Short description|Requires the U.S. government to prefer U.S.-made products}}
{{about|the "Buy American Act" of 1933}}
{{distinguish|Buy America Act}}
{{Infobox U.S. legislation
| shorttitle        = Buy American Act
| othershorttitles  = Buy American Act of 1933
| longtitle         = An Act making appropriations for the Treasury and Post Office Departments for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1934, and for other purposes.
| colloquialacronym = BAA
| nickname          = Treasury and Post Office Departments Appropriations Act of 1933
| enacted by        = 72nd
| effective date    = March 3, 1933
| public law url    =
| cite public law   = {{USPL|72|428}}
| cite statutes at large = {{usstat|47|1489}} ''aka'' 47 Stat. 1520
| acts amended    = 
| acts repealed   = 
| title amended   = [[Title 41 of the United States Code|41 U.S.C.: Public Contracts]]
| sections created = {{Usc|41|8301|8303}}
| sections amended = 
| leghisturl      = 
| introducedin    = House
| introducedbill  = {{USBill|72|H.R.|13520}}
| introducedby    = [[Joseph W. Byrns Sr.]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]]–[[Tennessee|TN]])
| introduceddate  = December 10, 1932
| committees      = [[United States House Committee on Appropriations|House Appropriations]]
| passedbody1     = House
| passeddate1     = December 15, 1932
| passedvote1     = Passed
| passedbody2     = Senate
| passeddate2     = February 7, 1933
| passedvote2     = Passed
| conferencedate  = February 10, 1933
| passedbody3     = House
| passeddate3     = March 1, 1933
| passedvote3     = Agreed
| passedbody4     = Senate
| passeddate4     = March 3, 1933
| passedvote4     = Agreed
| signedpresident = [[Herbert Hoover]]
| signeddate      = March 3, 1933
| amendments      = 
| SCOTUS cases    = 
}}
The '''Buy American Act''' (originally {{usc|41|10a|10d}}, now {{usc|41|8301|8305}}) passed in 1933 by the [[U.S Congress|Congress]] and signed by [[Herbert Hoover|President Hoover]] on his last full day in office (March 3, 1933),<ref>{{cite book |first=Dana |last=Frank |title=Buy American: The Untold Story of Economic Nationalism |publisher=Beacon Press |year=2000 |page=65}}</ref> required the [[United States government]] to prefer U.S.-made products in its purchases. Other pieces of [[List of United States federal legislation|federal legislation]] extend similar requirements to third-party purchases that utilize federal funds, such as highway and transit programs. In July 2024, the Congress passed the [[All-American Flag Act]] requiring U.S. government to buy only U.S.-made American flags,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Whittle |first=Patrick |date=July 29, 2024 |title=American flags should be born in the USA now, too, Congress says |url=https://apnews.com/article/american-flags-susan-collins-china-c31c30bce3b0a1afc74f79f769022a26 |access-date=September 29, 2024 |work=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> [https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title41-section6310&num=0&edition=prelim 41 U.S.C. § 6310]. 

The Buy American Act is not to be confused with the very similarly named "[[Buy America Act]]" that came into effect 50 years later. The latter, a provision of the [[Surface Transportation Assistance Act]] of 1982, is [[Title 49 of the United States Code|49 U.S.C.]], § 5323 (j), and applies only to mass-transit-related procurements valued over US$100,000 and funded at least in part by federal grants.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Buy American and Buy America Acts |date=2009-05-22 |publisher=[[Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade]], [[Canada]] |url=http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/sell2usgov-vendreaugouvusa/procurement-marches/buyamerica.aspx?lang=eng |accessdate=2009-11-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100513230601/http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/sell2usgov-vendreaugouvusa/procurement-marches/buyamerica.aspx?lang=eng |archive-date=2010-05-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In certain government procurements, the requirement purchase may be waived by the Contracting Officer or the Head of the Contracting Activity (HCA) if the domestic product is 25% or more expensive than an identical foreign-sourced product, if the product is not available domestically in sufficient quantity or quality, or if doing so is in the public's interest.

The [[President of the United States|President]] has the authority to waive the Buy American Act within the terms of a reciprocal agreement or otherwise in response to the provision of reciprocal treatment to U.S. producers. Under the 1979 [[General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade]] (GATT) Government Procurement Code, the [[U.S.–Israel Free Trade Agreement]], the [[U.S.–Canada Free Trade Agreement]], and the [[World Trade Organization]] (WTO) 1996 [[Agreement on Government Procurement]] (GPA), the United States provides access to the government procurement of certain U.S. agencies for goods from the other parties to those agreements. However, the Buy American Act was excluded from the GPA's coverage.

==See also==
*[[Berry Amendment]]
*[[Trade Agreements Act of 1979]]
*[[Made in USA]]
*[[American nationalism]]
*[[All-American Flag Act]]

==References==
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[[Category:1933 in American law]]
[[Category:72nd United States Congress]]
[[Category:United States federal commerce legislation]]
[[Category:United States federal trade legislation]]
[[Category:Protectionism in the United States]]
[[Category:American nationalism]]


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