§ 313. Buy America

1,960 words·~9 min read·/usc/title-23/section-313

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(a)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Transportation shall not obligate any funds authorized to be appropriated to carry out the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 (96 Stat. 2097) or this title and administered by the Department of Transportation, unless steel, iron, and manufactured products used in such project are produced in the United States.

(b)The provisions of subsection

(a)of this section shall not apply where the Secretary finds—

(1)that their application would be inconsistent with the public interest;

(2)that such materials and products are not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality; or

(3)that inclusion of domestic material will increase the cost of the overall project contract by more than 25 percent.

(c)For purposes of this section, in calculating components’ costs, labor costs involved in final assembly shall not be included in the calculation.

(d)The Secretary of Transportation shall not impose any limitation or condition on assistance provided under the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 (96 Stat. 2097) or this title that restricts any State from imposing more stringent requirements than this section on the use of articles, materials, and supplies mined, produced, or manufactured in foreign countries in projects carried out with such assistance or restricts any recipient of such assistance from complying with such State imposed requirements.

(e)Intentional Violations.— If it has been determined by a court or Federal agency that any person intentionally—

(1)affixed a label bearing a “Made in America” inscription, or any inscription with the same meaning, to any product used in projects to which this section applies, sold in or shipped to the United States that was not made in the United States; or

(2)represented that any product used in projects to which this section applies, sold in or shipped to the United States that was not produced in the United States, was produced in the United States;

that person shall be ineligible to receive any contract or subcontract made with funds authorized under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 pursuant to the debarment, suspension, and ineligibility procedures in subpart 9.4 of chapter 1 of title 48, Code of Federal Regulations.

(f)Limitation on Applicability of Waivers to Products Produced in Certain Foreign Countries.— If the Secretary, in consultation with the United States Trade Representative, determines that—

(1)a foreign country is a party to an agreement with the United States and pursuant to that agreement the head of an agency of the United States has waived the requirements of this section, and

(2)the foreign country has violated the terms of the agreement by discriminating against products covered by this section that are produced in the United States and are covered by the agreement,

the provisions of subsection

(b)shall not apply to products produced in that foreign country.

(g)Waivers.—

(1)In general.— Not less than 15 days before issuing a waiver under this section, the Secretary shall provide to the public—

(A)notice of the proposed waiver;

(B)an opportunity for comment on the proposed waiver; and

(C)the reasons for the proposed waiver.

(2)Report.— Not less frequently than annually, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a report on the waivers provided under this section.

(h)Application to Highway Programs.— The requirements under this section shall apply to all contracts eligible for assistance under this chapter for a project carried out within the scope of the applicable finding, determination, or decision under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), regardless of the funding source of such contracts, if at least 1 contract for the project is funded with amounts made available to carry out this title.

(Added and amended Pub. L. 109–59, title I, § 1903(a), (c), Aug. 10, 2005, 119 Stat. 1464, 1465; Pub. L. 112–141, div. A, title I, § 1518, July 6, 2012, 126 Stat. 574; Pub. L. 117–58, div. A, title I, § 11513, Nov. 15, 2021, 135 Stat. 595.)

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