Glossary / Regulations, Products
Buy American ActBAA (domestic preference)
The Buy American Act requires federal agencies to prefer domestic end products and construction materials. A product is domestic when it is manufactured in the United States and its domestic component content exceeds the threshold, which rose to 65 percent in 2024 and is scheduled to reach 75 percent in 2029, with a separate rule for iron and steel. The preference is applied as a price evaluation penalty on foreign offers, larger when the lowest domestic offer is from a small business. The Trade Agreements Act waives it above its thresholds for products from designated countries.
Why it matters to your pipeline
A supplier of goods must know where its products are made and what share of their value is domestic before it certifies on an offer. The certification is a representation under penalty, and the threshold keeps rising. For resellers and manufacturers, the answer changes which buys they can win and at what price.
When this term shows up in an opening GovSmith finds for you, your vCM explains what it means for that pursuit and does whatever it calls for. You decide; we do the work.
Example
A furniture dealer quotes on a $150K office refit. Its chairs are assembled in Michigan with 70 percent domestic components, so they qualify as domestic; a competitor's imported chairs take the price penalty and lose.
Find out what applies to you
Some terms will matter to your business right away and some won’t for years. A vCM can tell you which are which.