Highway Projects Must Now Buy American-Made Products Only
Published Date: 1/14/2025
Rule
Summary
Starting March 17, 2025, all manufactured products used in Federal-aid highway projects must be made in the USA—no more general waivers! This change affects contractors and suppliers working on these projects, making sure taxpayer money supports American jobs and businesses. Get ready to buy American and keep our highways strong and proudly homegrown!
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 4 costs, 0 mixed.
General waiver ends; Buy America applies
FHWA is ending the Manufactured Products General Waiver and applying Buy America rules to manufactured products used on Federal-aid highway projects. The final rule is effective March 17, 2025, and contractors, suppliers, and manufacturers working on Federal-aid projects will need to follow the new Buy America standards.
Phased domestic-content rules and dates
The rule phases in two domestic-content standards: a final assembly requirement that applies to Federal-aid projects obligated on or after October 1, 2025, and a 55 percent domestic component-by-cost requirement that applies to projects obligated on or after October 1, 2026. For projects obligated on or after October 1, 2026, manufactured products must meet both the final assembly and the greater-than-55-percent domestic component tests to be Buy America-compliant.
Estimated nationwide cost increases
FHWA estimates increased material costs for manufactured products permanently incorporated into Federal-aid projects to range from $41 million to $980 million per year. FHWA also estimates additional administrative costs of $167,000 per year to FHWA and $22 million per year to recipients, and a 10-year cost range of $545 million to $8,466 million (2 percent discount).
Precast concrete and ITS enclosures treatment
Certain manufactured products — specifically precast concrete products and cabinets or enclosures of ITS and other electronic hardware installed in highway right-of-way — must have their predominantly iron or steel components meet FHWA's iron and steel Buy America requirements, and those iron or steel components will be counted for the 55 percent content calculation.
De minimis and small grants waiver thresholds
If non-compliant manufactured products on a single award do not exceed the lesser of $1,000,000 or 5 percent of total applicable project costs, FHWA's departmental de minimis waiver may apply; projects where total Federal financial assistance is below $500,000 may qualify for the small grants waiver. These waivers can allow some projects to procure non-compliant products without full Buy America compliance.
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