President Biden didn’t wait long to begin to undo the agenda of former President Trump. On his first day in office, January 20, 2021, he issued a total of 17 Executive Orders, memoranda, and proclamations across a wide range of issues including requiring masks be work on all Federal property, re-entering the U.S. in the Paris Climate Accords, orders addressing immigration deportation and reversing exclusion of noncitizens from U.S. Census counts, COVID-19 response, etc. Go HERE, to view the Executive Orders signed by President Biden to date.
Additionally, on Monday, January 25, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order (E.O.) 14005 to strengthen Buy American provisions. Titled Ensuring the Future is Made in All of America by All America’s Workers, the E.O. references tightening the definition of American-made products for purposes of Federal procurements. The Administration states that this action is undertaken in support of American workers and to fulfill a campaign promise to make “Buy American” a reality and close loopholes that allow companies to offshore production and jobs while still qualifying for domestic preferences on Federal government awards. The E.O. establishes a Director of Made in America at the White House Office of Management and Budget to oversee the all-of-government Made in America Initiative. This office will be responsible for reviewing all waiver requests and will supervise the increased purchase of U.S. made goods and ensure Federal outlays are restricted to American-made component parts.
In addition, the E.O. references hundreds of billions of dollars in buying American products and materials to modernize our infrastructure, making historic investments in Research and Development to sharpen America’s innovative edge in markets where global leadership is up for grabs, increasing domestic content and value definitions for American-made products, and the creation of a national network of manufacturers called the Manufacturing Extension Partnership in all 50 states and Puerto Rico to help government procurement agencies connect with domestic suppliers for their products. A copy of the E.O. can be found HERE and a copy of the Fact Sheet can be found HERE.
WWEMA has been in preliminary contact with staff at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to discuss how this might impact the Drinking Water and Clean Water SRF American Iron and Steel requirements. At this time, impacts are unknown but the Agency already has a very robust waiver process in place that entails a multi-step process at the local, state, and Federal level and includes public review and input as well as outreach to the broader manufacturing community to determine whether the product(s) in question can be sourced in the U.S. WWEMA and its members will be actively involved with the Administration and Congress as further details are developed.