Compliance with the Trade Agreements Act (“TAA“) in Federal Contracts

Included in most Department of Defense (“DoD”) contracts, and many civilian agency contracts, such as GSA Schedules, is a contract clause dedicated to implementing and enforcing the Trade Agreements Act (“TAA”).¹ All offerors are obligated to complete a certification² that states “The offeror certifies that each end product … is a U.S. made or designated country end product, as defined in the clause of this solicitation entitled “Trade Agreements'”.

The TAA is an element in the Public Policy known as the“ Domestic Preference Policies” that have been in place since the Depression Era of the 1930s. The Buy America Act

(“BAA”)³ was signed into law in 1931 and provided general preference for the acquisition by the Federal Government of domestic, i.e. made in the United States of America (“USA”), articles, materials, and supplies when they are acquired for public use in the USA. The Buy America Act is limited to an acquisition at or below $193,000.00.⁴ Above this value, the TAA supersedes the BAA and permits the Government to acquire goods and services from foreign “designated countries”⁵ or “qualifying countries”⁶ when domestic companies cannot provide the item(s) at a fair and reasonable cost.

The TAA authorizes the President to waive the BAA and other discriminatory policies, i.e., domestic preference policies, for eligible products from countries that have signed an international trade agreement with the United States or have otherwise met certain criteria.

Under the TAA, the Government may acquire goods that are “designated country end products” and “qualifying country end products” when they are wholly the growth, product, or manufacture of the “designated country”⁷ or a “qualifying country”.⁸ If, however, the goods consist in whole or in part of material from another country, then it may be identified as a “designated country end product” or a...

1 | 2 | 3 | 4