Build America Buy America

When BABA Applies

The Build America Buy America Act was enacted as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. It applies to federal financial assistance for infrastructure projects. The triggering condition is federal funding, not federal purchasing. A state, local, or tribal entity using federal infrastructure dollars to procure iron and steel products is subject to BABA whether or not a federal agency is the direct buyer.

Infrastructure under BABA is defined broadly. Roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports, airports, water, wastewater, broadband, electrical transmission, and structures supporting those systems all fall under the definition. The Office of Management and Budget guidance and individual federal agency implementation pages give the project-specific scope.

What BABA Requires for Iron and Steel

For iron and steel products including flanges, fittings, and valves, BABA requires that all manufacturing processes occur in the United States. That includes the initial melting and pouring of the steel, the forging or rolling, the heat treatment, and the final machining. A forged flange made domestically from steel that was melted overseas does not qualify under BABA. The melt origin matters.

The traceability requirement runs back to the mill. The mill test report must show that the heat from which the product was made was melted at a domestic mill. We confirm that traceability before the heat lot ships and we document it in the certification package that accompanies the order.

For "manufactured products" under BABA (a separate category from iron-and-steel products), the 2024 OMB Build America Buy America update sets the domestic-content cost-share threshold at 55 percent, scheduled to increase in later years. Iron and steel products themselves do not use this percentage test; they must meet the 100 percent domestic manufacturing-including-melt standard. The 55 percent threshold applies to manufactured products where iron and steel is not the predominant content.

Documentation We Provide

• Mill Test Reports with heat number, mill name, and mill location confirming domestic melt.
• Manufacturer Certification stating that all manufacturing processes occurred in the United States.
• BABA Compliance Letter referencing the project funding source and the applicable agency implementation.
• Heat Lot Segregation: BABA orders are pulled from confirmed domestic-melt heat lots and tracked separately through shipping.

Common Project Types

BABA shows up most often on IIJA-funded transportation projects, water and wastewater infrastructure, federal-aid highway work involving structural steel, transmission and distribution work funded through federal energy programs, and broadband infrastructure with steel structural components. Each agency implementation may layer additional requirements on top of the base BABA standard. Read the project spec for the specific clause language.

Waivers and Exceptions

BABA includes waivers for unavailability, unreasonable cost, and public interest, mirroring the BAA waiver framework. Waiver requests are submitted to the awarding federal agency. The waiver bar is generally high. For iron and steel products in the standard size range, domestic product is broadly available and waivers are uncommon.