In celebration of the release of the 6th Edition of the Government Contracts Compliance Handbook, we are sharing six essential tips for understanding and navigating Buy American compliance in government contracts. These...more
Government procurement fraud is pervasive. The vast majority of government procurement fraud goes undetected, and federal agencies rely heavily on whistleblowers to help them determine when scrutiny is warranted. Blowing the...more
The Trump Administration will most likely move quickly to align the federal government’s priorities with the President’s own. While the Administration has not detailed all of its plans for government contracting/procurement,...more
We invite you to review the materials from our presentations that covered key issues facing government contractors. The topics include: • Year in Review – Federal Contracts Case Law Update- • Cost Accounting Compliance-...more
This article discusses compliance “Buy America” provisions in federal procurement laws and how the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) implement some of those commitments in government contracts. It also outlines the...more
Recently the Federal Trade Commission entered into a settlement under which Patriot LED must pay civil damages of nearly $158,000, plus a penalty of $2.96 million, for its alleged false marketing of lighting products as...more
On 7 March 2022, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council published a final rule amending the FAR to implement a January 2021 Executive Order (EO), EO 14005, aimed to strengthen domestic preferences in Government...more
A Proposed Rule amending the Buy American Act (“BAA”) of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (“FAR”), designed to benefit U.S. manufacturers, proposes to immediately increase the threshold needed to be considered a “domestic...more
The FAR Council recently published its proposed rule to implement a part of President Biden’s January 28, 2021 Executive Order No. 14005 (EO 14005), which dictated certain revisions to the Buy American Act (BAA) regulations....more
A proposed amendment to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (“FAR”) published on July 30, 2021 will “strengthen the impact of the Buy American Act” (“BAA”) over the next eight years, according to the Federal Register notice....more
On July 30, 2021, the Biden Administration published a Proposed Amendment to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) (Proposed Rule) that, among other things, would impose significantly increased U.S. content requirements...more
On January 25, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Ensuring the Future Is Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers. The order is part of his “Build Back Better Recovery Plan” to strengthen American...more
On September 14, 2020, the FAR Council published a proposed rule, Case 2019-016 “Maximizing Use of American-Made Goods, Products, and Materials,” 85 FR 56558, which proposes certain increased and new thresholds for...more
Sorting through domestic preference requirements applicable to government contracts is no simple task. Different agencies like the DOD, FTA, FAA, FHWA, have their own rules applicable to certain programs. Exceptions from...more
What is a thing? On February 10, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit gave us a new answer to this old philosophical question. In the case of pharmaceuticals, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)...more
A variety of arcane domestic-preference regimes apply to many Federal procurements – the Buy American Act (BAA), the Trade Agreements Act (TAA), the Berry Amendment, and the Cargo Preference Act, to name a few. In Acetris...more
Few phrases sum up the Trump administration’s policy goals better than “Buy American.” We hear it in advertising; we hear it in the State of the Union; and we find it littered throughout government buying priorities. Here is...more
• The White House has issued a new Executive Order designed to promote the use of American-made products in all infrastructure projects receiving federal funding, another step in the Trump Administration's Buy American...more
President Trump made headlines in April by signing an Executive Order urging federal agencies to “Buy American and Hire American.” While this Order makes no substantive legal changes and, for now, appears to be more bark...more
On April 18, President Trump signed the “Presidential Executive Order on Buy American and Hire American” (the Order), which declares the Executive branch’s policy to buy American goods and rigorously enforce and administer...more
A recent ruling the by the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) has important implications for importers, government contractors, and manufacturers that make qualified origin claims when marketing products. In a case...more
Government Contractors should be aware that the General Services Administration ("GSA") is taking a more aggressive approach to policing Contractor compliance with the Trade Agreements Act ("TAA") among GSA Schedule contract...more