GSA long has stated that the “MAS program is designed to mirror commercial buying practices.” (Don’t laugh – I’m serious! Slide 12 if you don’t believe me.) In the commercial marketplace, SaaS licenses are sold for set...more
In addition to prohibiting the flow-down of non-mandatory FAR/DFARS clauses (which we talk about here), the Department of Defense (“DOD”) Final Rule in connection with the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement...more
On November 17, 2023, the Department of Defense (“DOD”) published a Final Rule – over five years in the making – addressing DOD policies regarding the applicability of laws to commercial products, commercial services, and...more
On October 5, 2023, the FAR Council released an Interim Rule on “Implementation of Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act (FASCSA) Orders.” The Interim Rule implements requirements from Section 202 of the Federal...more
On August 23, 2023, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) issued its notification of final guidance implementing Title IX of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (“IIJA”) – the Build America, Buy...more
9/19/2023
/ Audits ,
Build America Investment Initiative ,
Buy America ,
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) ,
Country of Origin ,
Federal Grants ,
Final Rules ,
Infrastructure ,
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) ,
OMB ,
Proposed Rules ,
Supply Chain ,
Trade Agreements Act
A few months ago we wrote about Congress utilizing the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to offer bonus tax credits to certain energy facilities for meeting specified “domestic content” requirements. Relying heavily on the...more
6/29/2023
/ Buy America ,
Country of Origin ,
Energy Projects ,
Federal Transit Administration ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Made in the USA ,
Manufacturers ,
New Guidance ,
OEM ,
Qualified Energy Facilities ,
Renewable Energy ,
Tax Credits ,
U.S. Treasury
Coinciding nicely with the discussion of “Buy America” priorities at the February 7, 2023 State of the Union address, on February 9, 2023 the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) issued a proposed rule to...more
2/22/2023
/ Buy America ,
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) ,
Comment Period ,
Country of Origin ,
Federal Grants ,
Infrastructure ,
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) ,
Manufacturers ,
OMB ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Supply Chain ,
Title IX
For years, domestic content requirements have been a point of pain and frustration for government contractors. Historically, these regimes typically come in the form of the proverbial stick – that is, provide products and/or...more
2/2/2023
/ Buy America ,
Country of Origin ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Transit Administration ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Local Content Requirements ,
Manufacturers ,
Renewable Energy ,
Suppliers ,
Tax Credits ,
U.S. Treasury
The United States is engaging in a new form of warfare. Russia invaded Ukraine just over two months ago and, rather than join the fight directly by sending troops to defend Ukraine, the United States is fighting indirectly by...more
4/29/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Embargo ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Controls ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
Russia ,
State Action Doctrine ,
Supply Chain ,
Ukraine
On March 18, 2022, the Department of Defense (“DOD”) issued its long-awaited Final Rule implementing Section 818 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (“NDAA FY 2018”), and formally codifying defense...more
Over a year after the Biden Administration issued Executive Order 14005 on “Ensuring the Future is Made in America by All of America’s Workers,” (discussed previously here) the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (“FAR...more
Change is in the air for the Buy American Act (“BAA”). On July 30, 2021, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council published a proposed rule to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) to implement President Biden’s...more
On January 25, 2021, President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order on “Ensuring the Future is Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers,” laying his administration’s foundation for further strengthening Buy American...more
1/28/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Buy America ,
Buy American Act ,
Domestic Transactions ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Information Technology ,
Made in the USA ,
Manufacturers ,
OMB ,
Public Procurement Policies ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Suppliers ,
Trump Administration
On January 19, 2021, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council published the final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) in accordance with President Trump’s Executive Order 13881, “Maximizing Use of...more
On September 14, 2020, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council published the long anticipated proposed rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) in accordance with President Trump’s Executive Order 13881,...more
On February 10, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its long-awaited decision in Acetris Health LLC v. United States, No. 2018-2399 (Feb. 10, 2020). In Acetris, the Federal Circuit was asked to...more
2/27/2020
/ Country of Origin ,
Court of Federal Claims ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
India ,
Jurisdiction ,
Machine-or-Transformation Test ,
Manufacturers ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Supply Contracts ,
Trade Agreements Act
On January 7, 2020, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (“NASA”) published a proposed rule seeking to amend the NASA Federal Regulation Supplement regarding counterfeit electronic parts. The proposed rule would...more
2/3/2020
/ Congressional Committees ,
Counterfeit Parts ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Electronics ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
NASA ,
Proposed Rules ,
Subcontractors ,
Supply Chain
Trade Agreements Act compliance changed fundamentally three years ago. Or, so we thought on December 7, 2016, when the U.S. Court of International Trade (“CIT”), the appellate body for country of origin determinations issued...more
11/26/2019
/ China ,
Court of International Trade ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Federal Contractors ,
Importers ,
Imports ,
Manufacturers ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Subsidiaries ,
Supply Chain ,
Trade Agreements Act
On May 2, 2019, the General Services Administration (“GSA”) and the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) finally released their Phase 2 Implementation Report (the “Phase 2 Report”) for “Procurement Through E-Commerce...more