President Trump signed an executive order Thursday strengthening the “Buy American” provisions for federally-funded infrastructure projects. The order will direct agencies to favor contract bids that use domestically-made raw materials, like iron, steel, and concrete.
“You talk about defense, well, how do you do that without steel and aluminum? It matters where things are made,” the president said Thursday at an Oval Office signing ceremony surrounded by construction and manufacturing industry workers.
The White House did not immediately release the text of the order.
The order follows a similar one in 2017 that limited the use of waivers to purchase foreign-made goods under Buy-American programs. The White House has claimed that tits policies have cut the use of such goods by 16 percent in the last year, the lowest point in 10 years. The government has increased purchases of domestically made products by $24 billion over the last two years.
A senior administration source who requested anonymity to speak about the order said it was part of a broader effort to boost domestic industries, tying to it to steel and aluminum tariffs the administration has put in place. The president wants companies to expand manufacturing capacity in order to increase hiring and be able to undercut foreign competition on prices, he said. “The policies, whether it is ‘Buy American’ or the tariffs, have been a tremendous benefit…,” he said. “As supply increases we’ll have favorable price effects.”
