AGC makes clear the construction industry’s opposition to any effort by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to unreasonably remove or modify the 40-year-old Buy America waiver for manufactured products.

On May 22, AGC of America made clear the construction industry’s opposition to any effort by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to unreasonably remove or modify the 40-year-old Buy America waiver for manufactured products.

As part of this FHWA request for comments on this long-standing waiver, AGC of America, AGC Chapters, and members noted how removal of the waiver risks significant disruptions to federal-aid highway projects nationwide. As part of that feedback, AGC highlighted additional risks in case of waiver removal such as:

• Reduction of projects scopes due to increased costs;
• Project delays while contractors are in the process of understanding and complying with the rules;
• Usage of untested replacement products in case of domestic unavailability;
• Worsen supply chains woes; and
• Disproportionately affected smaller contractors who lack the resources and staff to ensure proper compliance.

To be clear, AGC supports actions to strengthen the manufacturing capacity of the United States, but those actions should not come at the expense of highway contractors and the construction industry.

AGC will continue to work with FHWA so that Buy America can achieve its stated goals of increasing American manufacturing capacity while also ensuring that it does not put undue stress and burdens on contractors.