The Buy American Act of 1933 is the older counterpart to the TAA. Its aim is to strengthen the domestic economy by requiring US federal agencies to give preference to goods and products with American value added when making purchases.
Unlike the TAA, the BAA does not primarily consider a product’s country of origin, but rather the proportion of manufacturing, components or value added that takes place in the US. Above the TAA threshold, the BAA is superseded by the TAA – in which case a product from Germany or Japan is just as eligible for procurement as a US product, with no minimum domestic content requirement. Below the threshold, however, the BAA continues to apply.
For manufacturers and traders, this distinction is particularly important, as a product does not automatically meet both requirements. For example, an item may meet the BAA criteria because a large proportion of the value added takes place in the US, yet at the same time not be considered TAA-compliant. Similarly, a product from a TAA-approved country may be eligible for procurement without meeting the requirements of the Buy American Act.
