Buy American Improvement Act of 2004

Bill: 108-hr-3741
Sponsor: Rep. Brown, Sherrod [D-OH-13]
Introduced: 2004-01-28 in the House
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Buy American
Commerce
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Cost accounting
Department of Commerce
Electronic government information
Export controls
Federal advisory bodies
Finance and Financial Sector
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Foreign corporations
Government contractors
Government procurement
Government publicity
Governmental investigations
Internet
Law
Manufacturing industries
Science, Technology, Communications
Subcontractors
Technology transfer
Web sites

Summary:
action_date: 2004-01-28
text: 
Buy American Improvement Act of 2004 - Amends the Buy American Act to: (1) prohibit Federal agencies from making a determination that it would not be in the public interest to enter into a contract subject to Buy American requirements after a procurement notice for such contract is published; and (2) provide that Buy American requirements shall apply without regard to whether products are acquired for use outside the United States if they are not needed on an urgent basis or if they are acquired on a regular basis (but requires an analysis of the difference in costs of such products from manufacturers inside and outside the United States before a contract is entered).
 
Requires Federal agencies to: (1) give preference in the procurement process to a company that manufactures the solicited product in the United States if such company's bid is substantially the same as a bid made by a non-U.S. manufacturer or such company is the only company that manufactures the product in the United States; and (2) report annually on agency acquisitions from entities that manufacture products outside the United States. 
 
Prohibits an agency head from making any determination that articles to be procured are not available from domestic sources without conducting a study that determine that domestic production cannot be initiated to meet procurement needs and that a comparable product is not available from a company in the United States.
 
Exempts Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate from Buy American requirements for certain official expenditures not exceeding $100. Repeals the requirement that the House of Representatives and the Senate purchase U.S.-manufactured articles, provided such articles can be procured at comparable quality and price as are demanded for like articles of foreign manufacture.
 
Defines a product as made &quot;substantially all&quot; from domestic components when the cost of such components exceeds 75 percent. 
 
Requires the Secretary of Commerce to appoint a Buy American Advisory Panel and to promulgate final regulations for defining &quot;unreasonable cost&quot; and &quot;inconsistent with the public interest&quot; and for applying waivers under the Buy American Act consistently.
 
Prohibits an agency from entering a contract with a foreign entity that involves giving such entity information that would facilitate the manufacture of a dual-use item on the Commerce Control List unless approval has been obtained in accordance with the Export Administration Act of 1979. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2004-01-28
text: Referred to the House Committee on Government Reform.
action_date: 2004-01-28
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2004-01-28
text: Introduced in House