Critics Say Biden's Pledge To Require American-Made Infrastructure Construction Materials Isn't Feasible

President Joe Biden, more than a year after passing the landmark Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, vowed during his State of the Union speech this week the federal government will push to require construction materials on federally funded projects to be made in the U.S. But some in the construction industry are saying that isn’t practical or even really possible.

Since the passage of the Buy American Act of 1933, the government has held a policy on iron and steel for certain infrastructure projects. But in January 2021, Biden passed an executive order that changed the rules to require the percentage of component parts built in the U.S. to rise from 55% to 60%, eventually to increase to 75%, according to a White House fact sheet.  

In his speech, Biden said he would require all construction materials on projects to be made in America, adding that past administrations of both parties have "fought to get around" the 90-year-old law.

“I mean it. Lumber, glass, drywall, fiber-optic cable,” Biden said during his speech. “And on my watch, American roads, bridges and American highways are going to be made with American products as well.”

The goal, Biden said, is to boost domestic manufacturing jobs and supply chain security.

Biden’s policy changes will allow the federal government to buy American-made products even if they are more expensive than a foreign-made version, according to a GlobeSt analysis, and will require contractors to report the actual percentage of domestically made materials used on projects.

The line drew immediate industry pushback. National Utility Contractors Association CEO Doug Carlson said foreign materials are often much cheaper and can keep project costs down. 

“Our projects require a very complex mix of materials, some of which are not domestically manufactured. A one-size-fits-all solution never fits individual projects like ours,” Carlson wrote in a statement. “On some projects, a delay on a single critical part can delay the entire project, driving up costs and significantly postponing its completion.”

Others said the policy would have little impact in the long run — the foreign-made products that were exempt from the Buy In America Act only made up 4% of government purchases in 2017, CNN reported.

“You’re talking about $300 billion of goods in a $22 trillion economy,” William Reinsch, who served with the Commerce Department under President Bill Clinton and who is now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told CNN in 2021. “The question is whether it’s going to change very much.”