Trump gives American steel top priority in infrastructure spending

President Donald Trump issued an executive order Jan. 31 titled the “Executive Order on Strengthening Buy-American Preferences for Infrastructure Projects.” The text of the new order refers to an April 2017 executive order designed for the same purpose.

The new executive order includes a definition of materials that will apply that states in part, “’Manufactured products’ means items and construction materials composed in whole or in part of nonferrous metals such as aluminum; plastics and polymer-based products such as polyvinyl chloride pipe; aggregates such as concrete; glass, including optical fiber; and lumber.”

Additionally, regarding steel, “'Produced in the United States’ means, for iron and steel products, that all manufacturing processes, from the initial melting stage through the application of coatings, occurred in the United States.”

The president also defines purchasing cases that involve “Federal financial assistance” as those “consistent with the definition provided by the Office of Management and Budget’s Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, found at section 200.40 of title 2, Code of Federal Regulations.”

The order defines the term “infrastructure project” to mean “a project to develop public or private physical assets that are designed to provide or support services to the general public in the following sectors:  surface transportation, including roadways, bridges, railroads and transit; aviation; ports, including navigational channels; water resources projects; energy production, generation and storage, including from fossil-fuels, renewable, nuclear and hydroelectric sources; electricity transmission; gas, oil and propane storage and transmission; electric, oil, natural gas and propane distribution systems; broadband internet; pipelines; stormwater and sewer infrastructure; drinking water infrastructure; cybersecurity; and any other sector designated through a notice published in the Federal Register by the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council.”

In terms of follow-up to the order, President Trump writes, “Within 120 days of the date of this order, the head of each agency administering a covered program shall identify in a report to the president, through the assistant to the president for trade and manufacturing policy, any tools, techniques, terms, or conditions that have been used or could be used, consistent with law and in furtherance of the policy set forth in section 1 of this order, to maximize the use of iron and aluminum as well as steel, cement, and other manufactured products produced in the United States in contracts, subcontracts, purchase orders or subawards that are chargeable against federal financial assistance awards for infrastructure projects.”