Senator urges Trump administration to enforce Buy America rules on federal highway projects

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A U.S. senator from Wisconsin is urging the Trump administration to enforce Buy America requirements on federal highway projects. However, national highway contractors said some products can’t be procured in the U.S. and ending a blanket waiver for transportation projects will drive up costs.

In January, the U.S. Department of Transportation‘s Federal Highway Administration announced a final rule to end a blanket waiver for products made overseas and enforce American-made requirements for products, such as iron and steel, used in federal-aid highway projects.

The rule for final assembly of all manufactured products used in federally assisted highway projects to be made in the U.S. was scheduled to go into effect next month.

In September, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) wrote a letter urging U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to end the FHWA’s Manufactured Products General Waiver of Buy America provisions put in place more than 40 years ago.

“Finally putting an end to this blanket waiver that has allowed the federal government to sidestep Buy America rules when constructing highways will help spur domestic manufacturing and support American-made products and jobs,” Baldwin wrote. “For that reason, it is essential that the Department of Transportation adhere to the rule and begin enforcement of Buy America for manufactured products starting next month.”

“It is a straightforward concept: when we use taxpayer dollars to build infrastructure, we should be using American products and supporting American businesses and workers,” Baldwin added.

U.S. Department of Transportation officials didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.

At his Senate confirmation hearing in January, Duffy said he would investigate the DOT’s rollback rule when asked by Baldwin. The transportation secretary also said he was committed to following the Build America, Buy America act.

“In regard to this rule, I haven’t had a chance to review it,” Duffy told Baldwin at the January hearing. “To commit to a review I haven’t seen or read would be difficult to me. But the concepts we have discussed I am committed to.”

At a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meeting in July, Duffy was asked about a different Buy America bill: the Safeguarding Transit Operations to Prohibit China Act or STOP China Act. The bill was introduced by a bipartisan group led by Baldwin and Sen. John Coryn (R-TX) to keep DOT funds from being awarded to buy transit buses or rail cars made by companies owned by the Chinese government.

“I believe in Buy America,” Duffy said. “My friend Tammy Baldwin is hard on this and I agree with her assessment that at all costs that these products are built in America and we get around the gimmicks.”

End of waiver started by outgoing Biden administration

In January, the outgoing Biden administration published a final rule to end the waiver in two phases. For projects funded after Oct. 1, 2025, final assembly of all manufactured products must occur in the U.S., DOT officials said.

For projects funded on or after Oct. 1, 2026, in addition to the final assembly requirement, the cost of components mined, produced or manufactured in the U.S. must be greater than 55% of the total cost of all components of the manufactured product, DOT officials added.

The final rule was the result of the FHWA’s review of its Manufactured Products General Waiver, which was required when Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and its Build America, Buy America act. The act aimed include more domestically made construction materials and products such as iron and steel in federally assisted infrastructure programs.

The FHWA’s regulations for Buy America have been the same since 1983, according to the Federal Register.

Builders said rollback comes with higher costs, more time on projects

The change to highway construction caused a stir for the nation’s road contractors.

In May 2024, officials from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association and the Associated General Contractors wrote a letter to former DOT administrator Shailen P. Bhatt and said that rolling back the manufactured products waiver would add cost and time to their project deadlines due to documenting and certifying components.

Out of 192 survey respondents, more than half were prime contractors and more than a third were firms that worked on federal-aid transportation construction projects worth up to $5 million in the prior two years. Sixty-two percent of respondents said removing the waiver would have a major effect on their project efficiency, ARTBA and AGC officials wrote.

“While transportation construction contractors strongly support the principles behind Buy America, they are also committed to maximizing cost and time efficiencies in putting federal investment to work,” contractors wrote. “This suggests a balanced approach that considers the operational realities and economic impacts on contractors and suppliers. We recommend that FHWA consider these insights as it seeks to refine and implement Buy America requirements.”

The FHWA estimated that compliance with the new policy will cost up to nearly $8.5 billion over the next 10 years, according to the Federal Register. Officials estimated the rise in materials costs for manufactured products would range from $41 million to $980 million each year.

In Wisconsin, the 2025-27 state budget included a $700 million increase to Highway Improvement Programs over 2025’s base levels, the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association reported. Funding will go to some of the largest state construction projects, such as Interstate 39/90/94 between Madison and Wisconsin Dells and the I-94 East-West project in Milwaukee County.

“Days before leaving office, the Biden administration repealed the manufactured products waiver,” Steve Baas, executive director of the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association, said in a statement. “We wholeheartedly agree with the goals of Buy America but have also provided details to Secretary Duffy and his team about how some manufactured products are simply not available through the domestic supply chain currently. While we are rebuilding and strengthening those supply chains, we need alternatives to keep our roads safe, projects on schedule and our companies working.”