23 U.S.C. § 313 — Buy America

(a) Despite any other law, the Secretary^* of Transportation can't commit money authorized under the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 or this title, and run by the Department of Transportation, unless the steel, iron, and manufactured products used in the project^* are made in the United States.

(b) This rule doesn't apply where the Secretary finds: (1) applying it would go against the public interest; (2) the needed materials and products aren't made in the U.S. in enough quantity, or aren't reasonably available, or aren't good enough quality; or (3) using domestic material would raise the overall project contract cost by more than 25 percent.

(c) When figuring the cost of parts for this section, labor costs for final assembly aren't included.

(d) The Secretary can't limit or condition assistance under the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 or this title in a way that stops a state^* from setting stricter Buy America requirements than this section, or stops an assistance recipient from following those stricter state rules.

(e) Intentional Violations. If a court or federal agency determines that someone intentionally (1) put a "Made in America" label, or a similarly meaningful label, on a product used in a covered project that wasn't actually made in the U.S.; or (2) claimed such a product was made in the U.S. when it wasn't — that person becomes ineligible for any contract or subcontract funded under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, under the debarment, suspension, and ineligibility procedures in 48 CFR chapter 1, subpart 9.4.

(f) Limitation on Applicability of Waivers to Products from Certain Foreign Countries. If the Secretary, working with the U.S. Trade Representative, determines that (1) a foreign country has an agreement with the U.S. under which a federal agency head waived this section's requirements, and (2) that country then violated the agreement by discriminating against U.S.-made products covered by it, then the waiver allowed under subsection (b) stops applying to products made in that country.

(g) Waivers. (1) At least 15 days before issuing a waiver under this section, the Secretary must publicly give (A) notice of the proposed waiver; (B) a chance to comment on it; and (C) the reasons for it. (2) At least once a year, the Secretary must report to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on the waivers issued under this section.

(h) Application to Highway^* Programs. This section's requirements apply to every contract eligible for assistance under this chapter, for a project falling within the scope of an applicable finding, determination, or decision under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 — no matter how those contracts are funded — as long as at least one contract for the project uses money made available to carry out this title.