The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is seeking industry input on potential changes to its procurement system that would make it easier for federal agencies to identify and purchase American-made products through the GSA Advantage! marketplace.
The request for information (RFI) outlines options including new product labels, search filters and a new Special Item Number (SIN) for products that meet Buy American Act (BAA) component requirements. as the agency expands efforts to strengthen U.S. manufacturing, improve supply chain resilience and increase compliance with federal sourcing requirements.
The push from the GSA comes in accordance with a strengthened federal focus on supporting American-made products, including Executive Order 14392 “Ensuring Truthful Advertising of Products Claiming to be Made in America,” which calls for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to aggressively crack down on false or unsubstantiated country-of-origin claims. The GSA says the effort is intended to support American companies and workers while reducing reliance on foreign suppliers of critical goods and services.
The GSA is considering two approaches to reach its goals. The first approach calls for identification of products that meet the BAA component test. Under the BAA component test, qualifying products generally must contain at least 65% American-made components by cost, a threshold scheduled to increase to 75% in 2029. Companies could voluntarily indicate that their products follow these guidelines. If they qualify, a GSA Advantage icon would be added to the items, which would then be filtered to the top of search queries.
Buyers who select alternate products would be asked to complete a survey explaining their decision. The GSA would use this data to learn more about buyers’ decision-making processes.
Under the second approach, the GSA would create a new SIN for products meeting BAA standards. The SIN would be limited to one or more product categories. These numbers would also be limited to original equipment manufacturers.
The RFI asks for feedback on these two approaches, with questions about identifying American-made products, sharing and verifying information, and adding product labels and search features to GSA Advantage!. Officials are also asking for feedback on creating SINs, compliance costs and potential operational impacts for contractors.
Information gathered through the RFI could help shape future procurement policies and compliance requirements affecting federal contractors, manufacturers and resellers across multiple industries. It may also create new opportunities for domestic producers.
Stakeholders have until July 24 to submit responses.
Photo by G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
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