WASHINGTON—The Federal Highway Administration has issued a waiver for its “Buy America” provisions in the case of vehicles and equipment used in 48 state highway projects, according to an April 5 Federal Register notice.
State highway agencies can buy vehicles and equipment that are not made with 100 percent U.S.-produced iron and steel as long as they are assembled in the U.S., according to the notice.
The vehicles involved include sedans, vans, pickups, trucks, buses and street sweepers, the FHWA said.
Federal regulations require that iron and steel products acquired for federally funded highway products must be U.S.-made, but allow waivers if domestic content requirements cannot be met, the FHWA explained in the notice.
“Based on all the information available to the agency, FHWA concludes that there are no domestic manufacturers that produce the vehicles and vehicle components identified in the notice in such a way that their steel and iron elements are manufactured domestically,” the agency said.
The notice can be found here.