Request for Comment on the Costs and Benefits to U.S. Industry of U.S. International Government Procurement Obligations for Report to the President on "Buy American and Hire American"

Section 3(e) of the Presidential Executive Order on Buy American and Hire American directs the Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative to assess the impacts of all United States free trade agreements and the World Trade Organization Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) on the operation of Buy American Laws, including their impacts on the implementation of domestic procurement preferences. The Executive Order can be found here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/04/18/presidential-executive-order-buy-american-and-hire-american.

In response to this Executive Order, the Department of Commerce and the Office of the United States Trade Representative are conducting industry outreach in order to better understand how the U.S. government procurement obligations under all U.S. free trade agreements and the GPA affect U.S. manufacturers' and suppliers' access to and participation in the domestic government procurement process. In addition, because reciprocal access to trading partners' markets is an important motivation for including government procurement obligations in U.S. free trade agreements and for the United States' membership in the GPA, the Department and the USTR are also seeking information about the costs and benefits of these obligations to U.S. manufacturers and suppliers competing in U.S. trading partners' government procurement markets. The trading partners with which the United States has international government procurement obligations are:

1. Armenia,
2. Aruba,
3. Australia,
4. Bahrain,
5. Canada,
6. Chile,
7. Chinese Taipei (Taiwan),
8. Colombia,
9. Costa Rica,
10. Dominican Republic,
11. El Salvador,
12. the European Union, which includes:
    1. Austria,
    2. Belgium,
    3. Bulgaria,
    4. Croatia,
    5. Cyprus,
    6. Czech Republic,
    7. Denmark,
    8. Estonia,
    9. Finland,
    10. France,
    11. Germany,
    12. Greece,
    13. Hungary,
    14. Ireland,
    15. Italy,
    16. Latvia,
    17. Lithuania,
    18. Luxemburg,
    19. Malta,
    20. the Netherlands,
    21. Poland,
    22. Portugal,
    23. Romania,
    24. Slovak Republic,
    25. Slovenia,
    26. Spain,
    27. Sweden, and
    28. the United Kingdom
13. Guatemala,
14. Honduras,
15. Hong Kong,
16. Iceland,
17. Israel,
18. Japan,
19. the Republic of Korea,
20. Liechtenstein,
21. Mexico,
22. the Republic of Moldova,
23. Montenegro,
24. Morocco,
25. New Zealand,
26. Nicaragua,
27. Norway,
28. Oman,
29. Panama,
30. Peru,
31. Singapore,
32. Switzerland, and
33. Ukraine.

The Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative are required to conclude the assessme and submit to the President of the United States by November 24, 2017.

DATES: September 18, 2017 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) is the deadline for interested persons to submit written comments.

In responding to the questions below, commenters should consider the impact for participating in U.S. federal and/or foreign government procurement markets with respect to:

1. Business opportunities that are made available;
2. Economic incentives that trade agreements and Buy American Laws provide;
3. How trade agreements impact business competitiveness, or increase or decrease competition, in government procurement opportunities;
4. How trade agreements affect companies' (prime contractors') supply chain and sourcing decisions for goods;
5. How Buy American or similar foreign requirements increase or decrease companies' (prime contractors') competitiveness in government procurement opportunities;
6. Administrative compliance costs tied to Buy American and similar government procurement policies; and
7. Additional costs relating to providing or otherwise proving the country of origin of goods provided.

The questions below are focused on gathering information on the access to U.S. federal and/or foreign government procurement markets for goods that are manufactured in the United States, regardless of the nationality or location of the supplier. Additionally, this includes goods that are furnished to the U.S. federal and/or foreign government that may be a part of a contract for services, such as products that may be provided to the government as part of a contract for IT services, where Buy American Laws might otherwise apply.

1. What is your company's experience with respect to U.S. federal and/or foreign government procurement, either as prime contractor or a subcontractor? While any experience is welcome, please identify experiences within the past 5 years.
   1. Have you bid on U.S. federal contracts? How many?
   2. Were you awarded any U.S. federal contracts? How many?
   3. What share of annual revenue from your U.S. operations was from U.S. federal contracts?
   4. Have you bid on foreign government contracts? How many? List the countries of five largest bids.
   5. Were you awarded any foreign government contracts? How many? List the countries of five largest awards.
   6. What share of annual revenue from your U.S. operations was from foreign government contracts?
   7. List the industries in which your company was awarded U.S. federal or foreign government contracts. Indicate NAICS code(s) if possible.
2. Please describe in a few sentences how your company's decisions to bid on or supply U.S. federal contracts (as a prime or subcontractor or company that produces goods used in procurements) are affected by U.S. free trade agreements and the WTO GPA which allow equal participation by companies from U.S. trading partners.
3. Please describe in few sentences your company's experience as a prime or subcontractor in bidding on national government procurements in countries with which the U.S. has a trade agreement with government procurement obligations. What are your three greatest challenges? (These countries are: Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Chile, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, the European Union (which includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom), Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, Israel, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Liechtenstein, Mexico, the Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Panama, Peru, Singapore, Switzerland, and Ukraine.) How does this differ from your experience competing for bids in markets in countries with which the U.S. does not have a trade agreement with government procurement obligations?
4. What is the average U.S. content of goods that your company supplies to the U.S. federal government?
5. What is the average U.S. content of goods that your company supplies to foreign governments?
6. What are the three principal barriers to having 100% domestic content in the goods that you produce for U.S. federal or foreign governments?
7. Please describe in a few sentences how trade agreements with government procurement obligations affect strategic decisions your company makes about production and supply chains for government procurements as well as for commercial (private sector) customers.
8. Please describe in a few sentences any experience your company has had with conflict between Buy American or similar foreign requirements and U.S. free trade agreement or WTO GPA requirements, including whether and how the conflict was resolved.
9. Please describe in a few sentences whether the presence of Buy American or similar foreign requirements affected positively or negatively your company's ability to bid and/or win contracts for U.S. or foreign government procurement.