(a) Under the Buy American Act, heads of executive agencies are
required to determine, as a condition precedent to the purchase by their
agencies of materials of foreign origin for public use within the United
States, (1) that the price of like materials of domestic origin is
unreasonable, or (2) that the purchase of like materials of domestic
origin is inconsistent with the public interest.
(b) Section 3(c) of Executive Order 10582 issued pursuant to the Buy
American Act permits executive agencies to reject a bid or offer to
furnish materials of foreign origin in any situation in which the
domestic supplier, offering the lowest price for furnishing the desired
materials, undertakes to produce substantially all of the materials in
areas of substantial unemployment, as determined by the Secretary of
Labor.
