Submission for OMB Review; Buy American, Trade Agreements, and Duty-Free Entry

AGENCY:

Department of Defense (DOD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Regulatory Secretariat Division has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve a revision and renewal of a previously approved information collection requirement regarding Buy American, trade agreements, and duty-free entry.

DATES:

Submit comments on or before March 12, 2021.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments and recommendations for this information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function.

Additionally, submit a copy to GSA through http://www.regulations.gov and follow the instructions on the site. This website provides the ability to type short comments directly into the comment field or attach a file for lengthier comments.

Instructions: All items submitted must cite OMB Control No. 9000-0024, Buy American, Trade Agreements, and Duty-Free Entry. Comments received generally will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov,, including any personal and/or business confidential information provided. To confirm receipt of your comment(s), please check www.regulations.gov,, approximately two-to-three days after submission to verify posting. If there are difficulties submitting comments, contact the GSA Regulatory Secretariat Division at 202-501-4755 or GSARegSec@gsa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Zenaida Delgado, Procurement Analyst, at telephone 202-969-7207, or zenaida.delgado@gsa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. OMB Control Number, Title, and Any Associated Form(s)

9000-0024, Buy American, Trade Agreements, and Duty-Free Entry.

B. Need and Uses

This clearance covers the information that an offeror must submit in response to the requirements of the provisions and clauses in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 25 that relate to the following:

* The Buy American statute (41 U.S.C. chapter 83, and Executive Order 10582).

* The Trade Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 2501-2515), including the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement and various free trade agreements.

* The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-5) (Recovery Act).

* Subchapters VIII and X of Chapter 98 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (19 U.S.C. 1202).

a. 52.225-2, Buy American Certificate. This provision requires the offeror to identify in its proposal supplies that do not meet the definition of domestic end product.

b. 52.225-4, Buy American—Free Trade Agreements—Israeli Trade Act Certificate. This provision requires a separate list of foreign products that are eligible under a trade agreement, and a list of all other foreign end products.

c. 52.225-6, Trade Agreements Certificate. This provision requires the offeror to certify that all end products are either U.S.-made or designated country end products, except as listed in paragraph (b) of the provision. Offerors are not allowed to provide other than a U.S.-made or designated country end product, unless the requirement is waived.

d. 52.225-8, Duty-Free Entry. This clause requires contractors to notify the contracting officer when they purchase foreign supplies, in order to determine whether the supplies should be duty-free. The notice shall identify the foreign supplies, estimate the amount of duty, and the country of origin. The contractor is not required to identify foreign supplies that are identical in nature to items purchased by the contractor or any subcontractor in connection with its commercial business, and segregation of these supplies to ensure use only on Government contracts containing duty-free entry provisions is not economical or feasible. In addition, all shipping documents and containers must specify certain information to assure the duty-free entry of the supplies.

e. Construction provisions and clauses:

• 52.225-9, Buy American—Construction Materials
• 52.225-10, Notice of Buy American Requirement—Construction Materials
• 52.225-11, Buy American-Construction Materials Under Trade Agreements
• 52.225-12, Notice of Buy American Requirement—Construction Materials under Trade Agreements
• 52.225-21, Required Use of American Iron, Steel and Manufactured Goods—Buy American—Construction Materials
• 52.225-23, Required Use of American Iron, Steel and Manufactured Goods—Buy American—Construction Materials Under Trade Agreements

The listed provisions and clauses provide that an offeror or contractor requesting to use foreign construction material due to unreasonable cost of domestic construction material shall provide adequate information to permit evaluation of the request.

C. Annual Burden

Respondents: 8,771.

Total Annual Responses: 43,891.

Total Burden Hours: 40,738.

D. Public Comment

A 60-day notice was published in the Federal Register at 85 FR 63276, on October 7, 2020. No comments were received.

Obtaining Copies: Requesters may obtain a copy of the information collection documents from the GSA Regulatory Secretariat Division, by calling 202-501-4755 or emailing GSARegSec@gsa.gov. Please cite OMB Control No. 9000-0024, Buy American, Trade Agreements, and Duty-Free Entry.