Senator Tammy Baldwin says the Buy American standards she’s reintroducing in Congress would drive local economic growth and create additional family-supporting jobs in Wisconsin. The Made in America Shipbuilding Act strengthens Buy American requirements for the federal government’s purchase of ships by expanding current law to cover all federal agencies, all classes of ships and substantially more shipboard components, including items made in Wisconsin, bolstering the state’s manufacturing and shipbuilding industries.

If U.S. taxpayer dollars are used to purchase any type of vessel, the Made in America Shipbuilding Act requires that it is made in America, uses domestically produced materials, like steel, iron and aluminum, and includes critical shipboard components manufactured in the U.S. Senator Baldwin says supporting these industries is more important now than ever.

Baldwin says current law has a hodgepodge of domestic content requirements and many of those provisions apply to different agencies, or only to certain classes of ships, or certain shipboard components. Each of these provisions can be waived under varying circumstances, including those related to cost, schedule or national security. The Made in America Shipbuilding Act intends to harmonize these domestic content requirements and expand the circumstances in which they apply.