In his remarks from the White House on Friday, the President is also expected to tout an upcoming announcement from Siemens USA that it will expand its domestic manufacturing of electrical equipment, like circuit boards for EV chargers, with a new $54 million investment that will also create 300 jobs, according to one senior official.
“Today’s report shows that my plan to build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out is working to get America back to work,” Biden said in a statement, citing gains in the leisure and hospitality, construction, retail and manufacturing industries.
“The final rule will ensure taxpayer dollars create good-paying jobs here at home, strengthen critical supply chains and position US businesses to compete in strategic industries,” that official said.
The new rule will also include “a framework” to institute enhanced price preferences for designated critical products and components in strategic industries, according to the official, who noted that this is important for both “national and economic security.” The exact details of this will be part of a second rule-making process.
It’s unclear how many companies or products this will impact since the new Buy American rule coming out of the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council does not include an update allowing the federal government to verify claims made by contractors about the percentage of domestically made content in their products. The official noted, however, that the administration still expects to ultimately institute a reporting requirement for companies — something the President pledged when he announced the proposal last year.
“First, 55% (US-made content) is not high enough, and second, contractors don’t have to tell us the total domestic content of their products. They just have to tell us that they hit the threshold. With nobody checking. They’ve got a new sheriff in town. We’re going to be checking,” Biden said last July during a trip to Pennsylvania.