DHS FY 2019 Annual Posting of Buy American Act Domestic Nonavailability Waiver Actions

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) annually publishes a list of procurement actions that utilized Buy American Act (BAA) domestic nonavailability waivers to enhance transparency and promote awareness of compliance efforts. For the fiscal year 2019, DHS executed 669 contract actions valued at approximately $65 million under these waivers, which accounted for about 1.57 percent of the Department’s procurement obligations subject to BAA compliance. The majority of these contracts were awarded by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), primarily for aircraft-related components such as accessories, airframe structural parts, torque converters, speed changers, and rotor blades. These acquisitions are necessary because the USCG relies on original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), many of which are foreign, to maintain equipment warranties and operational integrity. The USCG’s limited access to proprietary data rights often restricts its sourcing options, compelling reliance on foreign OEMs despite the preference for domestic procurement to comply with the BAA. This situation underscores the challenges faced in balancing regulatory compliance with mission-critical needs for maintaining and servicing aircraft and other assets. The contract information, managed by the Departmental Operations Acquisition Division I within DHS, was officially posted in March 2020 and is part of an ongoing effort to document and disclose domestic nonavailability waiver usage under the Buy American Act.