If you buy industrial computers for a Department of Defense (DoD) program or a civilian agency, you’ve likely seen vendor pages say “Made in USA.” Other pages call a product compliant with the Trade Agreements Act (TAA). Neither claim tells you whether a panel PC, rackmount chassis or hazardous-location computer will satisfy the Buy American Act (BAA) clauses in your solicitation. Your company certifies origin in its own offer, so it’s worth knowing exactly what the Buy American rules treat as a domestic product.
The Buy American rules are stable as of September 2026. But the government-wide rewrite of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) is still in progress and has not yet issued a formal rule for Part 25. Nothing here is legal advice. The clauses in your own solicitation decide what applies, and your contracting officer is the one who evaluates offers and applies any exception.
Buy American Act Requirements Come Down to Two Tests
The Buy American Act was enacted in 1933, is codified at 41 U.S.C. chapter 83 and appears in the FAR as the Buy American statute. The statute requires manufactured articles bought for public use to be manufactured in the United States substantially all from domestic articles, materials or supplies. Regulation sets the specific percentages, along with a separate test for iron and steel products. Under FAR 25.101, a manufactured end product is a domestic end product only if it passes two tests.
The first test, manufacture in the United States, calls for judgment. Neither the FAR nor the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) defines “manufacture.” In decisions dated 1967 to 1987, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) read the term as completing the article in the form the government requires for use. Those decisions set no current bright line. The second test requires the cost of the product’s domestic components to exceed the required share of the cost of all its components.
The domestic component threshold is 65 percent for items delivered in calendar years 2024 through 2028 and 75 percent for items delivered starting in 2029. It was 60 percent for contracts awarded in 2022 and 2023. Because the delivery year decides which threshold applies, 65 percent governs deliveries in 2026. On a contract whose deliveries span a threshold step, each delivery must meet the threshold in effect in its own delivery year. The agency’s senior procurement executive can approve applying the threshold in effect at award instead.
In the component test, parts of unknown origin count as foreign. Because component cost excludes the costs of manufacturing the end product, assembly labor and final manufacturing do nothing to raise the domestic share. A computer assembled in the United States from mostly imported components can pass the manufacturing test and still fail the component test.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) makes a related point under its separate standard for marketing claims. Its guidance describes a computer whose major components, including the motherboard and hard drive, are imported. When a simple “screwdriver” operation in the United States puts those parts together, the finished computer does not qualify for an “Assembled in USA” claim.
How TAA Compliance and DoD Rules Differ From the Buy American Test
The TAA works through a waiver. In acquisitions covered by the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement (WTO GPA) and free trade agreements, the U.S. Trade Representative has waived the Buy American statute for eligible products. For supply contracts, the WTO GPA threshold is $174,000 for calendar years 2026 and 2027, with some free trade agreement thresholds set lower. At or above the WTO GPA threshold, agencies may acquire only U.S.-made or designated country end products. Trade agreements do not apply to acquisitions set aside for small businesses, where the Buy American Act still applies.
Under the TAA, a U.S.-made end product is one manufactured in the United States or substantially transformed there into a new and different article of commerce. A designated country end product can come from a WTO GPA, free trade agreement, least developed or Caribbean Basin country. Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Germany are designated countries, but China is not. A TAA compliant product can therefore be made abroad in a designated country, while a Buy American domestic end product must be manufactured in the United States and pass the component test. TAA compliance does not make a product Buy American Act compliant.
DoD applies the same two-part test and the same 60, 65 and 75 percent schedule through DFARS subpart 225.1. DoD adopted this approach in DFARS Case 2022-D019, effective February 15, 2024. DFARS also recognizes qualifying countries, meaning countries with a reciprocal defense procurement agreement with the United States. Their components count toward the domestic share. DoD does not apply Buy American restrictions to qualifying country end products.
Taiwan and South Korea are designated countries under the TAA but not qualifying countries at DoD, while China is on neither list. At DoD the trade agreements apply only to listed product groups. Automatic data processing equipment (product group 70) is one of them, so trade agreement coverage for an industrial computer at DoD depends on how the item is classified.
| Buy American Act | Trade Agreements Act |
|---|---|
| Where the product must be made | |
| Manufactured in the United States | United States or a designated country |
| Domestic component test | |
| Required, but waived for COTS items | No component test applies |
| Threshold for 2026 deliveries | |
| Domestic component cost above 65 percent of the total | No percentage threshold |
| Contract value where it applies | |
| Above micro-purchase threshold, waived for eligible trade agreement items | $174,000 or more under the WTO GPA, some agreements lower |
| Small business set-asides | |
| Still applies | Does not apply |
| Certificate in the offer | |
| Buy American Certificate under FAR 52.225-2 | FAR 52.225-6, each end product U.S.-made or designated country |
| At DoD under DFARS | |
| Same test and schedule, qualifying country components count as domestic | Only listed product groups, including automatic data processing equipment |
What Your Company Signs in the Buy American Certificate
Your company certifies origin in the Buy American Certificate, FAR 52.225-2 or DFARS 252.225-7000 at DoD. Any end product manufactured in the United States that does not qualify as domestic must be listed there as foreign. The certificate is part of the annual representations and certifications in the System for Award Management (SAM), which registrants review and update at least once a year. In TAA acquisitions, the offeror certifies under FAR 52.225-6 that each end product is a U.S.-made or designated country end product. After award, the contractor must deliver only domestic end products, except where it specified foreign end products in its offer.
The certification is your company’s, and a component your vendor can’t trace counts as foreign in the component test. Before you certify, put these questions to any vendor claiming BAA compliance.
- Can the vendor supply a statement of the country of origin for your specific configuration? Configurations differ, so one per build shows stronger traceability than a catalog-wide corporate statement.
- Where is the enclosure fabricated, and who owns the tooling?
- Which components can’t the vendor trace? If they leave a unit manufactured in the United States below the required share, you must list it as foreign on your certificate.
False Buy American certifications have led to False Claims Act settlements with the Department of Justice (DOJ). In 2022 a Colorado scientific instrument supplier paid $625,000. The settlement covered instruments certified as domestic that were allegedly made in China. A 2025 settlement cost a Connecticut lighting supplier $300,000 over alleged false Buy American and TAA certifications. Both settlements resolved allegations without a determination of liability.
Executive Order 14392, dated March 13, 2026, directs agencies that run government-wide contracts to periodically verify “Buy American Act” and similar American-origin claims. Those contracts include Multiple Award Schedules and government-wide indefinite-delivery contracts. The order also directs them to refer misrepresentations to DOJ, which may pursue False Claims Act actions.
Need details on Dynics’ U.S. manufacturing capabilities or documentation for an upcoming bid?
Where Dynics Fits in a Buy American Act Bid
Dynics products support programs carrying BAA and TAA sourcing requirements. The company’s panel PCs, monitors, rackmount chassis and security appliances are engineered, fabricated, assembled and tested at a 37,500 square foot facility in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Like any modern industrial computer, a Dynics system depends on a global electronics supply chain. Processors, memory, storage, chipsets and displays may come from different countries. Dynics builds those components into finished industrial systems that it engineers, manufactures, assembles, configures and tests in the United States.
Stamping, bending, welding and finishing run under the same roof as final assembly and test. Dynics has built plant-floor hardware since 1997, with more than three quarters of its staff working in product development, design, assembly and service.
Configuration matters for more than fit, because a modified or configured-to-order unit may not qualify as a commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) item. Even COTS status waives only the component test. At Dynics, custom cutouts, mounting modifications and other mechanical changes are handled within the same manufacturing operation rather than passed between separate facilities or suppliers. Since COTS status is decided product by product, share the configuration you’re specifying, cutouts and mounting changes included, with a Dynics engineer through the contact page.
Dynics controls the finished product rather than reselling an imported system. Buyers work directly with the engineering and manufacturing staff who build and support it.
Frequently Asked Questions About Buy American Act Compliance
What is Buy American Act compliance for industrial computers?
An industrial computer is Buy American Act compliant when it qualifies as a domestic end product under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 25.101. It must be manufactured in the United States. For deliveries in 2024 through 2028, the cost of its domestic components must also exceed 65 percent of the cost of all its components. That threshold rises to 75 percent for deliveries starting in 2029. Because exceptions apply and the Act does not govern every purchase, check the clauses in your solicitation.
What is the difference between BAA and TAA compliance?
Buy American Act (BAA) compliance requires manufacture in the United States plus a domestic share of component cost above the required threshold. Trade Agreements Act (TAA) compliance requires a U.S.-made or designated country end product. A TAA compliant computer can therefore come from a designated country such as Taiwan, Japan, South Korea or Germany, but not from China. TAA compliance does not make a product BAA compliant.
How do I verify that industrial hardware is BAA compliant?
Check both tests in FAR 25.101 against the exact configuration you’re buying. Manufacture in the United States takes judgment, since the regulations leave the term undefined. Domestic components must exceed the required share of total component cost for the delivery year, with parts of unknown origin counted as foreign. Ask the vendor whether it can state the origin of that configuration, where the enclosure is fabricated and who owns the tooling. The certification in your offer is your company’s, so confirm the clauses with your contracting officer.
What does COTS status waive for an industrial computer?
For a commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) item, only the component test is waived. The computer must still be manufactured in the United States. A COTS item is sold to the government without modification, in the same form it is sold in the commercial marketplace, so a modified or configured-to-order unit may not qualify. Whether a given configuration counts as COTS is decided product by product.
What are the main exceptions to the Buy American Act?
Commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) items are exempt from the component test, though they must still be manufactured in the United States. The Act does not apply to commercial information technology bought with fiscal year 2004 or later funds. The FAR definition of information technology excludes equipment whose embedded information technology is not its principal function, so use decides whether an industrial computer qualifies. The U.S. Trade Representative has also waived the Act for eligible products in acquisitions covered by trade agreements. Your contracting officer applies any exception.
Does Dynics build industrial computers for programs with Buy American Act requirements?
Dynics products support programs carrying Buy American Act (BAA) and Trade Agreements Act (TAA) sourcing requirements. Whether a unit fits your bid still depends on the configuration you specify, the documentation for that specific product and the clauses in your solicitation. Ask Dynics the same questions you’d put to any vendor about that exact build, including where its enclosure is fabricated and who owns the tooling.
Built to Your Spec Under One Roof
Send the exact configuration your program calls for, including any cutouts or mounting changes, and we’ll quote hardware engineered, fabricated, assembled and tested in Ann Arbor.
