President Joe Biden vowed on Monday to leverage the purchasing power of the US government, the world’s biggest single buyer of goods and services, to strengthen domestic manufacturing and create markets for new technologies.
The Democratic president signed an executive order aimed at closing loopholes in existing “Buy American” provisions, which apply to about a third of the $600-billion in goods and services the federal government buys each year. The order will make any waivers more transparent and create a senior White House role to oversee the process.