Law360 Quotes Stephen Kho on OMB ‘Buy America’ Guidance
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For its article “Final 'Buy America' Guidance For Infrastructure Is Here,” Law360 quoted Akin international trade partner Stephen Kho. The article looks at final guidance intended to assist and inform compliance with the Build America, Buy America Act, which requires, Law360 notes, federally funded infrastructure projects to use iron, steel and other material made in America.
The article notes that an April alert from Akin trade lawyers had raised concerns that the then-proposed guidance did not include anything about the U.S.’s international trade obligation.
In releasing the guidance, the White House said the Act is consistent with international agreements, writes Law360. Stephen said that, while the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) took “a step in the right direction in providing clarity, we are struck by the fact that despite numerous concerns raised from various commenters about the need for explicit clarification in the regulations that the United States will abide by its international treaty obligations, OMB has still decided that no clarification and no affirmation of consistency with U.S. obligations are needed.”
