Trade Agreements Act TAA Patrick Logan Agenda

Trade Agreements Act (TAA) Patrick Logan

Agenda Ø “What is TAA? ” Ø “Who Does What? ” Ø Evaluation of Offerors Ø Discussion/Questions 2

“What is TAA? ” FAR Subpart 25. 4—Trade Agreements Ø The Trade Agreements Act (19 U. S. C. 2501, et seq. ) provides the authority for the President to waive the Buy American Act and other discriminatory provisions for eligible products from countries that have signed an international trade agreement with the United States, or that meet certain other criteria, such as being a least developed country. ØThe value of the acquisition is a determining factor in the applicability of trade agreements. Most of these dollar thresholds are subject to revision by the U. S. Trade Representative approximately every 2 years. 3

“What is TAA? ” Trade Agreement Supply Contract (equal to or exceeding) WTO GPA (World Trade Organization Government $193, 000 Procurement Agreement ) FTAs (Free Trade Agreements ) Australia FTA $64, 786 Bahrain FTA $193, 000 CAFTA-DR (Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement) (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua) Chile FTA $64, 786 Morocco FTA $193, 000 NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) $64, 786 —Canada —Mexico $64, 786 Singapore FTA $64, 786 Israeli Trade Act 4 $25, 000 $50, 000

“Who Does What? ” The Contracting Officer… The contracting officer shall determine the origin of services by the country in which the firm providing the services is established. See Subpart 25. 5 for evaluation procedures for supply contracts covered by trade agreements. 5

“Who Does What? ” The Contract Holder… SEWP Contract Holders duty to notate such products to make that information available to acquiring Contracting Officers. 6

“Who Does What? ” The SEWP Program… For the purposes of SEWP, it is not our intention to restrict the sale of non-domestic end products. It is only our and SEWP Contract Holders duty to notate such products, to make that information available to acquiring Contracting Officers. 7

Subpart 25. 5—Evaluating Foreign Offers—Supply Contracts Ø The contracting officer— Ø (a) Must apply the evaluation procedures of this subpart to each line item of an offer unless either the offer or the solicitation specifies evaluation on a group basis (see 25. 503); Ø (b) May rely on the offeror’s certification of end product origin when evaluating a foreign offer; Ø (c) Must identify and reject offers of end products that are prohibited in accordance with Subpart 25. 7; and Ø (d) Must not use the Buy American Act evaluation factors prescribed in this subpart to provide a preference for one foreign offer over another foreign offer. 8

Discussion/Questions ………? ? ? 9