On January 23, 2023, Diz Locaria was quoted in Bloomberg Government on the new Buy American provision for Department of Homeland Security (DHS). According to the article, the Invent Here, Make Here for Homeland Security Act, passed as part of the year-end defense spending bill, will apply to patents that originate from DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate, an office whose annual procurement portfolio includes around $500 million.
The provision dictates that inventions licensed by nonprofits and small businesses must be “manufactured substantially” in the United States unless it’s “not commercially feasible.” In that case, the DHS secretary could grant a waiver, but no exceptions will be offered for vendors with components originating from “countries of concern,” such as China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
Locaria doesn’t see the legislation having a major effect on procurement: “I don’t want to say it’s symbolic, but I also don’t think it’s going to be the one thing that brings manufacturing back to the United States.”
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