New housing bill would build Americans the affordable housing they need while supporting valuable U.S. manufacturing jobs.
One of the most significant federal housing packages in decades, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, is now awaiting the president’s signature. As the federal government moves to tackle the nation’s housing shortage, an important debate has emerged over how to ensure these investments both expand supply and strengthen the U.S. economy.
Housing affordability is a defining economic challenge. Policymakers are right to focus on building more homes and lowering costs. The drivers of high housing costs are well understood: labor shortages in the construction trades, high interest rates, rising land and materials costs, restrictive zoning policies, and years of underbuilding. These structural issues are at the core of the crisis
That context matters when evaluating the role of Buy America.
The 2021 Build America, Buy America Act (BABA) ensures that taxpayer-backed infrastructure projects rely on U.S.-made iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials. It is about creating jobs in the communities affected by rising housing costs, rebuilding local supply chains, and reducing reliance on imports from countries like China. This is a commonsense principle that consistently earns overwhelming, bipartisan support from Americans who want federal investments to strengthen U.S. manufacturing.
As Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) President Scott Paul noted in an op-ed earlier this year, blaming Buy America for housing challenges is shortsighted.
Congress heard that message, and the housing bill focuses on ensuring Buy America remains strong. It directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to review its BABA implementation, issue updated guidance, and report back to Congress. This is a logical step. HUD has been slow to process waivers and has not provided clear, consistent guidance to stakeholders. Improving execution, rather than weakening the law, is the right path forward.
HUD is already beginning that work. The Department recently issued a Request for Information (RFI) to gather granular information on the availability of certain manufactured products used in housing, including HVAC systems, electrical components, plumbing fixtures, and other manufactured products. HUD correctly recognized that supply chain challenges are not broad across all materials. Core inputs like iron, steel, and lumber are readily available, and U.S. production will be further strengthened by Buy America.
HUD is focused on certain manufactured product categories where domestic production is still developing, and it has signaled that this process could lead to smarter, more targeted waivers while creating market signals for companies to invest in expanding U.S. capacity. That is how Buy America is intended to work.
AAM plans to submit comments on the HUD RFI, and it is critical that manufacturers, suppliers, and labor representatives do the same. The strength of this process will depend on stakeholders providing input about existing production, planned expansions, and realistic supply chain constraints. That input will help ensure that any resulting waivers of the BABA law are calibrated appropriately and do not undercut domestic producers and their workers.
Unfortunately, some proposals in Congress move in the opposite direction.
Legislation recently introduced by Reps. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) and Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.), H.R. 9311, the Build Housing Affordably Act, would pause Buy America requirements for housing projects and impose automatic waiver approvals if HUD does not act within an arbitrary and rigid timeline. Pausing Buy America would weaken demand for U.S.-made products across the board, including materials that are readily available domestically. Equally problematic, automatic approvals would turn the waiver process into a rubber stamp. HUD should be held accountable for timely decisions, but rigid deadlines paired with forced approvals go too far.
Congress should keep Buy America strong while ensuring that HUD has both the direction and resources to implement it effectively. With better guidance, improved data, and targeted waivers, HUD can accelerate housing development while strengthening American manufacturing.
The goal should not be to choose between affordable housing and domestic production. The goal is to achieve both by building more homes and building them with American-made materials.