Construction contractors are between a rock and a hard place: What the Biden administration’s IIJA has gifted with a hike in construction work, Buy America policies have taken away by making the work much pricier to perform. Construction costs rose almost 3 percent during the first quarter of 2023, and contractors have seen a 50 percent increase over the past two years. That has the transportation industry nervous for the future. The Biden administration has heavily campaigned the Buy America Act (BABA) with a goal of growing the policy into new areas. A proposed new rulemaking project with a goal of applying BABA to manufactured products is scheduled to be published in April. The Biden administration has applauded the $92 million increase in highway spending that was a major chunk of IIJA. “Unfortunately, it is increasingly likely that inflation will wipe out the entirety of that funding increase,” believes Scribner. “New Buy America requirements on manufactured products will make this problem even worse.”
https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/inflation-has-contractors-taking-pass-on-federally-funded-transportation-projects/63699