The Trump administration’s new President’s Management Agenda includes a goal to “Deliver Results and Buy American.” In a January 12, 2026, Federal News Network interview, a former FTC official explained why that goal runs into a tangle of different domestic-content rules.
Three different standards
- Made in USA (FTC): A marketing claim to consumers. An unqualified claim requires the product to be “all or virtually all” made in the USA, back to raw materials, with no more than de minimis foreign content.
- Buy American Act: Federal procurement. A product can have a sizable share of foreign content. Ensor discussed a 65% domestic content threshold that rises to 75% in 2029.
- Berry Amendment: Defense purchases of items such as food, clothing, fabric and specialty metals must contain exclusively USA content.
“Marketers that think that they’re doing their best, that know that they are, for example, compliant with Buy American, and wanna go out and tell that story about their US manufacturing to consumers, can find themselves in trouble with the FTC.”
Julia Ensor, counsel at Reed Smith and former FTC Made in USA program manager, to Federal News Network
Compliance advice
Ensor told contractors to keep in close contact with suppliers, require certifications and documents showing where components come from, and make notice of sourcing changes a contract term instead of relying on annual reviews. She warned that False Claims Act penalties can be significant and that whistleblower cases are “increasingly common.”
Why it matters for Made in USA
A company that qualifies as a Buy American supplier cannot assume it can put a Made in USA label on the same product for consumers. The FTC standard is stricter. Ensor said consistent rules would help businesses, but that consumers expect a Made in USA product to have essentially no foreign content.
FAQ
Is Buy American the same as Made in USA?
No. Buy American governs federal purchases and allows some foreign content. Made in USA is a consumer claim that requires all or virtually all USA content.
What is the Buy American domestic content threshold?
Ensor described a 65% threshold that rises to 75% in 2029.
What does the Berry Amendment require?
Covered defense items such as clothing, fabric, food and specialty metals must contain exclusively USA content.
Source & credit
Originally published by Federal News Network (Terry Gerton), January 12, 2026: The President’s PMA push to “Deliver Results and Buy American” meets a thicket of rules