President Biden announced “new standards to require all construction materials used in federal infrastructure projects to be made in America!

In his State of the Union speech last week, President Biden announced “new standards to require all construction materials used in federal infrastructure projects to be made in America,” including lumber, glass, drywall and fiber-optic cables,” which drew applause from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.. Then the Office of Management of Budget followed up the next morning with proposed guidance for the new standards. But what does this all mean exactly?

“For decades, Buy America laws focused on iron and steel and only covered certain federally funded infrastructure projects,” said a statement from the White House ahead of the speech. “Once finalized, these standards will apply to virtually all infrastructure spending supported by federal financial assistance—not simply roads and bridges, but also buildings, water infrastructure and high-speed internet, providing consistency for companies and state and local governments to apply the standards and a strong federal government-wide demand signal.”