The President’s New(est) Buy American Act Executive Order (Not as Big a Deal as It Seems)

You may have seen reports about the President’s July 15, 2019, Executive Order on the Buy American Act. The first two BAA Executive Orders were basically “study the BAA and maybe try not to invoke exceptions as often as you do now.”  This third Order supposedly has teeth.  But here is my contrarian view: this one is not that big a deal.  Let’s look at what the Order does, and what it doesn’t do.