Overview
FAR 25.105 establishes a framework for identifying specific "critical components" and "critical items" that receive enhanced price preferences under the Buy American statute to support the domestic industrial base.
Key Rules
- Designation and Preference: The section provides for a specific list of articles and their associated preference factors, which are used to evaluate the cost of domestic end products.
- Periodic Review: The list of critical articles must be published in the Federal Register for public comment at least once every four years to ensure it remains current.
- Public Petitions: Parties may submit unsolicited recommendations for deletions from the list at any time, provided they include sufficient supporting data and rationale.
- Cost Reasonableness Linkage: This section serves as the regulatory anchor for the specific price evaluation procedures found in FAR 25.106(c).
Practical Implications
- Contractors must monitor this section and the Federal Register closely, as items designated as "critical" are subject to higher price preference margins, making foreign-sourced versions of these items significantly less competitive during the bid evaluation process.
- The structured review process provides industry stakeholders a formal mechanism to influence domestic sourcing policy by providing data on the availability or criticality of specific components.