Build America, Buy America: How OEMs can leverage BABA to expand sales opportunities
Offering BABA‑compliant designs helps electrical OEMs unlock more federally funded infrastructure opportunities, clearly differentiate their proposals, and make it easier for customers to select their solution with confidence.
The Build America, Buy America (BABA) Act is reshaping how infrastructure projects in the United States are designed, sourced, and funded. For OEMs, that impact often shows up in a single line on a bid request: requirements tied to domestic content. You may not be the one applying for federal funding, but if you’re bidding on a BABA‑funded project, where you source your equipment matters more than ever. This article breaks BABA down in practical terms and highlights how offering BABA-compliant designs can help OEMs expand their sales opportunities and win more business.
BABA basics: What every OEM needs to know
BABA was passed in 2021 as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). It is now a permanent law supporting American manufacturing, domestic job growth, and resilient supply chains. The law applies to any federal financial assistance used for infrastructure projects at the federal, state, or local level. This is true even if only a small portion of the project funding is federal.
BABA requirements apply to water and wastewater facilities, transportation, airports, ports, dams, EV charging networks, broadband, electrical distribution, government buildings, universities, and more. However, OEMs are rarely the direct recipients of federal grants. It is the equipment they sell that is often installed in these funded projects. Failing to understand BABA or offer BABA‑compliant designs can shut OEMs out of these opportunities. This limits their ability to compete for and win federally funded work.
Navigating BABA calculations in OEM designs
Although BABA also applies to iron, steel, and construction materials, electrical OEMs are most likely to encounter the provisions related to manufactured equipment. For a project to be eligible for federal assistance, it is generally expected to use equipment manufactured in the U.S. More than 55% of the total component cost must be derived from components mined, produced, or manufactured domestically.
To be clear, there is no such thing as a “BABA compliant component.” Rather, BABA compliance is evaluated at the level of the OEM’s final design. For OEMs, that creates several practical challenges:
- A single electrical assembly can contain dozens or hundreds of components, each with different origins and costs.
- You must determine which components are manufactured in the U.S. and assign those costs correctly to ensure your design meets the domestic content threshold.
- You may also need documentation from suppliers that will stand up in a grant application, procurement review, or audit.
Many OEMs also rely on global suppliers to control costs and manage supply chain risks, so BABA may seem limiting at first glance. The good news is that BABA still allows some flexibility. If at least 55% of the total component cost in your final manufactured product comes from components made in the U.S., the remaining 45% can still be sourced globally. Nevertheless, without the right suppliers, bidding on a BABA project can quickly consume valuable sales time.
How NEMA’s Make It American™ certification helps you win BABA business
As agencies sharpen their focus on BABA compliance, OEMs need an easy way to prove that their designs are built on components manufactured in the U.S. In 2025, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) introduced the Make It American™ certification program, which uses independent, third‑party audits to validate that facilities and products align with the BABA domestic‑content requirements.
Now, instead of piecing together origin data from multiple vendors, electrical OEMs can look for the NEMA Make It American™ mark and in the NEMA BABA Registry to quickly identify manufacturers and product lines that have already passed the rigorous certification process. This makes it much easier and faster to document compliance in bids, streamline procurement reviews, and give grant administrators more confidence that your design supports U.S. manufacturing.
ABB participates in NEMA’s Make It American™ program, with selected U.S. facilities and product families undergoing the third‑party audit process to validate their supply‑chain management and BABA documentation practices. OEMs can now build BABA-compliant assemblies using domestically manufactured components such as the Tmax and Emax 2 circuit breakers; instrument transformers (CTs and PT/VTs); overhead disconnect switches, cutouts, and fuses; and test switches and accessories.
Turn BABA into a competitive advantage
As BABA continues to shape how infrastructure projects are specified and awarded, OEMs that can speak confidently about domestic content and clearly explain their compliance strategy will stand out. When you show customers that you understand how the 55% rule applies to your assemblies—and back it up with U.S.-manufactured components and solid documentation—you make it easier for them to choose your solution and help grow your business.
See related blog post “Intelligent low-voltage breakers for industrial microgrids.”
