By Alexa Burr, NEMA SVP of Strategic Growth and Membership
The push to make it easier to identify and buy American-made products for federally funded infrastructure is picking up speed.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and Arkansas Department of Transportation have become the first state DOTs to recognize NEMA’s Make It American® program as an industry resource, an important step toward giving manufacturers, contractors, and public agencies a clearer and more consistent way to navigate domestic-content requirements.
In Texas, TxDOT now lists NEMA’s Make It American program as an industry resource supporting its Federal Domestic Materials Program and Build America, Buy America Act (BABA)-related infrastructure projects. NEMA continues to work with TxDOT to explore additional ways the program can be leveraged with TxDOT’s Gold Star program to benefit contractors, manufacturers, and the agency alike.
In Arkansas, ARDOT incorporated a direct reference to NEMA’s product listing into its special project provisions — meaning contractors there can point to the Make It American BABA Registry as an accepted form of certification to demonstrate BABA compliance.
That matters because the challenge facing manufacturers is no longer simply whether a product is made in America. It is proving it.
The Build America, Buy America Act established domestic content requirements for federally funded infrastructure projects, aimed at strengthening U.S. manufacturing and expanding the use of domestic products. In practice, though, manufacturers, contractors, and project owners often face significant complexity in determining whether products qualify, assembling the right documentation, and demonstrating compliance consistently across different projects and agencies.
Make It American was built to make that process easier.
NEMA’s third-party certification program independently evaluates manufacturers against the NEMA 70901-2024 process standard and product-specific BABA requirements. Certified facilities and products are then listed in NEMA’s public Make It American BABA Registry, providing buyers and government agencies a readily accessible source for identifying manufacturers and products positioned to meet domestic content requirements. The program now includes product specifications covering 10 categories, from wire and cable and distribution equipment to electric motors, EV charging equipment, and changeable message signs.
Recognition Is Growing in Washington, Too
Texas and Arkansas are building on federal momentum.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in October 2025 formally recognized Make It American as an official industry resource for manufacturers, contractors, and state DOTs navigating domestic-preference requirements for federally funded highway projects. That recognition takes on added significance as the FHWA phases in additional domestic-content requirements for manufactured products beginning October 1, 2026.
Congress is moving in the same direction.
This spring, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced the bipartisan BUILD America 250 Act by a 62-2 vote, including language providing that documentation generated under the Make It American Process Standard would constitute “sufficient evidence” of compliance with applicable domestic content certification requirements. Importantly, it preserves other lawful compliance methods while creating a clear, streamlined pathway for manufacturers and buyers who choose to use the NEMA standard to identify and demonstrate compliance with confidence.
And momentum is expanding beyond transportation.
Rep. Tracey Mann (R-KS) and a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced the Build American Efficiency Act, which would encourage the Department of Housing and Urban Development to recognize auditable and verifiable systems such as Make It American when determining compliance for federally funded housing projects. The legislation is designed to reduce duplicative paperwork, uncertainty, and waiver requests.
Taken together, these developments point toward something bigger than recognition of a single NEMA program. They show government and industry converging around a basic principle: domestic content requirements work better when manufacturers have clear rules, purchasers have trusted information, and agencies have consistent documentation they can rely on. Just as important, they reflect a shared recognition that investing in U.S. manufacturing isn’t just a policy goal — it’s a practical necessity for building the infrastructure the country needs.
America is investing heavily in transportation, energy, housing, and other critical infrastructure. Electrical manufacturers are investing billions alongside it, with more than $200 billion deployed nationwide since 2018. At the same time, industry is taking a proactive role in making it easier to identify and deliver U.S.-made, BABA-compliant products. The next step is making sure that progress helps — rather than slows — the effort to build more of what America needs here at home.
With federal recognition, bipartisan support in Congress, and now leadership from Texas and Arkansas, NEMA’s Make It American program is increasingly becoming part of that solution.
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