Defense Procurement:
DOD Purchases of Foreign-Made Machine Tools
NSIAD-91-70: Published: Feb 15, 1991. Publicly Released: Mar 20, 1991.
Additional Materials:
- Full Report:
Contact:
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO analyzed the Department of Defense's (DOD): (1) procurement of foreign-made machine tools during fiscal years (FY) 1987 through 1989; and (2) use of waivers of the legislative restriction on purchasing machine tools not manufactured in the United States or Canada.
GAO found that: (1) between FY 1987 and 1989, DOD procured $29 million in foreign-made restricted machine tools and $1.9 million in nonrestricted foreign-made machine tools; (2) waivers were approved on $16.5 million of the foreign-made, restricted machine tool procurements; (3) about $10.4 million of the procurements were not subject to the appropriation acts' restriction, since DOD procured the tools with funds appropriated to it before the machine tools became restricted, awarded the procurements before the effective date of the restriction, did not purchase the tools for government use or a DOD-controlled facility, modified contracts that were exempt from the restriction, or purchased the tools as spare parts for an existing machine tool; (4) between FY 1987 and 1989, the military services and agencies requested 57 waivers for foreign-made, restricted machine tool purchases totalling $18.3 million; (5) most waivers were properly approved before the procurement was awarded, signed by appropriate approving official, and approved for the appropriate reason; (6) in 1989, the military services procured $1.2 million of tools that were subject to the restriction provisions; (7) the Buy American Act was rarely applicable to DOD foreign-made machine tool procurement; (8) DOD did not identify all machine tools of foreign manufacture in its procurement reporting system; and (9) DOD reliance on contractor self-certifications could allow them to pass off foreign-made machine tools as domestic items.
Dec 15, 2020
The Nation's Fiscal Health:
Information on the Spending and Revenue Implications of Potential Debt TargetsGAO-21-211: Published: Dec 15, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 15, 2020.
Oct 7, 2020
-
The Nation's Fiscal Health:
A Long-Term Plan Is Needed for Fiscal SustainabilityGAO-21-161T: Published: Oct 7, 2020. Publicly Released: Oct 7, 2020.
Sep 23, 2020
-
The Nation's Fiscal Health:
Effective Use of Fiscal Rules and TargetsGAO-20-561: Published: Sep 23, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 23, 2020.
Jan 23, 2020
-
Federal Trust Funds and Other Dedicated Funds:
Fiscal Sustainability Is a Growing Concern for Some Key FundsGAO-20-156: Published: Jan 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Jan 23, 2020.
Dec 19, 2019
-
State and Local Governments' Fiscal Outlook:
2019 UpdateGAO-20-269SP: Published: Dec 19, 2019. Publicly Released: Dec 19, 2019.
Nov 14, 2019
-
Certificated Expenditures:
Executive Office of the President FY 2018 Certificated Expenditures Were Spent for Authorized PurposesGAO-20-139R: Published: Nov 14, 2019. Publicly Released: Nov 14, 2019.
Oct 16, 2019
-
Civilian Personnel:
Additional Guidance and Consistent Data Reporting Could Help Improve the Marine Corps' Budget ManagementGAO-20-148: Published: Oct 16, 2019. Publicly Released: Oct 16, 2019.
Jun 26, 2019
-
The Nation's Fiscal Health:
Actions Needed to Achieve Long-Term Fiscal SustainabilityGAO-19-611T: Published: Jun 26, 2019. Publicly Released: Jun 26, 2019.
Apr 10, 2019
-
The Nation's Fiscal Health:
Action Is Needed to Address the Federal Government's Fiscal FutureGAO-19-314SP: Published: Apr 10, 2019. Publicly Released: Apr 10, 2019.
Mar 27, 2019
-
Fiscal Exposures:
Federal Insurance and Other Activities That Transfer Risk or Losses to the GovernmentGAO-19-353: Published: Mar 27, 2019. Publicly Released: Mar 27, 2019.
Looking for more? Browse all our products here
Explore our Key Issues on Budget and Spending
Explore our other Key Issues here
