The Berry Amendment (USC, Title 10, Section 2533a), requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to give preference in procurement to domestically produced, manufactured, or home-grown products, most notably food, clothing, fabrics, and specialty metals.
This provision requires that specialty metals incorporated in products delivered under DOD contracts be melted in the United States or a “qualifying country”.
The revised statute[3] now includes exemptions for certain Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) items, a de minimis exception for small amounts of non-domestic metal (excluding high-performance magnets), a market basket approach to measuring the amount of domestic metal content in articles delivered to DOD, and a national security waiver to prevent the delay in delivery of critically needed systems to troops in combat.
1), passed by both houses of Congress on February 13, 2009, included legislation offered by Congressman Larry Kissell (D-NC) mandating that any textile and apparel products contracted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) be manufactured in the United States with 100 percent U.S. inputs.
During his first term in congress, Berry introduced an amendment to the Buy American Act to expand the law to cover all clothing, cotton, and wool.