U.S. Chamber of Commerce - October 31 - U.S. Chamber Opposes Specialty Metals Provision in House Defense Authorization Bill

October 31, 2007

U.S. Chamber Opposes Specialty Metals Provision in House Defense Authorization Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C.-The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today urged conferees to the Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1585) to remove language included in the House-passed version of the bill that would make it more difficult for companies to supply critical products to our fighting men and women. The Chamber pointed to problems with four "specialty metals" provisions in the bill that would kill American jobs and cause unnecessary harm to small and large manufacturers supplying products to the Department of Defense (DOD).

"Congress needs to strike these flawed specialty metals provisions in order to preserve a strong industrial base and protect our armed forces," said Bruce Josten, Chamber executive vice president of government affairs. "DOD and industry need more relief from current specialty metals requirements, but unfortunately Congress is considering throwing up more road blocks."

The Chamber is concerned about Sections 808, 809, 845, and 846 in the House-passed Defense Authorization bill. These sections impose costly administrative requirements on DOD contractors as well as small suppliers, forcing them to track the country of origin for all specialty metal content on a part-by-part basis. Specialty metals include: steel, titanium and titanium alloys, zirconium and zirconium alloys, and other metal alloys consisting of nickel, iron-nickel and cobalt.

These new sections would prevent DOD from obtaining entire systems even when the country of origin of only a small quantity of specialty metal was unknown. The Chamber, along with the White House and the defense industry, has been working to ease these impractical restrictions.

"If these changes are enacted, it would force some companies out of doing business with DOD, cause major supply chain disruptions, and significantly increase overall costs to DOD and the American taxpayer," said Josten.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

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