A Build America, Buy America law is causing construction delays amid the US housing crisis - AP News

A law requiring that most materials in federally funded affordable housing are made in America is fully kicking in. But it is wreaking havoc on affordable developments. Developers are reporting delays, higher costs and hundreds of hours spent figuring out how to comply with the Build America, Buy America Act as prices soar for renters and homebuyers. Developers and housing agencies can ask for exceptions, but the Department of Housing and Urban Development has hardly been approving those requests. The process is going more smoothly for other agencies. The law's supporters say it will boost...

Schematics for an affordable housing project are posted Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo/Patrick Whittle)

It has a catchy name — Build America, Buy America — and the lauded goal of bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States.

But the law has spurred a bottleneck for affordable housing.

Nearly everything from HVACs and lighting to sink hooks and ceiling fans in affordable housing projects that get federal dollars must carry the Made in the USA label. But, developers say, numerous products do not, as they have long been imported from overseas markets with cheaper labor costs.

Although builders can apply for waivers, the process has been at a near standstill as the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which has had its staff slashed by the Trump administration, has only greenlit a handful of projects.

The waiver process has caused construction delays and hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra costs as the country faces an affordable housing crisis.

Tyler Norod, from the Westbrook Development Corporation, stands for a photo at a development site Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo/Patrick Whittle)

“They need to be treating this like the fire that it is,” said Tyler Norod, president of Westbrook Development Corporation, which builds affordable housing in Maine.

“We’ve sort of resigned ourselves that we’re just gonna build less units across the entire country during a housing crisis.”

Diana Lene has been on affordable housing waitlists for the past five years. The 75-year-old loves living close to her daughter and grandchildren in Fargo, North Dakota, but her apartment is too expensive on her Social Security income.

Diana Lene poses for a selfie photo at her home in Fargo, North Dakota on March 13. 2026. (Diana Lene via AP)

“It’s just maxing my budget down to pennies,” she said. To save money, she avoids driving often and buys food on sale.

“I’m just trying to keep a roof over my head, but it’s getting more and more difficult,” Lene said. “I don’t like to live in fear, and yet sometimes it jumps in there.”

Lene is on a waitlist for one of nonprofit developer Beyond Shelter’s apartments. CEO Dan Madler is building a 36-unit building for people like Lene, but he had to postpone lumber orders to verify they comply with the law and can’t find ceiling fans made in America. He doesn’t know when HUD will approve a waiver.

U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Build America, Buy America Act as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021, building on longstanding efforts to boost American manufacturing at a time when the U.S. economy was emerging from a pandemic-era recession. Known as BABA, it applies to infrastructure projects funded by federal agencies, not just affordable housing.

Denver developer Julie Hoebel says she has spent over $60,000 just on a consultant to comb through websites and call suppliers to try to find American-made materials, not to mention the additional labor costs involved.

But the waivers she submitted to HUD in November for around 125 materials in an 85-unit building haven’t been approved.

“If they take much longer then we’ll come to a standstill,” she said.

Julie Hoebel, director of development and real estate assets for Grovewood Community Development, poses for a portrait in the courtyard of the Sapling Grove Apartments, an affordable housing complex, in Aurora, Colo., on Friday, March 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

HUD is taking at least six months to approve many waivers.

Even BABA advocates agree HUD must grant waivers more quickly and give the industry clearer instructions on how to prepare them, which they note other federal agencies are doing.

This article is republished through the USVI News affiliate desk. Reporting, analysis, and viewpoints are those of the original publisher and do not necessarily reflect USVI News.