Berry Amendment

The Berry Amendment (10 USC 4862) is a domestic preference law requiring the Department of Defense to acquire specific categories of items - primarily food, clothing, fabrics, fibers, yarns, and hand or measuring tools - that are grown, reprocessed, reused, or produced in the United States.

What is the Berry Amendment?

The Berry Amendment is one of the strictest domestic preference requirements in federal law. Unlike the Buy American Act, which allows waivers for cost and availability and permits trade agreement country products under certain circumstances, the Berry Amendment imposes a stricter "100 percent domestic" requirement with narrower exceptions. The law applies to DoD contracts and is implemented through DFARS 252.225-7012.

The covered item categories are: food, clothing, fabrics, fibers, yarns, other made-up textiles, hand or measuring tools, and specialty metals to the extent required by a separate specialty metals clause (DFARS 252.225-7009). For food, the requirement extends to the agricultural products themselves - not just the processing location. For textiles and clothing, the requirement covers the entire supply chain from fiber through final product: yarn, fabric, dyeing, cutting, and sewing must all occur in the United States.

The Berry Amendment has limited exceptions: items not available in the US in sufficient commercial quantities, items produced outside the US under a qualifying country product exception (though the specialty metals and textiles categories have very limited country exceptions), emergency acquisitions under urgent operational needs, and acquisitions below the micro-purchase threshold. The Trade Agreements Act waiver that applies to Buy American Act requirements does not apply to Berry Amendment items - Berry Amendment coverage is absolute except for the narrow statutory exceptions.

Why the Berry Amendment matters for government contractors

Defense contractors supplying food, clothing, textiles, or tools under DoD contracts face one of the most demanding domestic preference regimes in procurement. Supply chain certification for Berry Amendment compliance requires tracing the origin of inputs back to raw materials, not just the final manufacturing step. Companies that assume TAA compliance or a US final assembly location satisfies Berry Amendment requirements are wrong. False certifications of Berry Amendment compliance have resulted in significant enforcement actions and substantial settlements.

Example

A uniform manufacturer wins a DoD contract to supply military clothing and personal protective equipment. The Berry Amendment requires that all textiles, thread, fabrics, and components be US-origin - yarn spun from US cotton, woven into US fabric, cut and sewn in US facilities. The manufacturer's supply chain compliance team maps every input component, verifies domestic origin certificates from fabric mills and yarn suppliers, and establishes supplier certification protocols requiring domestic origin attestations for all covered materials. When a cost reduction opportunity arises involving imported polyester yarn from a lower-cost supplier, the compliance officer rejects it as Berry Amendment-non-compliant and sources from a US yarn producer instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Berry Amendment apply to civilian agency contracts?

The Berry Amendment applies specifically to Department of Defense appropriations. Civilian agency contracts are not subject to the Berry Amendment, though they may be subject to the Buy American Act and other domestic preference requirements. Companies supplying clothing and textiles to civilian agencies should focus on Buy American Act compliance rather than Berry Amendment requirements.

Are there any country exceptions to the Berry Amendment like there are under the Trade Agreements Act?

Berry Amendment compliance requirements are not waived by trade agreements the way Buy American Act requirements can be. The DFARS specialty metals clause has a "qualifying country" exception for metals from certain treaty allies, but the Berry Amendment's clothing and textile requirements are much stricter with very limited country exceptions. This is a key distinction from Buy American Act compliance - Berry Amendment is more restrictive.

How does the Berry Amendment interact with the "specialty metals" clause?

DFARS 252.225-7009 (Restriction on Acquisition of Certain Articles Containing Specialty Metals) is a related but separate domestic preference requirement covering specialty metals (titanium, zirconium, nickel alloys, and other specific metals) incorporated into certain DoD items. The Berry Amendment and specialty metals clause are implemented through separate DFARS clauses and have somewhat different scope and exceptions. Defense contractors dealing with metal components should review both clauses to understand their overlapping requirements.

What penalties apply for Berry Amendment violations?

Berry Amendment violations can result in the same consequences as other federal domestic preference violations: contract termination for default, False Claims Act civil liability with treble damages and civil penalties, debarment proceedings, and criminal prosecution in egregious cases. Given the volume of DoD textile and clothing procurement, enforcement actions have resulted in multi-million dollar settlements. DoD contractors in the covered categories should treat Berry Amendment compliance as a core business process rather than an afterthought.