As a GSA Schedule contractor, there are a few pre-requisites you need to follow before you can begin preparing your GSA Schedule proposal that also continue throughout the life of your contract. One of the qualifications you need is to make sure you are complying with is the Trade Agreements Act (TAA). In order to maintain TAA compliance with your GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract, you must agree each “final product” you sell will have been “substantially transformed” in the United States or in a signatory country designated by the TAA, throughout the entirety of your contract term.
While it may sound complicated, you just need to make sure you fully understand what TAA compliance means and how you can abide by the rules. Here's what you need to know.
Table of Contents:
TAA compliance simply means the “final products” you sell through your GSA Schedule as a product manufacturer or GSA reseller cannot be made in certain countries including, but not limited to:
In other words, the products you sell through your GSA contract must be:
We get a lot of questions about what "substantially transformed" means. GSA defines "substantially transformed" as a product that has become a new and different commerce article in terms of name, character, or use. However, the definition can still get tricky for some contractors. We suggest if you have any questions about whether your products pass the TAA compliance check, you ask your consultant or refer to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.225-5 on Trade Agreements. We are of course always here to help answer any of your questions on TAA.
We have talked about what countries you can't have final products made in, but what countries are considered TAA compliant?
Designated countries that are TAA compliant include:
Here's a list of all the countries by category:
Although it's rare, the list does change from time to time, so you should make a practice of checking it annually or each time you add new products. You can find the full list of TAA compliant countries here.
The Trade Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. & 2501-2581) of 1979 was enacted to foster fair and open international trade, but more importantly, it implemented the requirement the U.S. government may acquire only U.S. made or designated end products. This means specifically that GSA must only acquire U.S. made and/or TAA compliant products while under the MAS program. This requirement has still has left many GSA contract holders confused on its true meaning.
To truly understand what it means to be TAA compliant and ensure that you are following this crucial regulation, it's essential you as a MAS contract holder review our 10 strategies outlined below:
It's important to remember that it's your responsibility to ensure your product information is accurately incorporated into your GSA contract and displayed on GSA Advantage! throughout the life of your contract. It's good practice to routinely review the country of origin of products offered on your GSA contract, because sometimes manufacturers change their manufacturing points. If you find out that a country of origin has changed for a product, you should make sure you update your GSA Advantage! to reflect the changes.
If you want to learn more about the technical requirements surrounding TAA, check out Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.225-5 Trade Agreements.
We know GSA contractors have to keep up with a lot of rules and regulations throughout the life of their contract. For more questions, advice, and guidance concerning TAA compliance and noncompliance, contact Winvale for professional services in accelerating your governmental opportunities.