July 23, 2026

By Lane Kimble

The Federal Highway Administration will detail upcoming changes to the now-terminated Manufactured Products General Waiver.  FHWA is holding two webinars to walk attendees through those changes as we approach a benchmark this fall.

Beginning with all projects obligated on or after October 1, 2026, all manufactured products permanently incorporated into the project must be manufactured in the United States and the cost of components that are mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States must be greater than 55 percent of the total cost of all components of the manufactured product.

The change is the result of FHWA ending its manufactured products waiver at the tail end of the Biden administration in January 2025.

FHWA had used its waiver authority since 1983 to exempt a wide array of items used on federal-aid highway projects — including electronics, ITS hardware, electrical equipment, signal boxes, pumps and many more – from provisions mandating that they be produced in the United States.

The webinars will be held Wednesday, July 29 from 12-1:30 p.m. CDT and will repeat on Thursday, Sept. 30 from 12-1:30 p.m. CDT.

Attendees must register for the Zoom meetings ahead of time by filling out the form at THISlink.