https://crsreports.congress.gov
Updated August 20, 2024
Defense Primer: Acquiring Specialty Metals and Sensitive
Materials
Some metals and metal alloys, as well as strong permanent
magnets known as rare earth magnets, are critical to U.S.
Department of Defense (DOD) operations. These are
frequently integrated into components (e.g., integrated
circuits, electrical wiring, or optoelectronic devices) or
structures (e.g., aircraft fuselages or ship hulls) of numerous
military platforms and weapon systems. There are few, and,
in some cases, no known alternatives for these materials,
which often have unique physical properties (such as high
material strength coupled with resistance to corrosion or
low density). In addition, the existing sources for many of
these are very limited and, sometimes, located in
adversarial countries. As a result, Congress has established
sourcing requirements and restrictions relating to specialty
metals and other sensitive materials, that may ensure
continued or expanded U.S. access for defense purposes.
A rare earth element is one of 17 chemical elements, including
the 15 metallic chemical elements with atomic numbers 57
through 71, as well as the chemically similar elements
scandium and yttrium. These materials are considered rare in
spite of their relative abundance throughout the Earth’s crust,
as the extraction and production of such materials can be
difficult and costly. Rare earth magnets produced using rare
earth elements are the strongest known permanent magnets.
Title 10 §4863 United States Code requires that some items
that incorporate certain metals and metal alloys (i.e.,
specialty metals) generally be produced or manufactured in
the United States. Other statutory prohibitions establish that
some items that incorporate other sensitive materials may
not be acquired from specified sources.
Acquiring Specialty Metals
Domestic sourcing restrictions for DOD acquisition of
specialty metals first appeared in the FY1973 DOD
appropriations bill (P.L. 92-570) as an expansion of
domestic content restrictions on departmental purchases of
food, clothing, and other goods. These restrictions are
commonly known as the Berry Amendment. The Berry
Amendment sourcing restrictions were included in annual
DOD appropriations legislation from 1941 until 2002, when
they were permanently codified by the FY2002 National
Defense Authorization Act (NDAA, P.L. 107-107). In
2006, the FY2007 NDAA (P.L. 109-364) separated the
specialty metal-related provisions into a new section of the
U.S. Code (10 U.S.C. §4863).
Applicability of Restrictions
The specialty metals domestic sourcing restrictions apply to
all DOD prime contracts and subcontracts. For the purposes
of the restriction, 10 U.S.C. §4863 defines a specialty metal
as any of the following metals or metal alloys:
• Steel with a maximum alloy content exceeding one or more of
the following limits: manganese, 1.65%; silicon, 0.60%;
copper, 0.60%; or containing more than 0.25% of any of the
following elements: aluminum, chromium, cobalt, niobium
(columbium), molybdenum, nickel, titanium, tungsten, or
vanadium.
• Metal alloys consisting of nickel, iron-nickel, and cobalt base
alloys containing a total of other alloying metals (except iron)
in excess of 10%.
• Titanium and titanium alloys.
• Zirconium and zirconium base alloys.
DOD uses the foundry location where the final melting or
similar production of a specialty metal takes place to
determine its origin. For example, titanium sponge—
unwrought titanium that has not been melted—that has been
manufactured in Kazakhstan, shipped to the United States,
and melted into ingots at a foundry in Ohio would be
considered compliant with the specialty metals domestic
sourcing mandate. Under the specialty metals restrictions,
DOD generally may not acquire certain military platforms
or weapon systems—or components of these platforms and
systems—that contain any amount of a specialty metal that
was not melted or produced in the United States.
The restriction applies to aircraft; missile and space
systems; ships; tank and automotive items; weapon
systems; and ammunition. DOD and its prime contractors
are also prohibited from directly acquiring any specialty
metal (e.g., metal sheets, rods, plates) if it was not melted or
produced in the United States.
Exceptions
Law and policy provide a number of exceptions to the
specialty metals sourcing mandate, including the following
selected examples:
• circumstances where the Secretary of Defense or a secretary of
a military department determines that compliant specialty
metal of satisfactory quality and sufficient quantity, and in the
required form, cannot be procured as and when needed;
• acquisitions outside the United States in support of combat
operations or contingency operations;
• acquisitions for which the use of other-than-competitive
procedures has been approved when the need for materials or
end items is of an unusual and compelling urgency;
