FAR and DFARS › DFARS Part 225: Foreign Acquisition › Subpart 225.5

DFARS 225.502 Application.

The codified text (eCFR, as of 2026-10-02). Under the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul ↗, agencies follow class deviations with new text for many parts while the formal rules go through the Federal Register: check the solicitation and your contract's clauses, which rule.

In plain English

This section tells contracting officers how to apply certain foreign acquisition rules instead of the standard FAR procedures. It covers acquisitions supporting operations in Afghanistan, acquisitions under the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, and acquisitions subject to the Buy American statute or Balance of Payments Program. It matters because it changes which offers are considered and how price comparisons are made, which can affect whether a contractor's offer is competitive.

Applies to: Contracting officers handling acquisitions subject to these DFARS foreign acquisition rules

What it requires

  • For acquisitions supporting operations in Afghanistan, treat offers of end products from South Caucasus or Central and South Asian states listed in 225.401-70 the same as qualifying country offers.
  • For WTO GPA acquisitions, consider only offers of U.S.-made, qualifying country, or designated country end products, except as permitted by 225.403 or 225.7703-1.
  • For WTO GPA acquisitions where price is the determining factor, award on the low offer.
  • For Buy American or Balance of Payments Program acquisitions, follow the specified award procedures based on whether the low offer is domestic, exempt foreign, or non-exempt foreign.

Key terms: qualifying country · designated country · Buy American statute · Balance of Payments Program · Free Trade Agreement

Written by AI from this section's text. A guide, not legal advice: the text below rules.

The text

(a) Whenever the acquisition is in support of operations in Afghanistan, treat the offers of end products from South Caucasus or Central and South Asian states listed in 225.401-70 the same as qualifying country offers.

(b) Use the following procedures instead of the procedures in FAR 25.502(b) for acquisitions subject to the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement:

(i) Consider only offers of U.S.-made, qualifying country, or designated country end products, except as permitted by 225.403 or 225.7703-1.

(ii) If price is the determining factor, award on the low offer.

(c) Use the following procedures instead of those in FAR 25.502(c) for acquisitions subject to the Buy American statute or the Balance of Payments Program:

(i)(A) If the acquisition is subject only to the Buy American statute or the Balance of Payments Program, then only qualifying country end products are exempt from application of the Buy American or Balance of Payments Program evaluation factor.

(B) If the acquisition is also subject to a Free Trade Agreement, then eligible products of the applicable Free Trade Agreement country are also exempt from application of the Buy American or Balance of Payments Program evaluation factor, but see 225.106.

(ii) If price is the determining factor, use the following procedures:

(A) If the low offer is a domestic offer, award on that offer.

(B) If there are no domestic offers, award on the low offer (see example in PGI 225.504(1)).

(C) If the low offer is a foreign offer that is exempt from application of the Buy American or Balance of Payments Program evaluation factor, award on that offer. If the low offer is a qualifying country offer from a country listed at 225.872-1(b), execute a determination in accordance with 225.872-4. A qualifying country offer is subject to the domestic content requirement for end products that are wholly or predominantly of iron or steel or a combination of both.

(D) If the low offer is a foreign offer that is not exempt from application of the Buy American or Balance of Payments Program evaluation factor, and there is another foreign offer that is exempt and is lower than the lowest domestic offer, award on the low foreign offer (see example in PGI 225.504(2)).

(E) Otherwise, apply the 50 percent evaluation factor to the low foreign offer.

(1) If the price of the low domestic offer is less than the evaluated price of the low foreign offer, award on the low domestic offer (see example in PGI 225.504(3)).

(2) If the evaluated price of the low foreign offer remains less than the low domestic offer, award on the low foreign offer (see example in PGI 225.504(4)).

(iii) If price is not the determining factor, use the following procedures:

(A) If there are domestic offers, apply the 50 percent Buy American or Balance of Payments Program evaluation factor to all foreign offers unless an exemption applies.

(B) Evaluate in accordance with the criteria of the solicitation.

(C) If these procedures will not result in award on a domestic offer, reevaluate offers without the 50 percent factor. If this will result in award on an offer to which the Buy American statute or Balance of Payments Program applies, but evaluation in accordance with paragraph (c)(ii) of this section would result in award on a domestic offer, proceed with award only after execution of a determination in accordance with 225.103(a)(ii)(B), that domestic preference would be inconsistent with the public interest.

(iv) If the solicitation includes the provision at 252.225-7023, Preference for Products or Services from Afghanistan, use the evaluation procedures at 225.7703-3.

Sections it refers to

Sections that refer to it

← 225.408 Procedures. · 225.503 Group offers. →

Rule changes for DFARS Part 225

Source: eCFR, 48 CFR chapters 1 and 2 (GPO GovInfo bulk data) ↗. Plain words for the terms: glossary.

DFARS 225.502 Application · SpendQuery