3. Acme of Precision Surgical v. Weinberger

Comment: According to some respondents, the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 580 F. Supp. 490, 504-07, concluded that there was a reasonable basis in law for DoD's requirement that "all specialty metal products used in hardware by the military be formed from specialty metals melted in the United States."

DoD Response: In Acme of Precision Surgical v. Weinberger, the plaintiff alleged that DoD violated the Buy American Act because the "Buy American" provisions required that all articles of "specialty metals" must be manufactured entirely in the United States, and not just "melted" in the United States. The court found on behalf of DoD, finding reasonable DoD's interpretation of the provisions as requiring only the melting in the United States of specialty metals rather than the performance in the United States of all processes associated with the manufacture of specialty metals. However, this decision was based on the law and implementing regulations as they existed at the time of the decision, not on the current statute and regulations.