A Build America, Buy America law is causing construction delays amid the US housing crisis

A Build America, Buy America law is causing construction delays amid the US housing crisis A law requiring that most materials in federally funded affordable housing are made in America is fully kicking in By CHARLOTTE KRAMON /REPORT FOR AMERICA Associated Press March 27, 2026, 7:09 AM It has a catchy name — Build America, Buy America — and the lauded goal of bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States. But the law has spurred a bottleneck for affordable housing . Nearly everything from HVACs and lighting to sink hooks and ceiling fans in affordable housing projects that get federal dollars must carry the Made in the USA label. But, developers say, numerous products do not, as they have long been imported from overseas markets with cheaper labor costs. Although builders can apply for waivers, the process has been at a near standstill as the Department of Housing and Urban Development , which has had its staff slashed by the Trump administration, has only greenlit a handful of projects. The waiver process has caused construction delays and hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra costs as the country faces an affordable housing crisis. “They need to be treating this like the fire that it is,” said Tyler Norod, president of Westbrook Development Corporation, which builds affordable housing in Maine. “We’ve sort of resigned ourselves that we’re just gonna build less units across the entire country during a housing crisis .” Diana Lene has been on affordable housing waitlists for the past five years. The 76-year-old loves living close to her daughter and grandchildren in Fargo, North Dakota, but her apartment is too expensive on her Social Security income. “It's just maxing my budget down to pennies,” she said. To save money, she avoids driving often and buys food on sale. “I’m just trying to keep a roof over my head, but it’s getting more and more difficult,” Lene said. “I don’t like to live in fear, and yet sometimes it jumps in there.” Lene is on a waitlis...