Selling Government Goods from China, Home Depot Notice

Selling Government Goods from China, Home Depot Notice The largest home decoration and building materials retailer in the United States, "Home Depot Chain Store" (HomeDepot), due to the government...

Selling Government Goods from China, Home Depot Notice HomeDepot, the largest home improvement and building materials retailer in the United States, is currently under investigation by the Department of Justice for violating the Buy American Act because it supplies the government with a large number of products from China and other countries. In recent years, many retailers across the United States have been fined heavily by authorities for violating this law. HomeDepot's website once published a photo showing smiling U.S. soldiers lining up to unload a large number of power tools and various building materials from a truck, and attached an advertisement claiming that "federal funds can be better used at HomeDepot." However, federal prosecutors pointed out that the photos also showed that Home Depot was violating the Buy American Act of 1933 by supplying products made in China. The law requires that all building materials used in public projects must come from the United States or designated countries with which the United States has signed trade agreements, such as Canada and Israel. The reason HomeDepot is under investigation is that its original contract with the federal General Services Administration (GSA) authorized any government unit to purchase tens of thousands of items through the HomeDepot website. However, HomeDepot partner Actus Leasing Company was reported by employees in 2008 for providing building materials that did not comply with the Buy American Act for several military camp projects. After Actus Leasing reached a settlement with authorities, prosecutors discovered that HomeDepot was also violating the law and that nearly half of the goods supplied to government projects came from China and other non-designated countries. Over the past six years, Staples, Office Depot and OfficeMax have settled with authorities for $22 million for violations of the Buy American Act. In addition, electric motor wholesaler W.W. Grainger Company also settled with a settlement of NT$6 million for falsely reporting funding to the government and supplying products made in China and Taiwan. Critics of the law, however, point out that it limits government units from achieving the most reasonable procurement that takes into account both price and quality. In addition, because the components of many products may come from multiple countries, it is simply difficult to require large retailers such as HomeDepot, which sells tens of thousands of products, to ensure that every transaction with the government complies with regulations.