NEDA calls for changes to “Berry”
By Jim Carbone -- Purchasing, 7/6/2006 2:38:00 PM
The National Electronic Distributors Association has called for changes to a law that requires defense contractors and their suppliers to use only specialty metals that were smelted in the U.S.
NEDA says it supports proposed changes to the law that would exempt commercial items including electronic components from the Berry Amendment. The law was enacted in 1972 and was intended to protect domestic capacity for large scale metallic production, such as nosecones and airframes.
Robin Gray, NEDA executive vice president, said the original intent of the law applied to major tier one defense contractors.
“Sometime late last year, the defense department felt they had to change the interpretation of the law and apply it to every level of the supply chain,” says Gray. “No one knows why they changed the interpretation of the law.”
Gray says government now insists each link in the supply chain, including distributors, must certify that 100% of the specialty metals used in military hardware was smelted domestically. Those metals include titanium, stainless steel, nickel and other alloys, which are used in components like microprocessors, memory chips and controllers in tiny quantities. They are sometimes in layers measuring only several angstroms thick and weighing less than one hundredth of a percent of the total of the chip, says NEDA. Many components are made offshore.
NEDA says the law is interrupting the military supply chain for critical semiconductors and other electronic components –even though they contain only trace amounts of the specialized metals. Distributors have had orders canceled because of the law.
Gray says the proposed changes to the law are expected to be discussed in upcoming Senate conference meetings for the defense appropriations bill.
Robin Gray, executive vice president of the National Electronic Distributors Association
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