The restriction in section 225.7018-2 does not apply to an acquisition—

(a) At or below the simplified acquisition threshold;

(b) Outside the United States of an item for use outside the United States; or

(c) Of an end item that is—

(1) A commercially available off-the-shelf item (but see PGI 225.7018-3(c)(1)(i) with regard to commercially available samarium-cobalt magnets), other than—

(i) A commercially available off-the-shelf item that is 50 percent or more tungsten by weight; or

(ii) A tantalum metal, tantalum alloy, or tungsten heavy alloy mill product, such as bar, billet, slab, wire, cube, sphere, block, blank, plate, or sheet, that has not been incorporated into an end item, subsystem, assembly, or component;

(2) An electronic device, unless the Secretary of Defense, upon the recommendation of the Strategic Materials Protection Board pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 187 determines that the domestic availability of a particular electronic device is critical to national security (but see PGI 225.7018-3(c)(2) with regard to samarium-cobalt magnets used in electronic components); or

(3) A neodymium-iron-boron magnet manufactured from recycled material if the milling of the recycled material and sintering of the final magnet takes place in the United States.

(d) If the authorized agency official concerned, as specified in 225.7018-4, determines that compliant covered materials of satisfactory quality and quantity, in the required form, cannot be procured as and when needed at a reasonable price.

(1) For tantalum metal, tantalum alloy, or tungsten heavy alloy, the term “required form” refers to the form of the mill product, such as bar, billet, wire, slab, plate, or sheet, in the grade appropriate for the production of a finished end item to be delivered to the Government under this contract; or a finished component assembled into an end item to be delivered to the Government under the contract.

(2) For samarium-cobalt magnets or neodymium-iron-boron magnets, the term “required form” refers to the form and properties of the magnets.

[84 FR 18158, Apr. 30, 2019, as amended at 84 FR 72244, Dec. 31, 2019; 85 FR 61502, Sept. 29, 2020]