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Weakened Dollar Causes Further Rise In TAA Thresholds

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 01.04.10

Effective January 1, 2010, the U.S. Trade Representative has revised upward the contract dollar thresholds at which the Buy American Act restriction is waived for the supply of goods and services or construction material from "designated countries" (i.e., those countries that have signed the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement ("GPA") or other free trade agreement with the U.S.) (74 Fed. Reg. 68907, Dec. 29, 2009). Because the GPA thresholds are expressed in "Special Drawing Rights," the USTR adjusts the thresholds biennially and the U.S. dollar's continued weakness has resulted in the third straight increase, to $203,000 for goods and services and $7,804,000 for construction contracts.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 04.14.26

DOJ’s False Claims Act Resolution Against IBM Signals Heightened Risk for Federal Contractors with DEI Programs

On Friday, April 10, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) has agreed to pay just over $17 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by failing to comply with federal anti-discrimination requirements incorporated into its federal contracts due to allegedly discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) employment practices. This resolution marks the first FCA settlement secured by the DOJ under its Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, created in May 2025, and announced by then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as part of the administration’s coordinated efforts to target allegedly unlawful DEI practices. Per the agreement, the settlement is neither an admission of liability by IBM nor a concession by the United States that its claims are not well founded....