resources · referenceDFARS specialty metals restriction

What counts as a specialty metal under 10 U.S.C. 4863, the six DoD end-item categories it attaches to, the melted-or-produced requirement, and the COTS, electronic-component, de minimis, and waiver exceptions.

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last reviewed: 2026-07-31published Jul 31, 2026updated Jul 31, 2026

10 U.S.C. 4863 (formerly 2533b, renumbered by Pub. L. 116-283 §1870(c)(2) effective January 1, 2022) bars the Department of Defense from acquiring six named categories of end items — and specialty metal itself as an end item — unless the specialty metal they contain was melted or produced in the United States. DFARS implements the statute at Subpart 225.7003 and two paired contract clauses: 252.225-7008, for specialty metal delivered as an end item in its own right, and 252.225-7009, for specialty metal incorporated into a covered article.

What counts as a specialty metal

DFARS 225.7003-1 and 10 U.S.C. 4863(m) define specialty metal identically, as any of four categories:

Steel: Steel with a maximum alloy content exceeding manganese 1.65%, silicon 0.60%, or copper 0.60%; or containing more than 0.25% of aluminum, chromium, cobalt, molybdenum, nickel, niobium (columbium), titanium, tungsten, or vanadium.
Nickel and iron-nickel alloys: Alloys containing a total of alloying metals other than nickel and iron in excess of 10 percent.
Cobalt alloys: Alloys containing a total of alloying metals other than cobalt and iron in excess of 10 percent.
Titanium and zirconium: Titanium and titanium alloys, or zirconium and zirconium alloys, without any further alloy-content threshold — any titanium or zirconium alloy qualifies.

An alloy for these purposes is a metal mixture where the named element (or, for a two-metal name like nickel-iron, the two named elements together) makes up 50 percent or more of the mixture by mass.

The melted-or-produced requirement

The restriction doesn't ask where a finished part was machined or assembled — it asks where the specialty metal itself was melted or produced. "Produce" is a defined, narrow term: atomization, sputtering, or final consolidation of non-melt-derived metal powders (DFARS 225.7003-1). Except where an exception applies, DFARS 252.225-7009(b) requires that any specialty metal incorporated in a delivered item be melted or produced in the United States, its outlying areas, or a qualifying country.

The six covered end-item categories

10 U.S.C. 4863(a)(1) and DFARS 225.7003-2(a) name the same six categories:

Covered end-item category
Aircraft
Missile or space systems
Ships
Tank and automotive items
Weapon systems
Ammunition

The restriction attaches to these items and their components. Separately, DFARS 225.7003-2(a)(2) bars acquiring specialty metal as a raw end item — bar, billet, slab, wire, plate, sheet, castings, and forgings — whether DoD buys it directly from the melter or producer, or a contractor delivers it as a finished item under a contract.

Qualifying countries: the mechanism

"Qualifying country" is not a fixed list written into the statute itself — it's defined at DFARS 225.003 by reference to a reciprocal defense procurement memorandum of understanding or international agreement between the United States and the country in question, one that complies with section 36 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2776). DFARS 252.225-7012 currently lists 28 qualifying countries under that definition: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. Because the list is a function of which reciprocal agreements are in force, it changes only as agreements are added or lapse — DFARS 225.003 is the authoritative, current location for it, not a fixed roster this page can freeze in place.

Key exceptions

DFARS 225.7003-3 and 10 U.S.C. 4863(b)–(k) set out the exceptions that apply on top of qualifying-country sourcing:

Electronic components. Excepted outright, unless the Secretary of Defense — on the recommendation of the Strategic and Critical Materials Board of Directors — determines that a particular electronic component's domestic availability is critical to national security.
Commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) items. Excepted, with carve-outs that pull the exception back for: specialty metal mill products not yet incorporated into an end item; forgings or castings not incorporated into a COTS end item; commercially available high-performance magnets not incorporated into a COTS end item or subsystem; and COTS fasteners, unless incorporated into a COTS end item or covered by the separate fastener-manufacturer exception below.
Qualifying-country manufacture or melting, as described above.
Domestic nonavailability determination. A finding — by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, or an authorized delegate — that compliant specialty metal cannot be acquired as and when needed, in satisfactory quality, sufficient quantity, and the required form, at a reasonable price. "Required form" means the form of the mill product (bar, billet, wire, slab, plate, or sheet) in the grade needed to produce the finished end item or component (10 U.S.C. 4863(m)(4)/(n)(4)). A determination reaching more than one contract requires public notice through SAM.gov and USD(A&S) approval.
The 2% de minimis exception, covered in the FAQ above.
Commercial derivative military articles, where a contractor commits to purchase domestically melted specialty metal equal to the greater of 120% of what the military article requires, or 50% of what the contractor and its subcontractors purchase for both the military and related commercial article combined.
Small purchases at or below the simplified acquisition threshold — currently $350,000, per FAR 2.101 — under 10 U.S.C. 4863(f). Unlike the Berry Amendment's small-purchase exception (a fixed statutory dollar figure — see below), the specialty-metals exception is defined by reference to the FAR's own simplified acquisition threshold, so it moves whenever that threshold does.
A one-time national security waiver, which the Secretary of Defense or a delegated official may grant in writing when accepting a noncompliant end item is necessary to U.S. national security interests, with mandatory notice to the congressional defense committees and a required compliance plan going forward.

How this differs from the Berry Amendment

Specialty metals restricts metal content inside six named weapons-platform categories, and treats melting or production in any qualifying country as fully equivalent to domestic sourcing. The Berry Amendment covers a different, non-metal set of items — food, clothing, textiles, tents, and hand tools — requires 100% domestic origin outright rather than a melted-or-produced test, and allows qualifying-country sourcing only in two narrow carve-outs (chemical warfare protective clothing and certain para-aramid fiber and yarn). Specialty metals also carries a 2%-by-weight de minimis allowance that the Berry Amendment's statute does not offer at all.

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q.1

What makes a metal a "specialty metal" under DFARS?

Four categories, defined at DFARS 225.7003-1 and restated in 10 U.S.C. 4863(m): steel exceeding specific alloy-content limits (manganese above 1.65%, silicon above 0.60%, or copper above 0.60%, or more than 0.25% of aluminum, chromium, cobalt, molybdenum, nickel, niobium, titanium, tungsten, or vanadium); nickel or iron-nickel alloys with more than 10% other alloying metals; cobalt alloys with more than 10% other alloying metals; and titanium, titanium alloys, zirconium, and zirconium alloys. Ordinary carbon steel and most common alloys fall outside every one of these thresholds.

q.2

Which DoD end items does the specialty-metals restriction reach?

Six categories named directly in 10 U.S.C. 4863(a)(1): aircraft, missile or space systems, ships, tank and automotive items, weapon systems, and ammunition. The restriction also separately bars acquiring specialty metal itself — raw stock such as bar, billet, slab, wire, plate, or sheet, plus castings and forgings — as an end item, whether DoD buys it directly or a contractor delivers it as a finished item.

q.3

Can specialty metal from a U.S. ally count as compliant?

Yes. DFARS 252.225-7009 lets specialty metal melted or produced in a qualifying country satisfy the restriction on the same footing as U.S.-melted metal — not only U.S. domestic sourcing. "Qualifying country" is defined at DFARS 225.003 by reference to a reciprocal defense procurement memorandum of understanding with the United States; DFARS 252.225-7012 lists 28 current qualifying countries, from Australia and Japan to the United Kingdom.

q.4

Is there a minimum-content exception for small amounts of noncompliant metal?

Yes — a 2% de minimis exception. An end item containing noncompliant specialty metal (not melted or produced in the United States or a qualifying country, and not covered by another exception) still qualifies if that noncompliant metal doesn't exceed 2% of the total weight of all specialty metal in the item, per 10 U.S.C. 4863(i) and DFARS 225.7003-3(b)(6). The exception does not extend to high-performance magnets containing specialty metal.

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