The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) announced that Lincoln Electric has become the first manufacturer certified under NEMA’s Make It American program in the Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) category, earning product-level certification for its DC chargers and facility-level certification for its Cleveland, OH, manufacturing plant.

The company’s dual achievements extend the domestic content certification program – built to support the objectives of the Build America, Buy America (BABA) Act – into one of the fastest-growing segments of federally funded transportation infrastructure.

“Lincoln Electric’s certification arrives at exactly the right moment for Make It American and for America’s transportation infrastructure build-out,” said NEMA President and CEO Debra Phillips, in the press release. “States from Texas to Arkansas are now pointing to the Make It American BABA Registry, the Federal Highway Administration has recognized the program as an official resource, and Congress is moving to codify the program through the bipartisan BUILD America 250 Act. As EV charging infrastructure scales nationwide, manufacturers and public agencies need a fast, credible way to confirm domestic content. Lincoln Electric is showing the market exactly what that looks like.”

With this milestone, Lincoln Electric, manufacturer of Velion DC Fast Chargers, gives contractors and government agencies a verified domestic-content resource as deployment of EV charging infrastructure expands and interest grows in using orchestrated EVs and EV chargers to support grid management.

“NEMA’s Make It American certification gives customers a clear and credible way to identify products that support their domestic sourcing goals,” said Bruce Chantry, VP, Electric Vehicle Solutions at Lincoln Electric, in the press release. “As the first manufacturer to earn product-level certification for EVSE, we are proud that our Velion DC Fast Chargers, engineered and manufactured in the U.S., combine trusted American manufacturing with the reliability, security, serviceability, and long-term support needed for critical charging infrastructure.”

The certification lands as government support builds for the Make It American program in the transportation sector builds:

•     The Federal Highway Administration formally recognized the program in Oct. 2025 as an official industry resource for domestic-preference compliance on federally funded highway projects, with additional domestic-content requirements phasing in beginning Oct. 1, 2026.
•     This year, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced the bipartisan BUILD America 250 Act, which includes language that would establish in statute a company’s certification to the Make It American Process Standard for Facilities as “sufficient evidence” of compliance with BABA requirements.

•     Finally, state departments of transportation in Texas and Arkansas have each recognized the program as an industry resource, with Texas listing it publicly and Arkansas referencing it in agency materials.

Lincoln Electric’s certification adds EVSE to a growing list of transportation-relevant categories covered under Make It American, alongside Changeable Message Signs and other infrastructure-critical technologies. Certified facilities and licensed products are listed in the public NEMA Make It American BABA Registry, a resource contractors and agencies use to identify manufacturers positioned to meet Build America, Buy America requirements.