[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 97 (Tuesday, May 19, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29926-29927]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-10715]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of Industry and Security
Notice of Request for Public Comments on Section 232 National
Security Investigation of Imports of Laminations for Stacked Cores for
Incorporation into Transformers, Stacked Cores for Incorporation Into
Transformers, Wound Cores for Incorporation Into Transformers,
Electrical Transformers, and Transformer Regulators
AGENCY: Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Technology
Evaluation, U.S. Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: On May 11, 2020, based on inquiries and requests from
interested parties in the United States, including multiple Members of
Congress, a Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel (GOES) manufacturer, and
producers of Power and Distribution Transformers, the Secretary of
Commerce (the ``Secretary'') initiated an investigation to determine
the effect of imports of Laminations for Stacked Cores for
Incorporation into Transformers, Stacked Cores for Incorporation into
Transformers, Wound Cores for Incorporation into Transformers,
Electrical Transformers, and Transformer Regulators on the national
security. This investigation has been initiated under section 232 of
the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended.
Interested parties are invited to submit written comments, data,
analyses, or other information pertinent to the investigation to the
Department of Commerce's (the ``Department'') Bureau of Industry and
Security by June 9, 2020. Rebuttal comments will be due by June 19,
2020. While the Department is interested in any information related to
this investigation that the public can provide, this notice identifies
particular issues of significance.
DATES: The due date for filing comments is June 9, 2020. The due date
for rebuttal comments is June 19, 2020. Rebuttal comments may only
address issues raised in comments filed on or before June 9, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Submissions: All written comments on the notice must be
addressed to Section 232 Electrical Steel Investigation and filed
through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. To
submit comments via http://www.regulations.gov, enter docket number
BIS-2020-0015 on the home page and click ``search.'' The site will
provide a search results page listing all documents associated with
this docket. Find a reference to this notice and click on the link
entitled ``Comment Now!'' (For further information on using http://www.regulations.gov, please consult the resources provided on the
website by clicking on ``How to Use This Site.'')
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Industrial Studies Division, Bureau of
Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce (202) 482-4952,
[email protected]. For more information about the section 232
program, including the regulations and the text of previous
investigations, please see www.bis.doc.gov/232.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On May 11, 2020, based on inquiries and requests from interested
parties in the United States, including multiple Members of Congress, a
domestic GOES manufacturer, and producers of Power and Distribution
Transformers, the Secretary initiated an investigation under section
232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1862).
The investigation has been undertaken to determine the effect on the
national security of imports of Laminations for Stacked Cores for
Incorporation into Transformers, Stacked Cores for Incorporation into
Transformers, Wound Cores for Incorporation into Transformers,
Electrical Transformers, and Transformer Regulators (hereinafter
``Products''). If the Secretary finds that Products are being imported
into the United States in such quantities or under such circumstances
as to threaten to impair the national security, the Secretary shall so
advise the President in his report on the findings of the
investigation.
[[Page 29927]]
Written Comments
This investigation is being undertaken in accordance with part 705
of the National Security Industrial Base Regulations (15 CFR parts 700
to 709) (``NSIBR''). Interested parties are invited to submit written
comments, data, analyses, or information pertinent to this
investigation to the Department's Office of Technology Evaluation no
later than June 9, 2020. The due date for rebuttal comments is June 19,
2020. Rebuttal comments may only address issues raised in comments
filed on or before June 9, 2020.
The Department is particularly interested in comments and
information directed to the criteria listed in Sec. 705.4 of the NSIBR
as they affect national security, including the following:
(i) Quantity of, or other circumstances related to, the importation
of the Products;
(ii) Domestic production and productive capacity needed for the
Products to meet projected national defense requirements;
(iii) Existing and anticipated availability of human resources,
products, raw materials, production equipment, and facilities to
produce the Products;
(iv) Growth requirements of Products' industries to meet national
defense requirements and/or requirements for supplies and services
necessary to assure such growth including investment, exploration, and
development;
(v) The impact of foreign competition on the economic welfare of
the Products' industries;
(vi) The displacement of any domestic production of the Products
causing substantial unemployment, decrease in the revenues of
government, loss of investment or specialized skills and productive
capacity, or other serious effects;
(vii) National defense supporting uses of the Products including
data on applicable contracts or sub-contracts, both past and current;
(viii) Country of manufacture for the Products;
(ix) Relevant factors that are causing or will cause a weakening of
our national economy; and
(x) Any other relevant factors, including the use and importance of
the Products in critical infrastructure sectors identified in
Presidential Policy Directive 21 (Feb. 12, 2013) (for a listing of
those sectors see https://www.dhs.gov/cisa/critical-infrastructure-sectors).
Requirements for Written Comments
The http://www.regulations.gov website allows users to provide
comments by filling in a ``Type Comment'' field, or by attaching a
document using an ``Upload File'' field. The Department prefers that
comments be provided in an attached document. The Department prefers
submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). If the
submission is in an application format other than those two, please
indicate the name of the application in the ``Type Comment'' field.
Please do not attach separate cover letters to electronic submissions;
rather, include any information that might appear in a cover letter in
the comments themselves. Similarly, to the extent possible please
include any exhibits, annexes, or other attachments in the same file as
part of the submission itself rather than in separate files. Comments
will be placed in the docket and open to public inspection, except
information determined to be confidential as outlined in Sec.
[thinsp]705.6 of the NSIBR. Comments may be viewed on http://www.regulations.gov by entering docket number BIS-2020-0015 in the
search field on the home page.
Material submitted by members of the public that is properly marked
business confidential information and accepted as such by the
Department will be exempted from public disclosure as provided for by
Sec. [thinsp]705.6 of the NSIBR. Anyone submitting business
confidential information should clearly identify the business
confidential portion at the time of submission, file a statement
justifying nondisclosure and referring to the specific legal authority
claimed, and provide a non-confidential submission which can be placed
in the public file on http://www.regulations.gov. Communications from
agencies of the United States Government will not be made available for
public inspection. For comments submitted electronically containing
business confidential information, the file name of the business
confidential version should begin with the characters ``BC''. Any page
containing business confidential information must be clearly marked
``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' on the top of that page. The non-confidential
version must be clearly marked ``PUBLIC''. The file name of the non-
confidential version should begin with the character ``P''. The ``BC''
and ``P'' should be followed by the name of the person or entity
submitting the comments or rebuttal comments. All filers should name
their files using the name of the person or entity submitting the
comments. If a public hearing is held in support of this investigation,
a separate Federal Register notice will be published providing the date
and information about the hearing.
The Bureau of Industry and Security does not maintain a separate
public inspection facility. Requesters should first view the Bureau's
web page, which can be found at https://efoia.bis.doc.gov/ (see
``Electronic FOIA'' heading). If requesters cannot access the website,
they may call 202-482-0795 for assistance. The records related to this
assessment are made accessible in accordance with the regulations
published in part 4 of title 15 of the Code of Federal Regulations (15
CFR 4.1 et seq.).
Matthew S. Borman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Export Administration.
[FR Doc. 2020-10715 Filed 5-18-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-33-P