Federal Register Notice

This document is scheduled to be published in the
Federal Register on 05/19/2020 and available online at
federalregister.gov/d/2020-10715, and on govinfo.gov

Billing Code: 3510-33-P

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.

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
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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 [INSERT DATE 21 DAYS AFTER PUBLICATION IN THE
FEDERAL REGISTER]. Rebuttal comments will be due by [INSERT DATE 31 DAYS AFTER
PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER]. 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 [INSERT DATE 21 DAYS AFTER
PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER]. The due date for rebuttal comments is
[INSERT DATE 31 DAYS AFTER PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER].
Rebuttal comments may only address issues raised in comments filed on or before [INSERT
DATE 21 DAYS AFTER PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER].

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

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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,
ESproducts232@bis.doc.gov. 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

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national security, the Secretary shall so advise the President in his report on the findings of the
investigation.
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 [INSERT DATE 21 DAYS
AFTER PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER]. The due date for rebuttal comments
is [INSERT DATE 31 DAYS AFTER PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER].
Rebuttal comments may only address issues raised in comments filed on or before [INSERT
DATE 21 DAYS AFTER PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER].
The Department is particularly interested in comments and information directed to the criteria
listed in § 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;
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(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

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in the docket and open to public inspection, except information determined to be confidential as
outlined in § 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 § 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 nonconfidential 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.

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The Bureau of Industry and Security does not maintain a separate public inspection facility.
Requesters should first view the Bureau’s webpage, 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: 5/18/2020 8:45 am; Publication Date: 5/19/2020]

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