[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 198 (Thursday, October 13, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 70650-70652]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-24649]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

19 CFR Part 360

[Docket Number: 160803687-6687-01]
RIN 0625-AB09


Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis System

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) publishes this 
proposed rule to request public comments on proposed modifications to 
the regulations for the Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) 
System that would extend the system until March, 2022. Extension of the 
authority for the SIMA System will ensure the Department's ability to 
track as early as possible certain steel mill imports into the United 
States and make the import data publicly available approximately five 
weeks in advance of the full public trade data release by the Bureau of 
the Census. Having such access to information about steel imports 
provides the public with greater knowledge to evaluate current market 
conditions.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before 5 p.m. November 14, 
2016.

ADDRESSES: As specified above, to be assured of consideration, comments 
must be received no later than 30 days after the publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register. All comments must be submitted through 
the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov, into 
Docket Number ITA-2016-0008, unless the commenter does not have access 
to the Internet. Commenters that do not have access to the Internet may 
submit the original and two copies of each set of comments by mail or 
hand delivery/courier. Please address the written comments to the 
Secretary of Commerce, Attention: Steven Presing, Director for Industry 
Support and Analysis, Enforcement and Compliance, Room 2845, 
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, Constitution 
Avenue and 14th Street NW., Washington, DC 20230. The Department will 
not accept comments accompanied by a request that part or all of the 
material be treated confidentially because of its business proprietary 
nature or for any other reason. All comments responding to this

[[Page 70651]]

notice will be a matter of public record and will be available for 
inspection at Enforcement and Compliance's Central Records Unit (Room 
18022 of the Herbert C. Hoover Building) and on the Department's Web 
site at http://trade.gov/enforcement/and on www.regulations.gov. 
address: [email protected]. All Federal Register notices 
regarding the SIMA system and comments can be accessed via http://enforcement.trade.gov/steel/license/SIMA-FR-Notices.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the SIMA System, 
please contact Steven Presing (202) 482-1672 or Julie Al-Saadawi (202) 
482-1930.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 2, 2002, President George W. Bush 
authorized the implementation of a steel import licensing and 
monitoring program by issuing Proclamation 7529, which placed temporary 
tariffs on certain steel imports. The monitoring system outlined in 
Proclamation 7529 required all importers of steel products to obtain a 
license from the Department of Commerce prior to completing Customs 
entry summary documentation. This monitoring tool ensured that the 
effectiveness of the safeguard was not undermined by large quantities 
of imports originating from countries that were excluded from the 
application of the tariffs. Pursuant to Proclamation 7529, on December 
31, 2002, the Department of Commerce issued final regulations setting 
forth the ''Steel Import Licensing and Surge Monitoring Program'' (67 
FR 79845). In Proclamation 7741 of December 4, 2003 (68 FR 68483), the 
President terminated the temporary tariffs, but directed the Secretary 
of Commerce to continue the steel import licensing and monitoring 
system until the earlier of March 21, 2005, or such time as the 
Secretary of Commerce established a replacement monitoring program. On 
December 9, 2003 (68 FR 68594), the Department published a notice 
stating that the monitoring system would continue to be in effect as 
described in Proclamation 7741 until March 21, 2005. Prior to the March 
21, 2005, termination date, the Department of Commerce determined that 
there continued to be a need to collect import data, and published an 
interim rule (70 FR 12136, March 11, 2005) revising part 360 to 
slightly expand the monitoring program, and a final rule (70 FR 72373, 
December 5, 2005) continuing the program through March 21, 2009; at 
this time the system became known as SIMA. On March 18, 2009, the 
Department of Commerce published a final rule (74 FR 11474) in the 
Federal Register to continue the SIMA System and extend the program 
until March 21, 2013. On February 15, 2013, the Department of Commerce 
published a final rule (78 FR 11090) to continue the SIMA System and 
extend the program until March 21, 2017, unless further extended upon 
review and notification in the Federal Register.
    This proposed rule would extend the implementation of the SIMA 
System until March 21, 2022 (see 19 CFR part 360). This extension would 
continue the Department's ability to track certain steel mill imports 
into the United States and make the import data publicly available 
approximately five weeks in advance of the full trade data release.
    The purpose of the SIMA System is to provide steel producers, steel 
consumers, importers, and the general public with accurate and timely 
information on anticipated imports of certain steel products into the 
United States. Steel import licenses, issued through the online SIMA 
licensing system, are required by U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
for filing entry paperwork for imports of certain steel mill products 
into the United States. Import data collected through the issuance of 
the licenses are aggregated weekly and posted on the publicly available 
Steel Import Monitor. Details of the current monitoring system can be 
found at http://enforcement.trade.gov/steel/license/.
    SIMA's renewal comes at a time of significant challenges to the 
steel sector due, in part, to the extensive structural excess 
production capacity currently present in the global steel industry, 
which exacerbates import pressures and increases market volatility. The 
domestic steel industry and other steel market participants have 
previously expressed support for the SIMA System because it permits all 
participants to monitor import fluctuations in a timely manner. See 
Steel Import Monitoring Analysis System, 78 FR 11090, 11091 (February 
15, 2013).
    All comments responding to this notice will be a matter of public 
record and available for public inspection and copying on 
www.Regulations.gov and at Enforcement and Compliance's Central Records 
Unit, Room 18022, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. on business 
days.

Classification

    Regulatory Flexibility Act. The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the 
Department of Commerce certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of 
the Small Business Administration that this proposed rule, if adopted, 
would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities as that term is defined in the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq. A summary of the factual basis for this 
certification is below.
    This rule, if implemented, would extend the current SIMA System 
until March 21, 2022. The entities that would be impacted by this rule 
are importers and brokerage companies who import steel mill products. 
These entities would be required to obtain steel import licenses 
through the online, automatic SIMA licensing system for filing entry 
paperwork required by U.S. Customs and Border Protection for U.S. 
imports of steel mill products. Based on statistics derived from 
current license applications, of the approximately 1,600 licenses 
issued each day, the Department estimates that fewer than two percent 
of the licenses would be filed by importers and brokerage companies 
that would be considered small entities.
    Based on the current usage of SIMA, the Department does not 
anticipate that the extension of the SIMA System will have a 
significant economic impact. Companies are already familiar with the 
licensing of certain steel products under the current system. In most 
cases, brokerage companies will apply for the license on behalf of the 
steel importers. Most brokerage companies that are currently involved 
in filing documentation for importing goods into the United States are 
accustomed to Customs and Border Protection's automated entry filing 
systems. Today, more than 99% of the Customs filings are handled 
electronically. Therefore, the web-based, automated nature of this 
simple license application should not be a significant obstacle to any 
firm in completing this requirement. However, should an importer or 
brokerage company need to register for an account or apply for a 
license non-electronically, a fax/phone option will be available at the 
Department during regular business hours. There is no cost to register 
for a company-specific steel license account and no cost to file for 
the license. Each license form is expected to take less than 10 minutes 
to complete and collects much of the same information required on the 
Customs entry summary documentation. The steel import license is the 
only additional U.S. entry requirement that importers or their 
representatives must fulfill in order to import each covered steel 
product shipment.
    Although the Department does not charge for licenses, the 
Department estimates that the likely aggregate license costs incurred 
by small entities in terms of the time to apply for licenses

[[Page 70652]]

as a result of this proposed rule would be less than two percent, or an 
estimated $37,151.00, of the estimated total $1,857,560.00 cost to all 
steel importers to process the on-line automatic licenses. These 
calculations were based on an hourly pay rate of $20.00 multiplied by 
the estimated 92,878 total annual burden hours. Based on the current 
patterns of license applications, the vast majority of the licenses are 
applied for by large companies. The approximate cost of a single 
license is less than 10 minutes of the applicant's time and this is 
reduced if applicants use templates or the electronic data interface 
for multiple licenses. This amounts to an average cost per license of 
$3.33.
    This proposed rule contains collection-of-information requirements 
subject to review and approval by the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA).
    These requirements have been approved by OMB (OMB No.: 0625-0245; 
Expiration Date: 1/31/2018). Public reporting for this collection of 
information is estimated to be less than 10 minutes per response, 
including the time for reviewing instructions, and completing and 
reviewing the collection of information.

Paperwork Reduction Act Data

    OMB Number: 0625-0245.
    ITA Number: ITA-4141P.
    Type of Review: Regular Submission.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
    Estimated Number of Registered Users: 3,500.
    Estimated Time per Response: Less than 10 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 92,878 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Costs: $0.00.
    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required 
to respond to nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure to 
comply with a collection of information subject to the requirements of 
the Paperwork Reduction Act unless that collection of information 
displays a current valid OMB Control Number.

Executive Order 12866

    This rule has been determined to be not significant for purposes of 
Executive Order 12866.

Executive Order 13132

    This rule does not contain policies with federalism implications as 
that term is defined in EO 13132.

List of Subjects in 19 CFR Part 360

    Administrative practice and procedure, Business and industry, 
Imports, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Steel.

    Dated: October 4, 2016.
Ken Hyatt,
Acting Under Secretary for International Trade.

    For the reasons discussed above, we propose amending 19 CFR part 
360 as follows:

PART 360--STEEL IMPORT MONITORING AND ANALYSIS SYSTEM

0
1. The authority citation for part 360 continues to read as follows:

     Authority: 13 U.S.C. 301(a) and 302.

0
2. Section 360.105 is revised to read as follows.


Sec.  360.105  Duration of the steel import licensing requirement.

    The licensing program will be in effect through March 21, 2022, but 
may be extended upon review and notification in the Federal Register 
prior to this expiration date. Licenses will be required for all 
subject imports entered during this period, even if the entry summary 
documents are not filed until after the expiration of this program. The 
licenses will be valid for 10 business days after the expiration of 
this program to allow for the final filing of required Customs 
documentation.

[FR Doc. 2016-24649 Filed 10-12-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P