[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 71 (Thursday, April 12, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15786-15788]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-07584]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration


U.S. Strategy To Address Trade-Related Forced Localization 
Barriers Impacting the U.S. ICT Hardware Manufacturing Industry

AGENCY: International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The International Trade Administration is seeking information 
to support the development of a comprehensive strategy to address 
trade-related forced localization policies, practices, and measures 
impacting the U.S. information and communications technology (ICT) 
hardware manufacturing industry. Comments will be used to support the 
development of a holistic strategic plan for counteracting and 
deterring the expansion of barriers to trade and trade-related measures 
put in place by U.S. trading partners that are specifically designed to 
localize the production and technology development of ICT hardware, and 
unfairly harm U.S. ICT hardware manufacturers and exports.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before May 14, 2018. 
Comments must be in English.

ADDRESSES: You may submit responses to the questions below by one of 
the following methods. Comments should be submitted under docket ITA-
2008-0001:
    (a) Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic comments via the 
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. The 
materials in the docket will not be edited to remove identifying or 
contact information, and

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the Department cautions against including any information in an 
electronic submission that the submitter does not want publicly 
disclosed. Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted in 
Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF formats only. Comments containing 
references, studies, research, and other empirical data that are not 
widely published should include copies of the referenced materials. 
Please do not submit additional materials. If you want to submit a 
comment with business confidential information that you do not wish to 
be made public, submit the comment as a written/paper submission in the 
manner detailed below.
    (b) Written/Paper Submission: Send all written/paper submissions 
to: Cary Ingram, U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade 
Administration, Office of Health and Information Technologies, 1401 
Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20230; Submissions of ``Business 
Confidential Information'': Any submissions containing ``business 
confidential information'' must be delivered in a sealed envelope 
marked ``confidential treatment requested'' to the address listed 
above. Please provide an index listing the document(s) or information 
that the submitter would like the Department to withhold. The index 
should include information such as numbers used to identify the 
relevant document(s) or information, document title and description, 
and relevant page numbers and/or section numbers within a document. 
Provide a statement explaining the submitter's grounds for objecting to 
disclosure of the information to the public. The Department also 
requests that submitters of business confidential information include a 
non-confidential version (either redacted or summarized) of those 
confidential submissions, which will be available for public viewing 
and posted on https://www.regulations.gov. In the event that the 
submitter cannot provide a non-confidential version of its submission, 
the Department requests that the submitter post a notice in the docket 
stating that it has provided the Department with business confidential 
information. Should a submitter fail to docket either a non-
confidential version of its submission or to post a notice that 
business confidential information has been provided, the Department 
will note the receipt of the submission on the docket with the 
submitter's organization or name (to the degree permitted by law) and 
the date of submission.
    For alternatives to online or mail submissions, please contact Mr. 
Cary Ingram at (202) 482-2872 or [email protected]. The public is 
strongly encouraged to file submissions electronically.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding the submission of 
comments should be directed to Mr. Cary Ingram at (202) 482-2872, or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background: Over the past five years, there has been a rapid 
expansion of laws, regulations, trade policies, directives, and 
practices by various U.S. trading partners to further multilayered 
campaigns to force the domestic localization of production and 
technology development of information and communications technology 
(ICT) hardware. Various forms of domestic production requirements, 
local content requirement (LCR) mandates, coerced technology transfer 
rules, and other barriers to trade have been put in place to supplant 
U.S. technology products in international ICT markets. These are 
measures that arbitrarily discriminate against foreign products, 
intellectual property (IP), or hardware suppliers, and are 
distinctively designed to force the production and development of ICT 
hardware to be localized within a country's territorial boundaries, 
while also cultivating and incubating select domestic industries, 
technologies, or intellectual property at the expense of imported 
goods, or foreign-owned or developed IP.
    The ICT hardware sector has become a leading target for 
discriminatory measures in markets throughout the world at an 
accelerated level of proliferation. Examples of trade-related barriers 
and measures impacting the industry include:
     Local content requirements (LCRs) for ICT products sold in 
the domestic market;
     Subsidies or other government preferences made contingent 
upon the use of local ICT products, indigenous technology, or 
domestically owned IP;
     Mandates for service providers to purchase domestically-
manufactured ICT hardware or ICT products with specific levels of 
domestic content;
     Measures to force the transfer of technology or IP to 
local entities;
     Unjustified requirements to conduct conformity assessment 
and certification procedures in-country.
    The competitiveness of the U.S. ICT manufacturing sector is 
increasingly coming under threat by the continued expansion of forced 
localization policies and practices in geographic and technological 
scope. These forced localization measures and barriers not only 
threaten U.S. production of ICT hardware currently in the market, but 
also threaten the United States' competitive position in new and 
emerging technology sectors across the entire ICT-enabled industrial 
base as these policies expand to broader technology segments. 
Recognizing the need to address current forced localization measures 
impacting the U.S. ICT hardware manufacturing sector on a strategic 
basis, and to deter additional localization barriers, the U.S. 
Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration is 
reviewing the landscape of policy options and potential remedies that 
can be utilized to develop a strategic response to the expanding forced 
localization trend causing harm to the U.S. ICT manufacturing base. The 
Department is seeking to develop a comprehensive, holistic set of 
actionable tools, tactics, and strategies to counteract the spread of 
policies, practices, and barriers-to-trade specifically designed to 
discriminate against U.S. ICT products and exports, while instigating 
the domestic localization of ICT hardware production and technology 
development.\1\ Respondents may address any, all, or none of the 
following questions, and may address additional topics that may help 
the Department in developing a comprehensive strategy to address trade-
related forced localization barriers affecting the U.S. ICT 
manufacturing industry. While the Department welcomes all input 
considered relevant to the development of a comprehensive strategy, the 
Department specifically seeks the following types of information:
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    \1\ Data localization policies or restrictions on cross-border 
data flows will not be covered in this edition of the strategy 
review or this current request for comments.

    1. Laws, regulations, policies, trade practices, non-tariff 
barriers, and other trade-related measures put in place by U.S. 
trading partners that appear to be specifically structured to force 
the localization of production and technology development of ICT 
hardware, and unfairly harm U.S. ICT hardware manufacturers and 
exports.
    2. The estimated burden and harm caused by the identified trade-
related localization laws, regulations, policies, trade practices, 
non-tariff barriers, and other trade-related localization measures 
in terms of lost revenue, market share, exports, employment, income, 
or other measures to quantify the damage and harm to the U.S. ICT 
hardware manufacturing industry and related export opportunities.

    The information obtained from written submissions will be used to 
inform the strategic planning to address

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and deter the expanding use of trade-related localization measures, 
practices and other barriers harming the U.S. ICT manufacturing 
industry. The scope of products included in this strategic review are 
ICT goods that fall under NAICS codes 3341, 3342, 3343, 3344, 3345, 
3346, and 3359; or the following HS codes: 8443, 8471, 8473, 8486, 
8504, 8517, 8518, 8519, 8520, 8521, 8522, 8523, 8525, 8528, 8529, 8533, 
8534, 8541, 8542, 854420, 854470, 900110, 9030, 903141, 850440, 850450, 
850490.
    The U.S. Department of Commerce invites comments from stakeholders 
from the private sector, academia, think-tanks, civil society, and 
other interested parties concerned with the continued growth and 
competitiveness of the U.S. ICT manufacturing industry in the global 
economy. Entities making submissions may be contacted for further 
information or explanation, and, in some cases, meetings with 
individual submitters may be requested. The Department may also hold 
additional forums for comment such as roundtables or workshops to 
attain expanded input for strategy development.

Ian Steff,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing.
[FR Doc. 2018-07584 Filed 4-11-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DR-P