[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 22, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23630-23631]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-10941]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Economic Analysis


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Direct 
Investment Surveys: BE-11, Annual Survey of U.S. Direct Investment 
Abroad

AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and/or continuing 
information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before July 23, 2018.

[[Page 23631]]


ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental 
Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th 
and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230, or via email at 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument and instructions should 
be directed to Patricia Abaroa, Chief, Direct Investment Division (BE-
49), Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce, 4600 
Silver Hill Rd, Washington, DC 20233; via phone at (301) 278-9591; or 
via email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    The Annual Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad (BE-11) obtains 
sample data on the financial structure and operations of U.S. parents 
and their foreign affiliates. The data are needed to provide reliable, 
useful, and timely measures of U.S. direct investment abroad to assess 
its impact on the U.S. and foreign economies. The sample data are used 
to derive universe estimates in nonbenchmark years from similar data 
reported in the BE-10, Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct Investment 
Abroad, which is conducted every five years. The data collected include 
balance sheets; income statements; property, plant, and equipment; 
employment and employee compensation; merchandise trade; sales of goods 
and services; taxes; and research and development activity.
    The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) proposes to add one question 
to the BE-11 survey asking whether a recent Financial Accounting 
Standards Board (FASB) update on the treatment of leases affects the 
statistics collected on the survey.

II. Method of Collection

    BEA contacts potential respondents by mail in March of each year; 
responses covering a reporting company's fiscal year ending during the 
previous calendar year are due by May 31. Reports are required from 
each U.S. person that has a direct and/or indirect ownership interest 
of at least 10 percent of the voting stock in an incorporated foreign 
business enterprise, or an equivalent interest in an unincorporated 
foreign business enterprise, and that meets the additional conditions 
detailed in the BE-11 forms and instructions. Entities required to 
report will be contacted individually by BEA. Entities not contacted by 
BEA have no reporting responsibilities.
    BEA offers electronic filing through its eFile system for use in 
reporting on the BE-11 annual survey forms. In addition, BEA posts all 
its survey forms and reporting instructions on its website 
(www.bea.gov/dia). These may be downloaded, completed, printed, and 
submitted via fax or mail.
    Potential respondents of the BE-11 are selected from those U.S. 
parents that reported owning foreign business enterprises in the 2014 
BE-10, Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad, along with 
entities that subsequently entered the direct investment universe. The 
BE-11 is a sample survey; universe estimates are developed from the 
reported sample data.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0608-0053.
    Form Number: BE-11.
    Type of Review: Regular submission.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 3,150 respondents (U.S. parents). 
A complete response includes a BE-11 A form for the U.S. parent's 
domestic operation and one or more BE-11 B, C, or D forms for its 
foreign affiliates that meet the BE-11 survey requirements. BEA 
estimates that U.S. parents will submit 3,150 A forms, 25,000 B forms, 
1,500 C forms, 200 D forms, and 500 Claim for Exemption forms.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 325,750 hours. Total annual 
burden is calculated by multiplying the estimated number of submissions 
of each form by the average hourly burden per form, which is 7 hours 
for the A form, 12 hours for the B form, 2 hours for the C form, 1 hour 
for the D form, and 1 hour for the Claim for Exemption form.
    Estimated Time per Respondent: 103.4 hours per respondent (325,750 
hours/3,150 U.S. parents) is the average, but may vary considerably 
among respondents because of differences in company structure, 
complexity, and the number of foreign affiliates each U.S. parent must 
report.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.

    Legal Authority: International Investment and Trade in Services 
Survey Act (P.L. 94-472, 22 U.S.C. 3101-3108, as amended).

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Agency, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.

Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018-10941 Filed 5-21-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-06-P