[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 238 (Thursday, December 10, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79464-79466]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-27119]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Industry and Security

[Docket No. 201120-0309]
RIN 0694-XC067


Notice of Request for Public Comments by the Titanium Sponge 
Working Group

AGENCY: Bureau of Industry and Security, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: In March of 2019, the Secretary initiated an investigation 
under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended, to 
determine the effects on the national security from imports of titanium 
sponge. In February of 2020, the President issued a memorandum 
concurring with the Secretary's findings that titanium sponge imports 
threatened to impair U.S. national security. The President's 
concurrence also agreed that actions to adjust imports under Section 
232, such as tariffs, should not be taken at this time and established 
an interagency working group. The work of the Titanium Sponge Working 
Group has proceeded in exploring measures to ensure access to titanium 
sponge in the United States for use for national defense and in 
critical industries during an emergency, and at this time the Bureau of 
Industry and Security (BIS) is seeking public comments to better inform 
the deliberations of the working group.

DATES: The due date for filing original comments is January 11, 2021. 
The due date for rebuttal comments is January 25, 2021. Rebuttal 
comments may only address issues raised in the original comment it is 
filed under, which was filed on or before January 11, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Submissions: All written comments on the notice must be 
addressed to the Titanium Sponge Working Group and filed through the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. To submit 
comments via http://www.regulations.gov, enter docket number BIS-2020-
0037 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: [email protected]; Titanium Sponge 232 
Project Line 202-482-3110. Email is the preferred method of contact, 
and will facilitate a more timely response by BIS.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On March 4, 2019, in response to a petition, the Secretary 
initiated an investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act 
of 1962, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1862), to determine the effects on the 
national security from imports of titanium sponge. This petition led 
the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) to publish a Notice of 
Request for Public Comments on Section 232 National Security 
Investigation of Imports of Titanium Sponge on March 8, 2019 (84 FR 
8503). The March 8, 2019 notice requested comments specific to the 
status of the titanium sponge industrial base in the United States. 
While the comments received were pertinent, several developments have 
occurred since the end of that notice period that warrant this notice 
of request for additional comments.
    On November 29, 2019, the Secretary transmitted to the President a 
report on the Section 232 investigation in which he found that titanium 
sponge imports threatened to impair the national security, and stated 
that there is a risk of the United States being completely dependent on 
imports of titanium sponge and could therefore lack surge capacity 
required to support defense and critical industries needs in an 
extended national emergency. On February 27, 2020, the President issued 
a memorandum regarding the Section 232 investigation into whether 
imports of titanium sponge threatened to impair the national security. 
The President concurred with the Secretary's finding that imports of 
titanium sponge threatened to impair U.S. national security, and also 
agreed with the Secretary's recommendation that he not take actions to 
adjust imports under Section 232 at that time. Instead, the President 
directed the Secretaries of Commerce and Defense to form a working 
group, along with other executive departments and agencies that they 
deemed appropriate, to develop recommended actions.
    The Titanium Sponge Working Group (TSWG), established at the 
President's direction, consists of the following permanent members: The 
Departments of Commerce, Defense, Interior, and State, which are joined 
by rotating members from other U.S. Government agencies as needed. The 
goal of the TSWG is to reach interagency agreement on measures needed 
to ensure access to titanium sponge in the United States for

[[Page 79465]]

use for national defense and critical industries in an emergency. The 
TSWG will submit to the President a report detailing agreed upon 
recommendations to ensure U.S. access to titanium sponge for national 
defense and critical industries purposes, in addition to detailing the 
current and projected U.S. industrial requirements.
    The establishment of the TSWG and the required report, along with 
the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. access to titanium 
sponge, merit a comment period to solicit information to assist the 
interagency working group in its deliberations regarding imports of 
titanium sponge. The Department of Commerce (Department) has determined 
that although there is significant governmental expertise on the TSWG, 
receiving public input in this area would further the understanding of 
the TSWG members as they develop potential solutions to address the 
issue of imports of titanium sponge.
    Although the President established the working group after he 
concurred with the Secretary that imports of titanium sponge threatened 
to impair the national security, the solicitation of comments to assist 
in the TSWG deliberations is distinct from the Department's prior 
Section 232 titanium sponge investigation. However, the Section 232 
investigation and the TSWG both deal with the importance of access to 
titanium sponge for national defense and critical industries purposes. 
Therefore, BIS is handling the solicitation of comments similarly to 
how BIS has previously solicited comments for Section 232 
investigations. The TSWG will consider the public comments when 
preparing interagency recommendations to the President for further 
consideration.

Written Comments

    Interested parties are invited to submit written comments, data, 
analyses, or information pertinent to the task of the TSWG to the 
Department's Office of Technology Evaluation no later than January 11, 
2021. An original comment will not be considered if: (1) It is received 
no later than January 11, 2021; (2) and/or includes rebuttal language 
pertaining to a different comment. Rebuttal comments may be submitted 
in response to issues raised in original comments received on or before 
January 11, 2021 may be filed no later than January 25, 2021. Rebuttal 
comments may only address issues raised in the original comment it is 
filed under, which was filed on or before January 11, 2021. Rebuttal 
comments that address new or different issues other than the issues 
raised in the original comment it was filed under will not be 
considered. A rebuttal comment will not be considered if: (1) It is 
received no later than January 25, 2021; (2) and/or includes language 
that is partially original and partially in response to an original 
comment.
    The Department is particularly interested in comments and 
information directed to the following criteria:
    (i) Potential measures to ensure access to titanium sponge in the 
United States for use for national defense and critical industries in 
an emergency, including, but not limited to, U.S. Government or 
industry investment in any portion of the U.S. titanium supply chain 
(including ore, sponge, semi-finished, and finished titanium products), 
stockpiling, multilateral negotiations, trade actions, and industrial 
base analyses.
    (ii) Potential measures to increase access to titanium sponge in 
the United States for use for national defense and critical industries, 
and to support domestic production capacity for the production of 
titanium sponge to meet national defense requirements, including, but 
not limited to, U.S. Government or industry investment in any portion 
of the U.S. titanium supply chain (including ore, sponge, semi-
finished, and finished titanium products), stockpiling, multilateral 
negotiations, trade actions, and industrial base analyses.
    (iii) The structure of the global titanium sponge supply chain, 
including upstream (ore and other feedstock) and downstream (semi-
finished and finished titanium products, increased usage of scrap) 
production steps, especially as the structure may impact 
recommendations targeting alternative parts of the titanium sponge 
supply chain in order to ensure and/or increase access to titanium 
sponge in the United States;
    (iv) Pandemic-related impacts on the supply and demand of titanium 
sponge and other titanium products in the United States and abroad 
(such as the decline in aerospace demand, prospects for recovery, 
maintaining essential workforce, or the recent idling of U.S. sponge 
operations);
    (v) The role of non-U.S. titanium sponge production and 
distribution in ensuring and/or increasing access to titanium sponge 
and domestic titanium sponge capacity in the United States, including 
prospects for partnerships or joint ventures between U.S. and non-U.S. 
sponge producers, trade actions (e.g., modification of current global 
tariff/quota structures on titanium products), or non-U.S. investment 
in U.S. production capacity. Additionally, the impact of U.S.-reliance 
on single or sole source supplies of titanium sponge from non-U.S. 
sources; and
    (vi) Prospects and risks of brownfield or greenfield investments in 
any step of the titanium supply chain, including upstream ore 
extraction and processing, intermediate titanium sponge production, or 
other downstream titanium production steps; and
    (vii) How great of a threat is cybercrime or malicious cyber 
activity to organizations in the titanium sponge supply chain? In 
addressing this question, commenters are encouraged to provide specific 
examples of how malicious cyber activity such as ransomware, 
distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, or malware have 
undermined or threatened production in the U.S. and/or the reliability 
of U.S. supply chain for titanium sponge. Additionally, what actions or 
policies are recommended to strengthen the titanium sponge and related 
sectors' ability to prevent, detect, and recover from malicious cyber 
activity? In addressing this question, to what extent, if any, does 
dependence on foreign suppliers increase organizations' exposure to 
cybercrime/impacts or create any additional burdens because of the 
complexities involved with dealing with different countries' laws on 
cyber issues?

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 Microsoft Word or 
Adobe Acrobat, 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 within the comments. Similarly, to the extent 
possible please include any exhibits, annexes, or other attachments in 
the same file, so that the submission consists of one instead of 
multiple files. Comments will be placed in the docket and open to 
public inspection, except information determined to be confidential. 
Comments may be viewed on http://www.regulations.gov by entering docket 
number BIS-2020-0037 in the search field on the home page.

[[Page 79466]]

    All filers should name their files using the name of the person or 
entity submitting the comments. Communications from agencies of the 
United States Government will not be made available for public 
inspection.
    Material submitted by members of the public that is properly marked 
as business confidential information with a valid statutory basis for 
confidentiality, and which is accepted as such by the Department will 
not be disclosed publicly. Guidance on submitting business confidential 
information is as follows: Anyone submitting business confidential 
information should clearly identify the business confidential portion 
at the time of submission, include a statement justifying nondisclosure 
and referring to the specific legal authority claimed with the 
submission, and provide a non-confidential version of the submission 
which will be placed in the public file on http://www.regulations.gov. 
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.

Matthew S. Borman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Export Administration.
[FR Doc. 2020-27119 Filed 12-9-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-33-P