[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 165 (Monday, August 30, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48399-48401]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-18637]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration


Request for Comments on U.S. Clean Technologies Export 
Competitiveness Strategy

AGENCY: International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: Recognizing the vital importance of clean technologies in 
tackling the global climate crisis and spurring U.S. innovation and 
creating well-paying jobs, the Department of Commerce (DOC), in 
partnership with the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for 
Climate (SPEC), has made it a top priority to encourage growth and 
ensure U.S. innovation and competitiveness in clean technologies

[[Page 48400]]

sectors. To that end, via this general solicitation, the International 
Trade Administration (ITA) is requesting public comments on clean 
technologies export competitiveness. This stakeholder input will inform 
the Department's effort to develop a ``U.S. Clean Technologies Export 
Competitiveness Strategy'', which intends to identify key issues 
influencing the deployment of these goods and services, highlight 
potential opportunities and challenges, and identify possible actions 
for the DOC and federal government to take in order to foster U.S. 
export competitiveness in clean technologies sectors.

DATES: Comments will be considered on a rolling basis but are due no 
later than 5 p.m. Eastern Time on October 1, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by ITA-2021-0005, by 
either of the following methods:
     Online Submission (Strongly Preferred): Submit all 
electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 
https://www.regulations.gov and enter ITA-2021-0005 in the Search box. 
Click on the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter 
or attach your comments.
     Email: [email protected]. Comments submitted by email 
should be machine-readable and should not be copy-protected.
    Due to COVID-19 building closures, we are currently temporarily not 
accepting comments by mail. However, if you are unable to comment via 
regulations.gov, you may contact [email protected] for instructions 
on submitting your comment.
    Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other 
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, 
may not be considered by ITA. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 
www.regulations.gov without change.
    Commenters should include the name of the person or organization 
filing the comment. All personal identifying information (for example, 
name, address) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly 
accessible. ITA will not accept anonymous comments.
    For those seeking to submit confidential business information (CBI) 
for Government use only, please clearly mark such submissions as CBI 
and submit an accompanying redacted version to be made public. CBI 
comments can be submitted either through www.regulations.gov (strongly 
preferred) or by email.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Devin Horne, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Room 28018, Washington, DC 20230; telephone (202) 482-0775; email 
[email protected]. Please direct media inquiries to ITA's Office of 
Public Affairs (202) 482-3809 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background: On January 27, 2021, President Biden issued Executive 
Order 14008, ``Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad'' (FRN 
Doc. 2021-02177) (E.O. 14008). E.O. 14008 puts climate considerations 
at the forefront of United States foreign policy and national security. 
The E.O. also directs agencies that engage in extensive international 
work to develop strategies and implementation plans for integrating 
climate considerations into their international work. ITA intends to 
integrate such considerations into its export promotion work. President 
Biden's Build Back Better economic recovery plan seeks to mobilize 
American manufacturing and innovation to ensure that the future is made 
in all of America by all of America's workers. By mobilizing American 
ingenuity to innovate and develop clean technologies products and 
services that can be deployed at home and exported abroad, we can 
ensure a just transition while mobilizing a 21st century education 
workforce and advancing racial equity and inclusion in America.
    Scope: Clean technologies is a broad term that can encompass a 
range of technologies used to address a variety of environmental 
issues. For the purpose of this request for public comment, ITA is 
focused on both established and emerging technologies, and their 
associated goods and services, that can contribute to a transition to 
net-zero emissions by significantly removing or reducing the greenhouse 
gas (GHG) emissions in a specific application compared to existing, 
carbon-intensive technology in the same application. This notice serves 
as a general solicitation for public comment and as an initial step in 
improving ITA's understanding of the current technological and policy 
landscape.
    These technologies can be organized by their ability to reduce GHG 
emissions in broad economic sectors identified by the United Nations 
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as major contributors to 
global GHG emissions, including:

(1) Electricity and heat production (25 percent of global direct GHG 
emissions)
(2) Agriculture, forestry, and other land use (24 percent of global 
direct GHG emissions)
(3) Industry (21 percent of global direct GHG emissions)
(4) Transportation (14 percent of global direct GHG emissions)
(5) Other energy emissions not directly associated with electricity or 
heat production, such as fuel extraction, refining, processing, and 
transportation (9.6 percent of global direct GHG emissions)
(6) Buildings (6.4 percent of global direct GHG emissions)

    Illustrative examples of clean technologies include but are not 
limited to: Power generation from civil nuclear renewable energy 
sources; electric vehicles and renewable fuels for road, aviation, 
rail, maritime shipping, or other transportation; agribusiness, 
including anaerobic digesters and zero-emission agricultural equipment; 
smart grid solutions; energy storage; hydrogen fuel cells; carbon 
capture, utilization, and sequestration; decarbonization technologies 
for energy production; low-carbon solutions for heavy industry, such as 
cement and steel production; energy efficient advanced manufacturing 
techniques; and low-carbon and energy efficient building materials.
    For the purpose of this request for public comment, competitiveness 
entails the capacity to produce and deploy affordable, reliable, and 
accessible clean technologies and compete in global markets, with the 
overall aim of accelerating global private sector capabilities to fight 
the effects of climate change while also bringing benefits to the U.S. 
economy and people.

Request for Written Comments

    Instructions: This notice serves as an initial step in improving 
ITA's understanding of private sector interests, concerns, and policy 
needs with respect to the potential for exports of clean technologies. 
This notice is a general solicitation for public comments and further 
sets forth topics for discussion and comment. ITA seeks broad input 
from all interested stakeholders--including U.S. industry, researchers, 
academia, and civil society--on the potential opportunities for and 
challenges to increasing U.S. clean technologies export competitiveness 
across multiple industry sectors. Commenters are encouraged to address 
any or all of the following questions and may respond in

[[Page 48401]]

terms of clean technologies broadly, or in terms of specific 
technologies therein. To the extent commenters choose to respond to the 
specific questions asked, responses may be formatted as the commenter 
prefers.

Questions

Scope

    1. Is there an established methodology for designating particular 
technologies as clean technologies or additional factors that the 
Government should consider for purposes of scoping this strategy?
    2. What clean technologies offer the most significant immediate 
opportunities for U.S. exports of associated goods and services?
    3. What clean technologies do not currently offer significant 
immediate opportunities for U.S. exports of associated goods and 
services but may offer such opportunities within the next five to ten 
years?
    4. What types of services offer the most significant immediate or 
future opportunities for U.S. clean technologies exports? How do the 
needs of clean technologies services exporters differ from exporters of 
manufactured products?

Challenges

    5. For sectors or technologies in which the United States currently 
has a competitive domestic industry, what are the main factors (i.e., 
economic, technical, regulatory, etc.) that could pose a significant 
risk to the U.S. industry's competitive position?
    6. For sectors or technologies in which the United States does not 
currently have a competitive domestic industry, what are the main 
factors (i.e., economic, technical, regulatory, etc.) inhibiting U.S. 
industry competitiveness?
    7. What issues related to intellectual property, standards, or 
measurement science pose a challenge to U.S. clean technologies export 
competitiveness?
    8. When pursuing opportunities in foreign markets, what are the 
main risks or barriers (i.e., economic, financial, regulatory, 
technical, trade policy, etc.) facing U.S. businesses seeking to export 
clean technologies goods and services, whether generally or in specific 
foreign markets?

Solutions

    9. What are the most impactful existing tools or resources offered 
by the Government to reduce or remove challenges, risks, and barriers 
in order to help position U.S. clean technologies industries for 
competitiveness in the global market?
    10. How can existing tools or resources offered by the Government 
to reduce or remove challenges, risks, and barriers be improved to 
increase their effectiveness or make them more accessible to U.S. clean 
technologies companies?
    11. What are the most impactful new actions the Government could 
take domestically to reduce or remove challenges, risks, and barriers 
in order to help position U.S. clean technologies industries for 
competitiveness in the global market?
    12. What are the most impactful new actions the Government could 
take through engagement with foreign countries to reduce or remove 
challenges, risks, and barriers in order to help position U.S. clean 
technologies industries for competitiveness in the global market?
    13. Which foreign countries or regions present the greatest market 
opportunities for U.S. exports of clean technologies and/or should be 
prioritized for engagement by the Government?
    14. What objectives should the Government set for a U.S. Clean 
Technologies Export Competitiveness Strategy in the first 6-months, 12-
months, 2-years, and 5-years, and what metrics should the Government 
use to measure these objectives?

Trade Policy

    15. How do U.S. trade policies impact the development and 
deployment of clean technologies in the United States and abroad?

Other

    16. Are there additional relevant issues impacting U.S. clean 
technologies export competitiveness not addressed by these questions, 
and what are the most impactful actions the Government could take to 
address these issues?

    Dated: August 25, 2021.
Man Cho,
Deputy Director, Office of Energy and Environmental Industries.
[FR Doc. 2021-18637 Filed 8-27-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-P