Industry Associations Ask Commerce for More Time to Review Upcoming Foundational Tech ANPRM

More than 25 industry associations are asking the Commerce Department to allow more time for public comments on Commerce’s next advance notice of proposed rulemaking for foundational technologies, which is expected in the coming weeks. The associations asked for a 90-day comment and review period in a June 27 letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

This will “ensure our associations and our members have adequate time to review the notice and provide comprehensive feedback to address the policy concerns and technological complexities at issue,” said the letter, which was signed by the Aerospace Industries Association, the Information Technology Industry Council, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Semiconductor Industry Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others.

Commerce’s Nov. 19, 2018, ANPRM on emerging technologies originally offered U.S. industries a 30-day review and comment period, but the agency extended the deadline to Jan. 10,2019, after calls for more time. More time would again be appropriate as companies submit feedback on export controls for foundational technologies, the letter to Ross said. “We look forward to working with you and BIS to ensure that the government receives the best input it can from all available sources,” it said.

During a June 4 Bureau of Industry and Security Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee meeting, Commerce’s Assistant Secretary for Export Administration Rich Ashooh said he would try to give “a little more” time for public comments on the next ANPRM. But he also said that may not be possible, because Ross “very grudgingly” agreed to the last extension (see 1906040038).

Matt Borman, Commerce's deputy secretary for export administration, told the American Association of Exporters and Importers Annual Conference on June 28 (see 1906280057) that he is "confident" the time frame for public comments will be about the same as Commerce's extension for its November emerging technologies notice. "The initial full ANPRM notice turned out to be 60 days," Borman said. "So I believe it will be in that time frame."

Commerce officials are expecting the notice to be issued soon, but have not yet given a specific date. Ashooh said during the June 4 meeting that the notice would be coming in “weeks, not months,” while a BIS lawyer said June 27 that Commerce plans to issue the notice “as quickly as they can" (see 1906270062).