BIS Issues Final Rule Requiring Public Versions of Requests for Section 232 Investigations

The Bureau of Industry and Security is requiring public versions of all requests for Section 232 investigations that are not filed by U.S. government agencies, it said in a final rule. Beginning Sept. 24, requests containing both business confidential and classified national security information must be accompanied by public versions, with U.S. government entities exempt from the requirement. Business confidential information must also be summarized for the public, though classified national security information will not require a summary.

“In order to enhance transparency and aid public understanding of applications for Section 232 investigations submitted by interested parties, as well as, when warranted, allowing public comments on such applications (for example, when a Federal Register notice is published soliciting comments on an investigation), the Department of Commerce has determined that interested parties applying for a Section 232 investigation that include business confidential information or classified national security information in their submission must simultaneously submit a public version of their application to BIS,” the agency said.

Public summaries of business confidential information must provide “sufficient detail to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information, and, if summarization is not possible, the application must make that claim and accompany it by a full explanation of its basis,” BIS said. “Generally, numerical data will be considered adequately summarized if grouped or presented in terms of indices or figures within 10 percent of the actual figure.”

The U.S. government exception in the final rule applies to all communications, not just requests for investigations, the final rule says. “Communication from agencies of the United States Government will generally not be made available to the public.”