Request for Comments on Commerce Supply Chain Risk Assessment and IPEF Supply Chains

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Published

June 3, 2024

Issuing agencies

Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration

Abstract

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) seeks public comment to inform its work on assessing and analyzing risk in global supply chains. This includes input into a determination of an initial list of "critical sectors" and "key goods" as provided under the Indo- Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Agreement Relating to Supply Chain Resilience (Supply Chain Agreement). The United States' initial list will be shared with the IPEF Supply Chain Council members and will inform work undertaken pursuant to the Agreement. Comments will also inform other analytical tools and methodologies developed by Commerce's Industry & Analysis unit to support resilient supply chains for U.S. industry.

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 107 (Monday, June 3, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 107 (Monday, June 3, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47536-47539]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-12240]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[Docket No. 240530-0148]

Request for Comments on Commerce Supply Chain Risk Assessment and
IPEF Supply Chains

AGENCY: International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) seeks public comment to
inform its work on assessing and analyzing risk in global supply
chains. This includes input into a determination of an initial list of
``critical sectors'' and ``key goods'' as provided under the Indo-
Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Agreement Relating to
Supply Chain Resilience (Supply Chain Agreement). The United States'
initial list will be shared with the IPEF Supply Chain Council members
and will inform work undertaken pursuant to the Agreement. Comments
will also inform other analytical tools and methodologies developed by
Commerce's Industry & Analysis unit to support resilient supply chains
for U.S. industry.

DATES: To be assured of consideration, submit any written comments by
the June 21 deadline. Commerce may consider comments filed after the
deadline.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by 240530-0148 by the
following methods:
Online Submission (Strongly Preferred): Submit all electronic
public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and enter 240530-0148 in the Search.
Email Submission to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#622b3227243121232216100306074c050d14">[email&#160;protected]</a>: Comments submitted by email
should be machine-readable and should not be copy-protected.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Kevin Doyle, Policy Advisor for IPEF, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Ave NW;
telephone 202-779-0376; or emails at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5d140d181b0e1e1c1d292f3c3938733a322b">[email&#160;protected]</a>.
Ahmad Khalil, Managing Director, Risk Assessment and Advanced
Analytics, Supply Chain Center, International Trade Administration,
Industry and Analysis unit, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401
Constitution Ave NW; telephone 202-779-0376; or emails at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#56252326263a2f353e373f3835333822332416222437323378313920">[email&#160;protected]</a>.
Please direct media inquiries to ITA's Office of Public Affairs at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3f4f4a5d53565c5e59595e564d4c7f4b4d5e5b5a11585049">[email&#160;protected]</a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Building supply chain resilience is a top priority of the
Department of Commerce, building on a long history of supply chain work
led by the Industry & Analysis (I&A) unit in the International Trade
Administration (ITA). I&A is comprised of a broad set of industry
experts with unique commercial perspectives in understanding supply
chains and informing and driving policy action. In 2023, the Department
launched a first-of its-kind Supply Chain Center to serve as an
analytic engine to help drive decision-making and policy action on
efforts to strengthen supply chain resilience, leveraging I&A's deep
industry expertise, quantitative data, and advanced analytics to help
make the government's work on supply chains more proactive and
impactful. The Center is facilitating collaboration across I&A, other
parts of Commerce, and other government agencies to support a proactive
approach by the U.S. government in getting ahead of supply chain
challenges, to be strategic in setting priorities for policy focus and
action based on data-driven risk analysis, and to serve as a force
multiplier in improving the targeting and effectiveness of U.S.
government investments. Across these efforts, the Department depends on
close partnerships with stakeholders from government, industry,
academia, labor, and civil society.

Department of Commerce Supply Chain Risk Assessment

Central to the Supply Chain Center's work are efforts to boost the
U.S. government's ability to understand systemic supply chain risks by
building a cross-sectoral risk assessment framework (the ``tool''). The
tool will utilize a comprehensive set of indicators to assess current
or prospective supply chain risk across the U.S. economy, with an
emphasis on risks to national security, including economic security,
most relevant to the U.S. government. The goal is to help the U.S.
government more comprehensively and systematically identify supply
chain vulnerabilities and pursue in-depth analysis for actionable and
evidence-based policy recommendations.
This is the first effort by the U.S. government to assess supply
chain vulnerability across all major sectors of the economy. This tool
will help the U.S. government to determine--at the sectoral, and
eventually product, level--where there are hidden vulnerabilities that
could be addressed through policy action by the U.S. government and/or
public-private partnerships.
The supply chain risk assessment framework is an iterative tool.
The latest version of the framework incorporates upwards of 40
indicators of risk that relate to a sector's criticality to the U.S.
government, vulnerability to disruption, and resilience in the face of
disruption.
Examples of criticality of a product or sector include products
listed in the White House Critical and Emerging Technologies list, the
products required for the Department of Defense industrial base, and
products central to U.S. public health and safety, such as
pharmaceuticals and certain nutritional foods.
The vulnerability indicators cover six categories of risk:
geopolitical; economic; logistical; business/financial; technological;
and environmental.
Resiliency indicators focus on how quickly a sector can bounce back
from a disruption, considering levels of substitutability, unutilized
capacity, and replacement of key inputs.
The Center has been consulting with relevant external stakeholders
in the development of this tool as well, including reaching out to
dozens of industry and academic experts. The vision and success of this
framework depend on close collaboration with industry stakeholders, as
well as those from government, academia, civil society, labor, and
others, to gather insights, develop accurate assessments of risks and
mitigation options, and then take targeted and coordinated action to

[[Page 47537]]

advance U.S. supply chain resiliency and competitiveness.
The creation of an economy-wide risk tool is an important element
of the Commerce Department's Supply Chain Center work, though not the
only instance in which the Center is leveraging big data and the
qualitative insights of industry experts and economists. The Center is
also leveraging analytic tools for targeted scans of critical sectors;
expanding its ability to model scenarios and evaluate the potential
impacts of proposed policy actions; and deepening its proactive
analysis through case studies and replicable and scalable frameworks
and toolkits for supply chain analysis and policy action. The Center is
also bolstering its ability to produce quick-turn analysis in the event
of supply chain disruptions by building partnerships with academia,
civil society, labor and others as well as standing playbooks that can
help inform policy responses and industry engagement.

IPEF List of Critical Sectors and Key Goods

Commerce's supply chain resilience efforts are also being advanced
through the Supply Chain Agreement. Launched in May 2022 with 13
regional partners--Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India,
Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam--IPEF seeks to establish
a platform for long-term economic engagement and cooperation, and to
tackle present-day challenges.
Negotiations among the 14 IPEF partners for the Supply Chain
Agreement substantially concluded on May 27, 2023, and a signing
ceremony of the Agreement was held on November 14 of that same year.
The Supply Chain Agreement entered into force on February 24, 2024,
after the fifth partner deposited its instrument of ratification,
acceptance, or approval. As of May 6, 2024, a total of six partners--
Japan, the United States, Singapore, Fiji, India, and the Republic of
Korea--have deposited their instruments, in that order.
Parties to the Supply Chain Agreement intend to collaborate on
initiatives aimed at strengthening the resilience and competitiveness
of target supply chains, better preparing for and responding to supply
chain disruptions, and enhancing the role of workers across these
supply chains. To do this, the Supply Chain Agreement establishes three
supply chain bodies tasked with facilitating various forms of
cooperation--a Supply Chain Council, a Crisis Response Network, and a
Labor Rights Advisory Board. Parties to the Supply Chain Agreement
shall, and signatories that have not deposited an instrument of
ratification, acceptance, or approval may designate representatives to
these bodies to discuss and carry out this work.
Article 10 of the Supply Chain Agreement requires the development
of initial lists of ``critical sectors'' and ``key goods,'' which will
then be shared through the Supply Chain Council. The Parties can change
or update these lists at any time. As the U.S. Government's
representative to the Council, the Department of Commerce, through the
International Trade Administration (ITA), is leading the process to
prepare and submit this list on behalf of the United States, and
intends to update the list periodically, as appropriate and as
envisioned under the Supply Chain Agreement.
These lists will, among other things, inform discussions among the
members of the IPEF Supply Chain Council on opportunities for
collaboration under the Supply Chain Agreement through the IPEF Supply
Chain Council. Such collaboration could take the form of actions to
promote business matchmaking, encourage investment, or improve policy
coordination in areas impacting supply chains, among others. The
Council may establish teams to develop Action Plans to provide
recommendations to promote resilience and competitiveness for critical
sectors or key goods based on the lists provided. Those critical
sectors and key goods that appear on three or more lists are eligible
for the development of an Action Plan.
Article 1 of the Supply Chain Agreement provides the following
definitions of ``critical sectors'' and ``key goods'':
<bullet> critical sectors means sectors that produce goods and
supply any related essential services critical to a Party's national
security, public health and safety, or prevention of significant or
widespread economic disruptions, as identified by that Party in
accordance with Article 10;
<bullet> key goods means raw, in-process, or manufactured
materials, articles, or commodities, the absence of which could have a
significant effect on a Party's national security, public health and
safety, or prevention of significant or widespread economic
disruptions, as identified by that Party in accordance with Article 10;
Article 10 of the Supply Chain Agreement further outlines the
factors intended to be considered in identifying respective critical
sectors and key goods. These include:
(a) the impact of a potential shortage on its national security,
public health and safety, or prevention of significant or widespread
economic disruptions;
(b) the level of dependence on a single supplier or a single
country, region, or geographic location;
(c) geographic factors including actual or potential transport
constraints, especially for its island or remote regions;
(d) the availability and reliability of alternative suppliers or
supply locations;
(e) the extent of imports required to meet domestic demand;
(f) the availability of domestic production capacity; or
(g) the extent of interconnectedness with other critical sectors or
key goods.
The Department of Commerce recognizes the importance of a
deliberative and inclusive review and selection process for identifying
the United States' initial list of critical sectors and key goods under
the Supply Chain Agreement.
To assist in these endeavors, Commerce requests information from
the public on the topics provided below.

Request for Written Comments

Instructions: This notice is intended to improve Commerce's
understanding of public views on how the Department and I&A should
assess risk in global supply chains, including what indicators and data
sets it should include in the development of an economy-wide risk
assessment tool, and how to apply the factors outlined in the Supply
Chain Agreement in its determination of the United States' initial list
of critical sectors and key goods under the Supply Chain Agreement.
This notice is a general solicitation for public comments and further
sets forth specific topics for discussion and comment. Commerce seeks
broad input from all interested stakeholders, including U.S. industry,
researchers, labor organizations, academia, and civil society.
Commenters are encouraged to address any or all of the following
questions and may respond with general views on how to apply these
factors or provide specific information about a specific sector or
good. To the extent commenters choose to respond to the specific
questions asked, responses may be formatted as the commenter prefers.
Comments will be reviewed by Commerce staff, including the Supply
Chain Center, the Industry & Analysis business unit offices, the IPEF
team, and, as appropriate, Commerce

[[Page 47538]]

contractors, and may be used to inform the agency's work on supply
chain risk analysis as outlined above, as well as in identifying the
United States' initial list of critical sectors and key goods for
cooperation under the Supply Chain Agreement. Commerce intends to share
the information received with relevant U.S. government departments and
agencies, consistent with the Biden-Harris Administration's whole-of-
government approach to strengthening supply chains.

Topics

General Methodology Questions (To Inform Commerce's Supply Chain Risk
Assessment Framework)

<bullet> What tools, approaches, and methodologies do you recommend
that Commerce utilize in order to identify priority products and
sectors at elevated risk of supply chain disruption, particularly those
of relevance to the United States based on national security, including
economic security?
<bullet> More specifically, what definitions, indicators, and data
sets do you recommend that Commerce use to evaluate the following
aspects of supply chain risk:

[cir] Criticality of the product or sector to the United States
[cir] Vulnerability of the product or sector to supply chain
disruption
[cir] Resiliency of the product or sector in the face of a supply
chain disruption

<bullet> What tools, approaches, and methodologies could Commerce
use to assess a supply chain's areas of greatest vulnerability? How can
those vulnerabilities be quantified and tracked over time?
<bullet> What factors influence your organization's evaluation of
risk in your supply chains? What additional data, information, or
analysis from the U.S. government would you view as valuable in this
assessment?
<bullet> How should the U.S. government leverage technological
advancements to foster data collection, analysis, and dissemination for
both public and private entities?
<bullet> What data, indicia, or criteria might help Commerce
identify those supply chains where the market would be least likely to
prevent or quickly resolve a disruption?

IPEF-Related Questions (To Inform the U.S. List of Critical Sectors and
Key Goods Under the Supply Chain Agreement)

<bullet> How should Commerce assess ``significant or widespread
economic disruptions'' for purposes of the Supply Chain Agreement? What
thresholds or metrics should Commerce consider in assessing the risk of
such disruptions for the purposes of identifying critical sectors and
key goods?
<bullet> Which, if any, of the factors listed in Article 10 of the
Supply Chain Agreement should Commerce prioritize in making its
determinations of critical sectors or key goods for cooperation under
the Supply Chain Agreement? Please offer a justification.
<bullet> In your view, bearing in mind the seven factors outlined
above, what sectors and goods best fit the criteria for ``critical
sectors'' and ``key goods'' for cooperation under the Supply Chain
Agreement and why?
<bullet> For those sectors and goods that Commerce should consider
``critical sectors'' and ``key goods'' for cooperation under the Supply
Chain Agreement, what types of activities, either by governments, by
companies, or via public-private cooperation, would be most valuable to
the private sector?
<bullet> The U.S. Department of Commerce requests U.S. small
businesses (generally defined by the Small Business Administration as
firms with fewer than 500 employees) or organizations representing U.S.
small business members that submit comments to self-identify as such,
so that we may be aware of issues of particular interest to small
businesses.

Requirements for Submissions

To be assured of consideration, submit any written comments by the
June 21 deadline. All submissions must be in English. Commerce strongly
encourages submissions via <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>. Commerce may consider
comments filed after the deadline. The docket number is 240530-0148.
To submit via <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>, use Docket Number 240530-0148 in the
`search for' field 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 by selecting `notice'
under `document type' in the `refine documents results' section on the
left side of the screen and click on the link entitled `comment'.
<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> allows users to make submissions by filling in a `type
comment' field, or by attaching a document using the `upload file'
field. Commerce prefers that you provide submissions in an attached
document named according to the following protocol, as appropriate:
Commenter Name or Organization and ``Commerce Supply Chain''. If you
provide submissions in an attached document, please type `see attached
comments' in the `comment' field on the online submission form.
Please include the name, email address, and telephone number of an
individual Commerce can contact if there are issues or questions with
the submission. You will receive a tracking number upon completion of
the submission procedure at <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>. The tracking number is
confirmation that <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> received your submission. Keep the
confirmation for your records.
Commerce is not able to provide technical assistance for
<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>. For further information on using <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>,
please consult the resources provided on the website by clicking on
`How to Use <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>' on the bottom of the home page. You can
contact the <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> help desk at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#25574042504944514c4a4b564d4049554140564e654256440b424a53">[email&#160;protected]</a> or
1-866-498-2945 for help with technical questions on submitting comments
on <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>.
If you are unable to submit through <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> after seeking
assistance from the help desk, please contact Kevin Doyle at 202-779-
0376 or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#256c7560637666646551574441400b424a53">[email&#160;protected]</a> or Ahmad Khalil at 202-963-9696 or
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#added8ddddc1d4cec5ccc4c3cec8c3d9c8dfedd9dfccc9c883cac2db">[email&#160;protected]</a> before transmitting your application and in
advance of the deadline to arrange for an alternative method of
transmission. ITA will not accept hand-delivered submissions. ITA may
not consider submissions that you do not make in accordance with these
instructions. General information concerning Commerce's Supply Chain
Center is available at <a href="https://www.trade.gov/supply-chain-center">https://www.trade.gov/supply-chain-center</a>.
Commerce's work on IPEF is available at <a href="https://www.commerce.gov/ipef">https://www.commerce.gov/ipef</a>.

Business Confidential Information (BCI) Submissions

If you ask Commerce to treat information you submit as BCI, you
must certify that the information is business confidential and that you
would not customarily release it to the public. For any comments
submitted electronically containing BCI, the file name of the business
confidential version should begin with the characters `BCI.' You must
clearly mark any page containing BCI with `BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL' on
the top of that page. Filers of submissions containing BCI also must
submit a public version that will be placed in the docket for public
inspection. The file name of the public version should begin with the
character `P.' Follow the `BCI' and `P' with the name of the individual
or organization submitting the comments.

[[Page 47539]]

Public Viewing of Review Submissions

ITA will post written submissions in the docket for public
inspection, except properly designated BCI. You can view comments on
<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> by entering Docket Number 240530-0148 in the search
field on the home page.

Public Burden Statement

A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not
required to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for
failure to comply with an information collection subject to the
requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 unless the
information collection has a currently valid OMB Control Number. The
approved OMB Control Number for this information collection is 0690-
0038. Without this approval, we could not conduct this information
collection. Public reporting for this information collection is
estimated to be approximately 2 hours per response, including the time
for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering
and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the
information collection. All responses to this information collection
are voluntary. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any
other aspect of this information collection, including suggestions for
reducing this burden to the International Trade Administration
Paperwork Reduction Act Program: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f5858794b58187949190db929a83">[email&#160;protected]</a> or to Katelynn Byers,
ITA PRA Process Administrator: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c883a9bcada4b1a6a6e68ab1adbabb88bcbaa9acade6afa7be">[email&#160;protected]</a>.

Dated: May 30, 2024.
Sharon H Yuan,
Counselor and Chief Negotiator for IPEF.
[FR Doc. 2024-12240 Filed 5-30-24; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-25-P

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