Notice2025-04061
Notice of Request for Public Comments on Section 232 National Security Investigation of Imports of Copper
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
March 13, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentIndustry and Security Bureau
Abstract
The Secretary of Commerce has initiated an investigation to determine the effects on U.S. national security of imports of copper in all forms, including, but not limited to, raw mined copper; copper concentrates; refined copper; copper alloys; scrap copper; and derivative products. This investigation has been initiated under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended. Interested parties are invited to submit written comments, data, analyses, or other information pertinent to the investigation to the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security. This notice identifies issues on which the Department is especially interested in obtaining the public's views.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 48 (Thursday, March 13, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 48 (Thursday, March 13, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11940-11941]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-04061]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of Industry and Security
[Docket No. 250310-0032]
X-RIN 0694-XC116
Notice of Request for Public Comments on Section 232 National
Security Investigation of Imports of Copper
AGENCY: Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Strategic Industries
and Economic Security, U.S. Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary of Commerce has initiated an investigation to
determine the effects on U.S. national security of imports of copper in
all forms, including, but not limited to, raw mined copper; copper
concentrates; refined copper; copper alloys; scrap copper; and
derivative products. This investigation has been initiated under
section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended. Interested
parties are invited to submit written comments, data, analyses, or
other information pertinent to the investigation to the Department of
Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security. This notice identifies
issues on which the Department is especially interested in obtaining
the public's views.
DATES: Comments may be submitted at any time but must be received by
April 1, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Comments on this notice, may be submitted to the Federal
rulemaking portal at: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. The <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a> ID for
this notice is BIS-2025-0010. Please refer to X-RIN 0694-XC116 in all
comments.
All filers using the portal should use the name of the person or
entity submitting the comments as the name of their files, in
accordance with the instructions below. Anyone submitting business
confidential information should clearly identify the business
confidential portion at the time of submission, file a statement
justifying nondisclosure and referring to the specific legal authority
claimed, and provide a non-confidential version of the submission.
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 corresponding non-
confidential version of those comments must be clearly marked
``PUBLIC.'' The file name of the non-confidential version should begin
with the character ``P.'' Any submissions with file names that do not
begin with either a ``BC'' or a ``P'' will be assumed to be public and
will be made publicly available at: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Commenters submitting business confidential information are encouraged
to scan a hard copy of the non-confidential version to create an image
of the file, rather than submitting a digital copy with redactions
applied, to avoid inadvertent redaction errors which could enable the
public to read business confidential information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen Astle, Director, Defense
Industrial Base Division, Office of Strategic Industries and Economic
Security, Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce
(202) 482-2533, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#583b3728283d2a6a6b6a183a312b763c373b763f372e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="64070b1414011656575624060d174a000b074a030b12">[email protected]</span></a>. For more information about the
Section 232 program, including the regulations and the text of previous
investigations, see <a href="http://www.bis.doc.gov/232">www.bis.doc.gov/232</a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On February 25, 2025, the President issued Executive Order 14220,
Addressing the Threat to National Security From Imports of Copper (90
FR 11001), instructing the Secretary of Commerce (``Secretary'') to
initiate an investigation under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act
(19 U.S.C. 1862) to determine the effects on national security of
imports of copper in all forms including, but not limited to, raw mined
copper; copper concentrates; refined copper; copper alloys; scrap
copper; and derivative products. On March 10, 2025, the Secretary
initiated the section 232 investigation.
Written Comments
This investigation is being undertaken in accordance with part 705
of the National Security Industrial Base Regulations (15 CFR parts 700
to 709) (``NSIBR''). Interested parties are invited to submit written
comments, data, analyses, or information pertinent to this
investigation to the Office of Strategic Industries and Economic
Security, U.S. Department of Commerce (``the Department''), no later
than April 1, 2025. The Department is particularly interested in
comments and information directed to the criteria listed in Sec. 705.4
of the regulations as they affect national security, including the
following: (i) the current and projected demand for copper in United
States defense, energy, and critical infrastructure sectors; (ii) the
extent to which domestic production, smelting, refining, and recycling
can meet demand; (iii) the role of foreign supply chains, particularly
from major exporters, in meeting United States demand; (iv) the
concentration of United States copper imports from a small number of
suppliers and the associated risks; (v) the impact of foreign
government subsidies, overcapacity, and predatory trade practices on
United States industry competitiveness; (vi) the economic
[[Page 11941]]
impact of artificially suppressed copper prices due to dumping and
state-sponsored overproduction; (vii) the potential for export
restrictions by foreign nations, including the ability of foreign
nations to weaponize their control over refined copper supplies; (viii)
the feasibility of increasing domestic copper mining, smelting, and
refining capacity to reduce import reliance; and (ix) the impact of
current trade policies on domestic copper production and whether
additional measures, including tariffs or quotas, are necessary to
protect national security.
Material submitted by members of the public that is business
confidential information will be exempted from public disclosure as
provided for by Sec. 705.6 of the regulations. See the ADDRESSES
section of this notice. Communications from agencies of the United
States Government will not be made available for public inspection. The
Bureau of Industry and Security does not maintain a separate public
inspection facility. Requesters should first view the Bureau's web
page, which can be found at <a href="https://efoia.bis.doc.gov/">https://efoia.bis.doc.gov/</a> (see
``Electronic FOIA'' heading). If requesters cannot access the website,
they may call 202-482-0795 for assistance. The records related to this
assessment are made accessible in accordance with the regulations
published in part 4 of title 15 of the Code of Federal Regulations (15
CFR 4.1 et seq.).
Eric Longnecker,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Technology Security.
[FR Doc. 2025-04061 Filed 3-11-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-33-P
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