Notice2025-07273
Notice of Request for Public Comments on Section 232 National Security Investigation of Imports of Processed Critical Minerals and Derivative Products
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Published
April 25, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentIndustry and Security Bureau
Abstract
On April 22, 2025, the Secretary of Commerce initiated an investigation to determine the effects on the national security of imports of processed critical minerals as well as their derivative products. This investigation has been initiated under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (Section 232). Interested parties are invited to submit written comments, data, analyses, or other information pertinent to the investigation to the Department of Commerce's (Department) Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Office of Strategic Industries and Economic 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 79 (Friday, April 25, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 79 (Friday, April 25, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17372-17373]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-07273]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of Industry and Security
[Docket No. 250422-0070]
XRIN 0694-XC124
Notice of Request for Public Comments on Section 232 National
Security Investigation of Imports of Processed Critical Minerals and
Derivative Products
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: On April 22, 2025, the Secretary of Commerce initiated an
investigation to determine the effects on the national security of
imports of processed critical minerals as well as their derivative
products. This investigation has been initiated under section 232 of
the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (Section 232). Interested
parties are invited to submit written comments, data, analyses, or
other information pertinent to the investigation to the Department of
Commerce's (Department) Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Office
of Strategic Industries and Economic 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
May 16, 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-2025-0025. Please refer to XRIN 0694-XC124 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
[[Page 17373]]
(202) 482-2533, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f5989c9b9087949986c7c6c7b5979c86db919a96db929a83"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9ff2f6f1faedfef3ecadacaddffdf6ecb1fbf0fcb1f8f0e9">[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 April 15, 2025, the President issued Executive Order 14272,
Ensuring National Security and Economic Resilience through Section 232
Actions on Processed Critical Minerals and Derivative Products (90 FR
16437), instructing the Secretary of Commerce (``Secretary'') to
initiate an investigation under Section 232 (19 U.S.C. 1862) to
determine the effects on national security of imports of processed
critical minerals and derivative products. On April 22, 2025, the
Secretary of Commerce initiated the Section 232 investigation.
Executive Order 14272 defines the following terms as used in this
notice. The term ``critical minerals'' means those minerals included in
the ``Critical Minerals List'' published by the United States
Geological Survey (USGS) pursuant to section 7002(c) of the Energy Act
of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606) at 87 FR 10381, or any subsequent such list.
The term ``critical minerals'' also includes uranium. The term ``rare
earth elements'' means the 17 elements identified as rare earth
elements by the Department of Energy (DOE) in the April 2020
publication, ``Critical Materials Rare Earths Supply Chain.''
Generally, rare earth elements are considered a subset of critical
minerals. The term also includes any additional elements that either
the USGS or DOE determines in any subsequent official report or
publication should be considered rare earth elements. The term
``processed critical minerals'' refers to critical minerals that have
undergone the activities that occur after critical mineral ore is
extracted from a mine up through its conversion into a metal, metal
powder, or a master alloy. These activities specifically occur
beginning from the point at which ores are converted into oxide
concentrates; separated into oxides; and converted into metals, metal
powders, and master alloys. The term ``derivative products'' includes
all goods that incorporate processed critical minerals as inputs. These
goods include semi-finished goods (e.g., anodes and cathodes) as well
as final products (e.g., motors, batteries, radar systems, wind
turbines and their components, and advanced optical devices).
Request for Public 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 BIS's Office of Strategic Industries and Economic
Security no later than May 16, 2025. The Department is particularly
interested in comments and information directed at the criteria listed
in Sec. 705.4 of the regulations as they affect national security,
including the following:
(i) Identification of United States imports of all processed
critical minerals and derivative products;
(ii) The foreign sources by percentage and volume of all processed
critical mineral imports and derivative product imports, the specific
types of risks that may be associated with each source by country, and
those source countries deemed to be of significant risk;
(iii) An analysis of the distortive effects of the predatory
economic, pricing, and market manipulation strategies and practices
used by countries that process critical minerals that are exported to
the United States, including the distortive effects on domestic
investment and the viability of United States production, as well as an
assessment of how such strategies and practices permit such countries
to maintain their control over the critical minerals processing sector
and distort United States market prices for derivative products;
(iv) An analysis of the demand for processed critical minerals by
manufacturers of derivative products in the United States and globally,
including an assessment of the extent to which such manufacturers'
demand for processed critical minerals originates from countries
identified under questions (ii) and (iii) of this notice;
(v) A review and risk assessment of global supply chains for
processed critical minerals and their derivative products;
(vi) An analysis of the current and potential capabilities of the
United States to process critical minerals and their derivative
products;
(vii) The dollar value of the current level of imports of all
processed critical minerals and derivative products by total value and
country of export; and
(viii) Any other relevant factors.
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. BIS
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 at 15 CFR 4.1, et seq.
Eric Longnecker,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Technology Security.
[FR Doc. 2025-07273 Filed 4-23-25; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-33-P
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