83 FR 23631 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Direct Investment Surveys: BE-15, Annual Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of Economic Analysis

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 99 (May 22, 2018)

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 22, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23631-23633]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-10942]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Economic Analysis


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Direct 
Investment Surveys: BE-15, Annual Survey of Foreign Direct Investment 
in the United States

AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and/or continuing 
information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before July 23, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental 
Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th 
and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230, or via email at 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument and instructions should 
be directed to Patricia Abaroa, Chief, Direct Investment Division (BE-
49), Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce, 4600 
Silver Hill Rd, Washington, DC 20233; or via email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 23632]]

I. Abstract

    The Annual Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States 
(BE-15) obtains sample data on the financial structure and operations 
of foreign-owned U.S. business enterprises. The data are needed to 
provide reliable, useful, and timely measures of foreign direct 
investment in the United States to assess its impact on the U.S. 
economy. The sample data are used to derive universe estimates in 
nonbenchmark years from similar data reported in the BE-12 benchmark 
survey, which is conducted every five years. The data collected include 
balance sheets; income statements; property, plant, and equipment; 
employment and employee compensation; merchandise trade; sales of goods 
and services; taxes; and research and development activity for the U.S. 
operations. In addition to these national data, several data items are 
collected by state, including employment and property, plant, and 
equipment.
    The survey, as proposed, incorporates two changes that were made to 
the 2017 BE-12, Benchmark Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the 
United States and seven new proposed changes. The following two 
questions that were added to the 2017 benchmark survey will be added to 
the BE-15 survey:
    (1) A question on the BE-15A form asking whether a recent Financial 
Accounting Standards Board (FASB) update on the treatment of leases 
affected the statistics collected on the survey; the question will also 
collect information to measure the impact on the respondent's reported 
data; and
    (2) a question on the BE-15C form to collect the state in which 
each affiliate is located, improving estimation of employment and 
property, plant, and equipment by location for smaller entities 
reporting on this abbreviated form.
    Other proposed changes are:
    (1) The balance sheet and income statement sections will be 
modified to separately collect the investment in and income from (a) 
``unconsolidated U.S. affiliates'' and (b) ``foreign entities,'' which 
are currently collected together on the BE-15A form. This will assist 
in ensuring complete coverage of unconsolidated U.S. affiliates and in 
better aligning the BE-15 survey data with other direct investment 
surveys.
    (2) A question will be added to collect the city of each foreign 
parent and ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) on all forms. This will be 
used to validate the countries of foreign investors and provide 
additional information on the location of investors.
    (3) Supplements A and B, which collect identification information 
on business enterprises owned by the U.S. affiliate, will be modified 
on all BE-15 forms to offer more options in the multiple-choice 
question asking the reason that the U.S. business enterprises changed 
since the last report, such as options for ``acquired'' or 
``established'' if an enterprise is being reported on a supplement for 
the first time. A follow-up question will be added requesting the date 
of the transaction for new enterprises. This information will aid in 
referring entities to BEA's other surveys of foreign direct investment 
in the United States.
    (4) The commercial property column will be removed from the state 
schedule of the BE-15A and BE-15B forms. Respondents have been confused 
by this concept, which can vary by state or industry, and have 
indicated that the information may not be readily available from their 
records.
    (5) The administrative office and other auxiliary employees item 
will be removed from the BE-15B form to ease respondent burden. Data 
from the BE-15A form can be used to estimate this item for BE-15B form 
respondents.
    (6) The BE-15 Claim for Exemption form will be modified to combine 
items 2(a) and 2(b), which cover exemptions for U.S. business 
enterprises that are no longer foreign owned. The same information can 
be obtained from one question.
    (7) The BE-15A form will be modified to combine the questions on 
direct ownership held by ``all other U.S. persons'' and ``all other 
foreign persons.'' This breakout is not used and the new combined item 
will be consistent with the BE-15B form.
    The exemption level for reporting on the proposed survey is 
unchanged from the 2016 BE-15 survey.

II. Method of Collection

    BEA contacts potential respondents by mail in March of each year; 
responses covering a reporting company's fiscal year ending during the 
previous calendar year are due by May 31 (or by June 30 for respondents 
that file using BEA's eFile system). Reports are required from each 
U.S. business enterprise in which a foreign person has at least 10 
percent of the voting stock in an incorporated business enterprise, or 
an equivalent interest in an unincorporated business enterprise, and 
that meets the additional conditions detailed in the BE-15 forms and 
instructions. Entities required to report will be contacted 
individually by BEA. Entities not contacted by BEA have no reporting 
responsibilities.
    BEA offers electronic filing through its eFile system for use in 
reporting on the BE-15 annual survey forms. In addition, BEA posts all 
its survey forms and reporting instructions on its website 
(www.bea.gov/fdi). These may be downloaded, completed, printed, and 
submitted via fax or mail.
    Potential respondents of the BE-15 are selected from those U.S. 
business enterprises that were required to report on the 2017 BE-12, 
Benchmark Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States, 
along with those U.S. business enterprises that subsequently entered 
the direct investment universe. The BE-15 is a sample survey; universe 
estimates are developed from the reported sample data.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0608-0034.
    Form Number: BE-15.
    Type of Review: Regular submission.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 5,700 annually, of which 
approximately 2,300 file A forms, 1,600 file B forms, 1,300 file C 
forms, and 500 file Claim for Exemption forms.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 112,350 hours. Total annual 
burden is calculated by multiplying the estimated number of submissions 
of each form by the average hourly burden per form, which is 44.75 
hours for the A form, 3.75 hours for the B form, 2.25 hours for the C 
form, and 1 hour for the Claim for Exemption form.
    Estimated Time per Respondent: 19.7 hours per respondent (112,350 
hours/5,700 respondents) is the average, but may vary considerably 
among respondents because of differences in company size and 
complexity.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: International Investment and Trade in Services 
Survey Act (Pub. L. 94-472, 22 U.S.C. 3101-3108, as amended).

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Agency, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the

[[Page 23633]]

use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.

Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018-10942 Filed 5-21-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P