OMB FR notice 2 (2017) - Supporting statement--PART B

Part B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods
The Commission does not use statistical sampling methodology for information collections conducted
under the generic clearance but instead typically sends questionnaire to the entire population or to a
substantial portion of the population of firms producing, importing, and/or purchasing the product in
question. Initially, a petitioning domestic producer is required to identify all domestic producers and
importers of the relevant product known to it as well as the foreign producers in the subject
country(ies). The Commission supplements this information with publicly available sources (for
domestic and foreign producers) and accesses confidential information from Customs (for importers and
foreign producers) to compile the lists of firms to receive questionnaires. Purchaser names are
provided to the Commission by the domestic producers and importers. See item 16 above for
information on how the Commission maximizes response rates.
For a specific investigation, the Commission usually sends producer questionnaires to all U.S. firms
manufacturing the product(s) in question. In most investigations there are no more than a total of 20
to 30 firms in the United States, and often far fewer, producing the relevant product(s). Some of the
information contained in the producers’ questionnaire (e.g., questions as to the impact of imports on
firms’ operations) is relevant for the Commission’s determinations regardless of the size of the
respondent. Similarly, the Commission attempts to obtain data from all foreign manufacturers of the
subject product, especially if they are exporting to the United States. Typically, there are fewer than
10 foreign manufacturers per country involved in any Commission investigation. 13
In contrast to domestic and foreign manufacturers, the Commission often does not attempt to obtain
data from every U.S. importer and purchaser of the relevant product(s). Importer and purchaser
questionnaires are, however, mailed to the most substantial firms that import or purchase from the
countries where the subject merchandise is produced. Concentrating staff effort on a smaller group of
firms permits the Commission to fully edit and review returned questionnaires and minimize the burden
on smaller respondents. Where possible, the Commission uses official Commerce statistics to
determine import levels, in some cases adjusting those statistics on the basis of importer questionnaire
responses. Further, a key purpose of the purchasers’ questionnaire is not to estimate population totals
but to obtain an objective assessment of the factors of competition between domestically produced and
imported products. Commission reports indicate when the entire universe of firms was not surveyed
and notes what percentage of the market accounted for by the responding firms.
Notices of the institution of five-year sunset reviews are not mailed to firms, but published in the
Federal Register. Responses are solicited and are voluntary.

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The Commission compiles separate data for each country considered.

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