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

Questionnaires Issued for Import Investigations and
Institution Notices for Five-Year Sunset Reviews
As part of the import injury investigations conducted under a series of statutes (antidumping,
countervailing duty, escape clause, NAFTA safeguard, market disruption, and
interference-with-programs-of-the USDA), the U.S. International Trade Commission (Commission) issues
a series of questionnaires to firms participating in U.S. industrial and agricultural industries. 1 In
addition, for certain investigations (namely, the five-year sunset reviews of antidumping and
countervailing duty orders and suspended investigations), the Commission publishes institution notices
in the Federal Register that constitute an information collection as defined by the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995. This supporting statement is for an extension, or renewal, of the current Commission
generic clearance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 2 to issue information collections
for import injury investigations.
Generic questionnaires--Sample or generic questionnaires (U.S. producers, U.S. importers, U.S.
purchasers, foreign producers, and related instructions) used for original import injury investigations are
attached to this submission as are a similar set of questionnaires intended for use in the five-year sunset
reviews. The questionnaires are available to the public on the Commission’s website (at:
http://www.usitc.gov/trade_remedy/731_ad_701_cvd/investigations/question/index.htm). The
sample questionnaires are designed to illustrate the different types of data that the Commission usually
seeks in its investigations and are representative of the average burden placed on questionnaire
respondents. In most investigations, the data requested will closely resemble that shown in the sample
questionnaires.
The Commission will continue, in most circumstances, to request only three full years and two partial
years of data in original antidumping and countervailing duty investigations. Somewhat more data
typically is requested in the infrequent escape clause investigations (i.e., usually five years of data).
Also, additional periods of data are frequently requested in five-year sunset reviews of the outstanding
orders to ensure that the Commission can consider the full period from the time of the original
investigation or previous review to the current period.
Federal Register notice--Included within this information clearance package is a sample notice for the
Commission’s institution of five-year sunset reviews. The notice includes specific requests for
information that firms are to provide if their response is to be considered by the Commission in making
its determination as to whether to conduct an expedited or full review.

1

It is understood that the Commission’s generic clearance to issue questionnaires will not apply to repetitive
questionnaires such as those issued on a quarterly or annual basis. In addition, it will not apply to other
investigations and research studies conducted under section 332 of the Trade Act of 1974. These investigations are
differentiated from those included under the generic clearance in that they do not require an injury determination.
2

OMB No. 3117-0016, expiration date of June 30, 2017. The Commission has issued questionnaires for its
import injury investigations under a generic clearance since 1980.

1

Part A.

Justification

(1) Request. --The information requested in the questionnaires and five-year sunset review institution
notices is for use by the Commission in connection with the following statutory investigations: 3
Investigation Name

Statute
Sections 731-739, 751, 752, 761, and 762 of the
Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C.
1673-1673h, 1675, 1675a, 1676, and 1676a)
Sections 701-709, 751, 752, 753, 761, and 762 of
the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C.
1671-1671g, 1675, 1675a, 1675b, 1676, and
1676a)
Sections 201-204 and the Trade Act of 1974, as
amended (19 U.S.C. 2251-2254)
Sections 301-317 of the North American Free
Trade Agreement Implementation Act (19 U.S.C.
3351-3358, 3371, 3372, and 3381
Sections 406 and 201 of the Trade Act of 1974, as
amended (19 U.S.C. 2436 and 19 U.S.C. 2251)
Section 22 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of
1933, as amended (7 U.S.C. 624)

Antidumping

Countervailing duty
Escape Clause
NAFTA Safeguard
Market disruption
Interference with programs of the USDA

The Commission conducts antidumping and countervailing duty investigations under provisions of Title
VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 to determine whether domestic industries are being materially injured or
threatened with material injury by reason of imports of products which are sold at less than fair value
(antidumping cases) or subsidized (countervailing duty cases). Five-year sunset reviews of antidumping
and countervailing duty orders and of suspended investigations are conducted to determine whether
revocation of the existing orders would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury
to the domestic industry. The Commission conducts escape-clause investigations to determine whether
increased imports are a substantial cause of serious injury or threat of serious injury to a domestic
industry. NAFTA safeguard investigations are conducted under the authority of the North American Free
3

A full text copy of the Tariff Act of 1930 and the Trade Act of 1974 was included in the clearance request
made on April 16, 1980. A copy of Section 22 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1921 was included with the May
15, 1981 submission. The Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-418, 102 STAT 1107)
amends portions of both the Tariff Act of 1930 and the Trade Act of 1974; a copy was included with the July 31,
1990 submission. A copy of sections 301-317 of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act
was included with the May 3, 1996 clearance request. See also the summary of statutory provisions providing for
antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on the Commission’s website (at:
http://www.usitc.gov/trade_remedy/731_ad_701_cvd/index.htm) and a summary of statutory provisions
providing for global and special safeguard investigations (at:
http://www.usitc.gov/trade_remedy/safeguards/index.htm).
The Commission’s regulations concerning the conduct of import injury investigation are found in 19 CFR,
subchapters A and B of Chapter II, which is also posted on the website (at:
http://www.usitc.gov/secretary/fed_reg_notices/rules/index.htm).

2

Trade Agreement and examine whether increased imports from Canada or Mexico are a substantial
cause of serious injury or threat of serious injury to a domestic industry. Market disruption
investigations under section 406 of the Trade Act of 1974 are conducted to determine whether imports
of an article produced in a Communist country are causing material injury to a domestic industry. The
Commission also conducts investigations to determine whether imports are interfering with programs of
the Department of Agriculture for agricultural commodities or products.
The Commission’s statutory authority for obtaining data by questionnaire is set forth in section 333(a) of
the Tariff Act of 1930.
(2) Purpose.--The information collected through questionnaires issued under the generic clearance for
import injury investigations is consolidated by Commission staff and presented to the Commission in the
form of a staff report. The information provided by firms in response to the questionnaires further
constitutes a major portion of the data used by the Commission in making its determinations.
In addition, in the majority of its investigations, the Commission releases completed questionnaires
returned by industry participants to representatives of interested parties to its investigations under the
terms of an administrative protective order, the terms of which safeguard the confidentiality of any
business proprietary or business confidential information. Representatives of interested parties 4 also
receive a confidential version of the staff report under the administrative protective order.
Subsequent party submissions to the Commission for specific proceedings are based, in large part, upon
their review of the information collected by the Commission.
The submissions made to the Commission in response to the notices of institution of five-year sunset
reviews are evaluated to determine if they meet the criteria for adequacy. If the Commission
concludes that interested parties’ responses to the notice of institution are adequate, or otherwise
determines that a full review should proceed, investigative activities pertaining to that review will
continue. Alternatively, if the Commission concludes that interested parties’ responses to the notice of
institution are inadequate, it may decide to conduct an expedited review, which does not require
gathering data using questionnaires. 5
Depending upon the specific type of investigation, the Commission is required to notify either the
Department of Commerce or the President, in addition to the petitioner and other parties, of its
determination and the relevant facts. Affirmative Commission determinations in antidumping and
countervailing duty investigations result in the imposition of additional duties on imports entering the
4

Interested parties consist of U.S. producers within the industry in question as well as labor unions or
representative groups of workers, U.S. importers and foreign exporters, and involved foreign country
governments.
5

The institution notices state that: "{p}ursuant to section 207.61(c) of the Commission's rules, any interested
party that cannot furnish the information requested by this notice in the requested form and manner shall notify
the Commission at the earliest possible time, provide a full explanation of why it cannot provide the requested
information, and indicate alternative forms in which it can provide equivalent information. If an interested party
does not provide this notification (or the Commission finds the explanation provided in the notification
inadequate) and fails to provide a complete response to this notice, the Commission may take an adverse
inference against the party pursuant to section 776(b) of the Act in making its determination in the review."

3

United States. If the Commission makes an affirmative determination in a five-year sunset review, the
existing antidumping or countervailing duty order will remain in place. The data developed in
escape-clause, market disruption, and interference-with-USDA-program investigations (if the
Commission finds affirmatively) are used by the President/U.S. Trade Representative to determine the
type of relief, if any, to be provided to domestic industries.
The following tabulation provides the number of import injury investigations (where the Commission
makes determinations on the basis of questionnaires issued under the current generic clearance)
instituted at the Commission during 2014-16:
Type of investigation

2014

2015

2016

Antidumping

16

43

36

Countervailing duty

16

23

16

Title VII changed circumstances review (751b)

0

0

0

Title VII five-year (751c)1

18

24

22

Global safeguard review (203/204)

0

0

0

China safeguard (421)2

0

0

0

1

Does not include five-year reviews that were revoked by the International Trade
Administration (U.S. Department of Commerce) and where the Commission subsequently
terminated its reviews. Five-year reviews that were expedited by the Commission do not require
that questionnaires be issued. Submissions were, however, provided to the Commission in
response to its notices of institution of five-year sunset reviews.
2

The China safeguard provision expired on December 11, 2013.

Note. Data for investigations are provided on a fiscal year basis. The numbers of cases
provided refer to individual filings for each statute and country (and not to the number of
grouped filings for statutes and countries combined).
Source: Case data retrieved from U. S. International Trade Commission website at
https://www.usitc.gov/trade_remedy/731_ad_701_cvd/investigations.htm

4

(3) Information technology-- The Commission has made continued progress with its data collection
efforts. Questionnaires are now created as fillable forms in MS Word format and are electronically
distributed to industry participants. Questionnaires in MS Word for specific investigations are made
available on the Commission’s website at
https://www.usitc.gov/trade_remedy/731_ad_701_cvd/investigations.htm. Responding firms are
instructed to return completed questionnaires by uploading them to a secure dropbox on the
Commission’s website. 6 This should make filing easier and more cost effective for firms and will likely
result in a reduction in paper. Electronic completion and submission of questionnaires has facilitated the
Commission’s electronic extraction of data which will reduce time spent manually entering data and
should improve accuracy. The Commission has and will continue its practice of regularly evaluating
questionnaires to reduce the burden on responding firms. For example, the questionnaires have been
changed to include auto-population and auto-computations in parts of the questionnaire which have
reduced adding errors and have saved time for questionnaire respondents and Commission staff. Parties
to the investigation must, where service of the questionnaire is required, provide the service in paper
form to the other parties under the administrative protective order (see 19 CFR 207.7). 7
Information provided by firms in response to its notices of institution for the five-year sunset reviews
are submitted in document form directly to the Commission’s Office of the Secretary.
(4) Non-duplication.--The Commission contacts trade associations, government agencies, and other
industry participants prior to developing a questionnaire in order to determine the amount and type of
data already available and to avoid duplication. Public data that the Commission has been able to
utilize on a regular basis consist primarily of the quantity and value of imports into the United States
maintained by the U.S. Department of Commerce; some use has also been made of U.S. Department of
Agriculture statistics for cases involving agricultural commodities and data maintained by the American
Iron and Steel Institute for steel investigations.
However, the Commission can rarely rely solely upon existing data sources. For each investigation it
conducts, the Commission generally is restricted to examining a relatively narrow group or range of
products in assessing injury, or threat of injury, to a specific domestic industry. In most cases, the
product categories of published data are too broad and/or do not correspond to the product(s) under
investigation. It is also necessary for the Commission to ensure that for such items as shipments and
pricing, the data it considers is collected using the same measurement criteria for producers (both
domestic and foreign), importers, and purchasers. Timeliness is also of concern. For example, the
Commission usually examines data for the most recent three full years and two partial years in
antidumping and countervailing duty investigations, ending with the last quarter for which firms have
closed their books. Finally, to ensure that its determinations are made using the most accurate data
possible, the Commission where possible reviews information on the individual operations of the firms
within an industry (data not available on a public basis).
6

Firms are given the specific web address and a case-specific password in the instructions of the
questionnaires for the secure dropbox. (See for example: https://www.usitc.gov/trade_remedy/question.htm).
Alternatively, firms are instructed to email it to Commission staff.
7

A signed certificate of service must accompany the documents.

5

(5) Small businesses.--The Commission generally directs its data collection activities towards those
firms that account for a significant percentage of the total trade of the products under investigation.
Such firms are the larger businesses in the industry under investigation, but may be classified as small
businesses under the rules of the Small Business Administration. The burden is minimized for any
smaller firms included on a Commission mailing list since, in contrast to the larger firms, they will
generally only produce, import, or purchase some of the products under investigation and thus, by
definition, need only complete part of the questionnaire. In addition, the Commission’s staff generally
contacts questionnaire recipients to assist them in completing their response. Firms for which the
questionnaire is particularly burdensome may receive additional time to complete the questionnaire
and/or be encouraged to use estimates. (The instructions of each questionnaire provide the names
and telephone numbers of Commission staff assigned to the investigation; they also state that carefully
prepared estimates are acceptable.)
(6) Consequence of non-collection.--As discussed above, the Commission would be severely
hampered in making its determinations and recommendations if the information collections are not
conducted.
The actual questions formulated for use in a specific investigation depend upon such factors as the
nature of the industry, the relevant issues, the ability of respondents to supply the data, and the
availability of data from secondary sources. However, the issues to be examined are largely
determined by statutory mandate. The Tariff Act of 1930 identifies certain economic factors that the
Commission is to take into account in arriving at determinations in countervailing duty and antidumping
investigations. Section 771(7) of the Act directs the Commission to evaluate, in addition to any other
relevant economic factors, the following: import volumes, prices, production, shipments, profitability,
productivity, inventories, employment, wages, growth, ability to raise capital, and investment. The
Commission is also provided with guidelines concerning the economic factors it is to take into account in
making its determinations in escape clause investigations. Section 202(c)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974
directs the Commission to take into account all relevant economic factors, but specifically mentions the
following: capacity utilization; profitability; unemployment; underemployment; sales; inventories;
production; wages; import levels, both relative to production and absolute; and the proportion of the
domestic market supplied by domestic producers. The Commission may also be required to examine
injury to both national and regional industries in antidumping and countervailing duty investigations.
In some investigations, questionnaires will solicit data pertaining to other economic factors not listed in
the statutes (e.g., channels of distribution and lost sales) because such data have been found to be
particularly useful in past Commission determinations or are relevant to the case in question.
(7) Special circumstances.--Except as noted below, there are no special circumstances that would
cause a questionnaire under the generic clearance to be issued in a manner inconsistent with item 7 of
the Specific Instructions for the Supporting Statement.
For all types of investigations other than preliminary phases of antidumping and countervailing duty
investigations that have statutory deadlines of 45 days, the Commission attempts to provide
respondents 30 days or more to respond to its questionnaires. Extensions of the Commission’s
questionnaire deadlines frequently are provided upon request.

6

(8) Consultations.--The Commission’s notice soliciting comments on the proposed information
collection (for the generic clearance) prior to submitting it to OMB was published in the Federal Register
on February 1, 2017 (82 FR 8949; copy provided), as required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d). 8 In addition, the
Commission issues annual customer feedback surveys to solicit process feedback to facilitate the overall
process and minimize burden on firms.
Consultations applying to questionnaire content.--The generic questionnaires included with this
submission provide, as indicated above, an indication of the types of data collected in import injury
investigations. The documents in electronic form also function as clerical aid to prevent having to
replicate substantial portions of the questionnaires issued in actual investigations. Questionnaires for
newly instituted investigations (including the preliminary phases of antidumping and countervailing duty
investigations) are structured, in part, using information provided in the petition submitted by the
petitioning firms. For every individual investigation, industry representatives are solicited by
Commission staff for their input and comments regarding the specific questionnaires that will be issued.
Further, the Commission has formalized the process where interested parties comment on data
collection and draft questionnaires in final phase antidumping and countervailing duty investigations
(including the five-year sunset reviews). Interested parties are provided approximately two weeks to
provide comments to the Commission on the draft questionnaires. Requests by parties to expand the
data collection or add items to the questionnaire may not be accepted if the Commission believes such
requests will increase the response burden while not substantially adding to the investigative record.
After the comment period, each individual Commissioner reviews and approves the questionnaires
through the Commission’s Action jacket procedure (in final phase original investigations and five-year
sunset reviews).
With respect to the institution notices and questionnaires issued for the five-year sunset reviews of
antidumping and countervailing duty orders and suspended investigations, the Commission has
attempted to minimize the amount of information it collects from the industries involved in the reviews
while still meeting its statutory obligations.

8

In addition, the text of the 30-day Federal Register notice that will be published is also incorporated into this
submission.

7

Consultations applying to questionnaire burden.--The Commission requests in every questionnaire
issued under the generic clearance that firms report the actual number of hours required and the cost
incurred in preparing the reply to the questionnaire and in completing the form. Responses from firms
are tabulated by the Commission and provide the basis for the burden estimates and costs incorporated
into this extension request.
Comments received.-- The Commission did not receive any comments from individual firms that have
completed questionnaires in import injury investigations nor did it receive any comments from
counsel that has represented interested parties (that have completed questionnaires).
(9)

Payments or gifts to respondents.--There is no provision for any payment or gifts to respondents.

(10) Confidentiality.--The authority for accepting submissions of information as confidential is
specified in 19 CFR 201.6. The respondents are informed in the instruction booklet accompanying the
questionnaires that:
The commercial and financial data furnished in response to the enclosed questionnaire(s) that reveal the
individual operations of your firm will be treated as confidential by the Commission to the extent that
such data are not otherwise available to the public and will not be disclosed except as may be required
by law (see 19 U.S.C. 1677f). Such confidential information will not be published in a manner that will
reveal the individual operations of your firm; however nonnumerical characterizations of numerical
business proprietary information (such as discussions of trends) will be treated as confidential business
information only at the request of the submitter for good cause shown.
The following information describing the administrative protective order service requirement and
providing certain information to the Department of Commerce is also provided to respondents in the
instructions of the questionnaires:
The information provided by your firm in response to the questionnaire(s), as well as
any other business proprietary information submitted by your firm to the Commission in
connection with the investigation, may become subject to, and released under, the
administrative protective order provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1677f) and
section 207.7 of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure (19 CFR 207.7).
This means that certain lawyers and other authorized individuals may temporarily be
given access to the information for use in connection with this investigation or other
import-injury investigations or reviews conducted by the Commission on the same or
similar merchandise; those individuals would be subject to severe penalties if the
information were divulged to unauthorized individuals. In addition, if your firm is a
U.S. producer, the information you provide on your production and imports and your
responses to the questions in Part I of the producer questionnaire will be provided to
the U.S. Department of Commerce, upon its request, for use in connection with (and
only in connection with) its requirement pursuant to sections 702(c)(4) and/or 732(c)(4)
of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1671a(c)(4) and/or /1673a(c)(4)) to make a determination
concerning the extent of industry support for the petition requesting this investigation.
8

Any information provided to Commerce will be transmitted under the confidentiality
and release guidelines set forth above. Your response to these questions constitutes
your consent that such information be provided to Commerce under the conditions
described above.
As indicated above, the administrative protective order service requirement constitutes a third-party
disclosure (i.e., a directive for a person to disclose information to other persons) under the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995. The authorized applicants, or those who are eligible to receive business propriety
information under the administrative protective order, are limited to persons (primarily trade attorneys
and the economic consultants hired by those attorneys) who represent interested parties in a specific
import injury investigation. As described earlier, party briefs and other submissions to the Commission
are based in large part upon information released to these authorized applicants under the terms of the
administrative protective order.
The administrative protective order service requirement also applies to and is described in the notices of
institution for five-year sunset reviews.
(11) Sensitive information.--Information on issues of a sensitive nature involving persons is not
sought.
(12) Estimates of burden (July 2017 through June 2020). 9--The Commission estimates that
information collections issued under the requested generic clearance will impose an average annual
burden of 192,998 burden hours on 6,789 respondents (i.e., recipients that provide a response to the
Commission’s questionnaires, Administrative Protective Order forms, or the notices of institution of
five-year sunset reviews). Table 1 lists the projected annual burden for each type of information
collection for the period July 2017 through June 2020. 10

9

A July-June period is used since the current generic clearance expires on June 30, 2017.

10

The average annual burden increased from the previous generic survey clearance due to the increased
number of investigations and responses per investigation, while the number of hours remained level.

9

Table 1
Projected annual burden data, by type of information collection, July 2017-June 2020
Foreign
Institution
Producer
Importer Purchaser producer notices for
questionquestionquestionquestion5-year
Item
naires1
naires2
naires3
naires4
reviews5
Number of respondents

Other6

Total

750

2,000

1,600

1,400

183

856

6,789

Frequency of response

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

Total annual responses

750

2,000

1,600

1,400

183

856

6,789

Hours per response

52

41

23

22

10

3

28.4

Total hours

39,000

82,000

36,800

30,800

1,830

2,568

192,998

1
Producer questionnaires.--Estimates based upon the following variables: number of
respondents (anticipated caseload (x) number of producer respondents per case) and hours per
response.
2
Importer questionnaires.--Estimates based upon the following variables: number of
respondents (anticipated caseload (x) number of importer respondents per case) and hours per
response.
3

Purchaser questionnaires.--Estimates based upon the following variables: number of
respondents (anticipated caseload (x) number of purchaser respondents per case) and hours per
response.
4

Foreign producer questionnaires.--Estimates based upon the following variables: number of
respondents (anticipated caseload (x) number of foreign producer respondents per case) and hours
per response.
5

Institution notices for 5-year reviews.--Estimates based upon the following variables:
anticipated five-year review caseload, number of respondents to each notice, and responding firm
burden.
6
e.g. Administrative Protective Order forms and questionnaires to purchasers in the adequacy
phase of a review investigation. Estimates based upon the following variables: number of
respondents (anticipated caseload (x) number of respondents per case) and hours per response.

Note.--Above estimates include questionnaires for specific investigations where the mailing list
consists of fewer than 10 firms. In such instances the majority or all firms within the industry under
investigation may be said to receive questionnaires. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, (a)ny collection of information addressed to all or a substantial majority of an industry is
presumed to involved ten or more persons.
Definitions on the next page.

10

DEFINITIONS
Anticipated caseload.--Derived from current Commission budget estimates.
Number of respondents per case.--Defined as the number of firms which return completed
questionnaires to the Commission. Current estimates of number of respondents per case for the
questionnaires were derived from the number of respondents to Commission questionnaires that
were issued under the current generic clearance.
Responding firm burden.--Defined as the time required by the firm that received the questionnaire to
review instructions, search data sources, and complete and review its response. Commission
questionnaires do not impose the burden of developing, acquiring, installing and utilizing technology
and systems, nor require adjusting existing methodology or training personnel. Current estimates of
responding firm burden for the questionnaires were derived from the actual burden reported by
firms that responded to Commission questionnaires issued under the current generic clearance
periods.
Outside review burden.--Time devoted by outside legal and economic advisors to reviewing
questionnaires completed by the responding firms who are their clients prior to submitting them to
the Commission. The number of questionnaires to be reviewed is based on the share of total
responding firms during the period covered by the previous generic clearance that were interested
parties (22 percent). The time per questionnaire is estimated based upon the review experience of
Commission staff, which ranges from 2 to 4 hours per questionnaire but not, as discussed earlier,
including time required by Commission staff to prepare and review follow-up requests.
Third-party disclosure burden.--Time required for outside legal advisors to serve their clients’
questionnaires on other parties to the investigation or review under an administrative protective
order. The number of questionnaires to be served is based on the share of total responding firms
during the period covered by the current generic clearance that were interested parties.

Variation in estimated burden.--The hourly burden estimates presented above can vary widely from case
to case and among individual respondents. The reasons for the variation are as follows: (1) depending
on the time of year a petition is filed or order is to be reviewed the Commission may or may not
examine partial year data; (2) questionnaires for the original investigations and five-year sunset reviews
after the first review generally examine three years of data (plus partial periods if applicable) while
questionnaires for the first five-year sunset reviews typically examine data from the time of the original
investigation or last review to the present; (3) a respondent may only produce, import, or purchase the
products during a short time period or handle only one of the products under investigation or reviewed;
(4) the time required to extract the data from existing records will vary depending both on the product
subject to investigation (and the likelihood that certain data are already aggregated for that product) as
well as on variations in firm-specific record systems; (5) whether the firm’s operations are centralized or
spread among various locations; and (6) the questionnaires include the maximum number of reporting
categories to ensure that meaningful data will be obtained from firms with complex business operations
meaning that some sections of the questionnaires will not apply to smaller-sized firms.
Table 2 presents the range in reported variance (aggregated for an entire investigation and by individual
respondents) for various types of Commission questionnaires issued under the current generic
clearance:

11

Table 2
Reported variance in reported burden hours, by type of information collection, January
2014-December 20161
Type of questionnaire
Type of
investigation

Domestic
producer

Importer

Purchaser

Foreign
producer

Other

Average reported burden hours
Preliminary

20-250

12-198

3-27

6-203

7-36

Final

16-195

28-90

13-41

13-78

1-31

Review

34-388

14-80

13-62

10-108

4-33

1

Range represents the minimum and maximum average reported burden hours per case.

Source: Compiled from data reported in response to Commission questionnaires for the current
generic clearance that was available as of January 2014.
As shown, the range of burden varies among reporting firms for a specific investigation and for various
types of questionnaires (and investigations); the minimum and maximum reported burdens were
highest for domestic producer questionnaires regardless of the type of investigation. 11
Annualized cost to respondents.--The estimated total cost, on an annual basis, to respondents of the
proposed information collections for July 2017 through June 2020 is $22.5 million (table 3). This cost
was obtained by multiplying the number of burden hours estimated to be imposed by questionnaires
cleared under the requested generic clearance by the average cost per hour to respond. The average
cost per hour to respond is based on actual cost data reported by respondents to Commission
questionnaires issued under the current generic clearance.

11

See comments in item 8 on variations in outside reporting burden.

12

Table 3
Estimated annual cost data, by type of information collection, July 2017-June 2020

Producer

Importer

Purchaser

Foreign
producer

Institution
notices for
5-year
reviews

39,000

82,000

36,800

30,800

1,830

2,568

192,998

$131.83

$124.66

$105.67

$92.16

$115.94

$71.39

(3)

Questionnaires
Item
Total burden hours

1

Cost per burden
hour2
Total cost ($1,000)4

Other

Total

5,141
10,222
3,889
2,839
212
183
22,487
The component of total response burden from table 1 that is attributable to burden on responding
firms (but excludes outside review and third-party review burden).
2
Actual cost per hour incurred by firms except for the institution notices which are an average of data
reported by domestic firms. Data are calculated from the total cost to complete the questionnaires
reported by firms in their responses to questionnaires issued under the current generic clearance. Firms
were not requested to separate their costs into wage or other categories.
3
Not calculated.
4
Data were not adjusted upward to account for inflation over the three-year period covered by a
generic clearance.
Source: Compiled from historical data (2014-16) reported in response to Commission questionnaires for
the current generic clearance.
1

(13) Total annual cost burden.--The total annual cost burden to responding firms is shown above in
table 3. There are no known capital and start-up cost components. However, the estimated cost of the
outside review (i.e., the services of outside legal and financial advisors to review the questionnaires
prior to their submission to the Commission) and third party disclosure burden (i.e., service of the
questionnaires on other parties to an investigation under the administrative protective order) is
provided as a maintenance and purchase of services component cost in table 4.

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Table 4
Estimated purchase of services component cost1
Questionnaires
Item

Producer

Importer

Purchaser

Foreign
producer

Institution
notices for
5-year
reviews

Other3

Total

Estimated cost imposed annually in July 2017-June 2020
Total cost ($1,000)

2

757

186

14

1,407

128

84

1

Does not include the estimated cost imposed on responding firms provided in table 3.
Data were not adjusted upward to account for inflation over the three-year period covered by a generic
clearance.
3.
e.g. Administrative Protective Order forms and questionnaires to purchasers in the adequacy phase of a
review investigation.
Source: Calculated from historical cost data (January 2014-December 2016) applied to outside review and
third-party disclosure burden estimated per the definitions provided in table 1.
2

(14) Annualized cost to the Federal Government.--The total project cost for the Commission’s import
injury investigations was $25.8 million for FY 2016. In addition to staff time, this figure includes travel,
data processing, and printing costs plus the cost of personnel benefits and overhead. The total project
cost is provided here since the questionnaires (and institution notices for the five-year sunset reviews)
issued by the Commission are an integral part of its investigations.
(15) Program changes and/or adjustments.--The current generic clearance authority for 173,094
hours of average annual burden expires on June 30, 2016. As shown in table 1, this request for an
extension projects a total respondent burden of 192,998 hours for an increase of 11.5 percent. This
increase reflects the increase in the number of investigations and resulting number of questionnaires.
This burden estimate is based on the hour and dollar burden data submitted by firms for the previous
three years (calendar years 2014-16).
(16) Plans for tabulation and publication.--After a questionnaire is sent for a specific investigation,
firms are contacted by Commission staff to ensure that they received the questionnaire and are able to
supply the data. There is a telephone or e-mail follow-up to firms that do not respond by the due date.
After the questionnaires are returned, Commission staff reviews each response for accuracy, resolves
any questions with the respondent, and compiles responses using various forms of information
technology. Data from questionnaires issued under the current generic clearance was processed via
electronic extraction of data using Microsoft Excel The computer programs also permit the compiled
data to be displayed in a variety of formats that highlight the pertinent issues and questions so as to aid
the Commission in its analysis and subsequent determination. 12
12

As indicated in item 2, the Commission releases completed questionnaires to authorized representatives of
interested parties under the terms of an administrative protective order. The Commission now provides the

14

2,575

Compiled data from the questionnaires are transmitted to the Commission in the form of a staff report.
(Questionnaire data are placed into the Commission’s Electronic Document Information System (EDIS)
and made available electronically to authorized persons within the Commission.) A version of the
Commission’s report for each investigation with all confidential material deleted is published shortly
after the end of a specific investigation in a document that also contains the Commission’s
determination for that investigation and the Commissioners’ opinions. Copies of the published report
are made available on the Commission’s website (see
https://www.usitc.gov/trade_remedy/publications/opinions_index.htm). Prior to the publication of the
report, and immediately after the Commission’s vote in a specific investigation, a press release is issued
that provides the outcome of the vote and lists factual highlights of the investigation. In addition, the
Commission’s determination for each investigation is published in the Federal Register.
The time schedule depends upon the type and length of the specific investigation. For antidumping
and countervailing duty investigations, escape-clause investigations, and market disruption
investigations, the Commission has statutory deadlines for reporting its determination, which range
from 45 days to six months from the date of receipt of a petition, request from the President, or
Congressional resolution. The deadlines for escape-clause review, changed circumstances,
antidumping and countervailing duty review investigations, and investigations on interference with
programs of the USDA generally range from three to six months. The actual time schedule for an
investigation is determined when the case is instituted.
(17) Approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval.--Not applicable. The
questionnaires and notices of institution of five-year sunset reviews issued under the generic clearance
will display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection.
(18) Consistency with CFR 1320.9 guidelines.--There are no known exceptions to the certification
statement identified in Item 19, Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions, of OMB Form
83-1 for this proposed information collection.

releases on a compact disc, which permits the representatives to access the data electronically and assists in the
representatives’ preparation of subsequent submissions to the Commission.

15