Bureau of Industry and Security September 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On September 21, 2021, the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) initiated an investigation to determine the effects on the national security from imports of neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) permanent magnets (sometimes referred to as neodymium magnets, neo magnets, or rare earth magnets). This investigation has been initiated under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended. While the Department is interested in any information related to this investigation that the public can provide, this notice identifies particular issues of significance.

The Department of Commerce (``Department'') (Bureau of Industry (``BIS'')) led the 100-Day Supply Chain Review of semiconductors and advanced packaging that was mandated by Presidential Executive Order. On February 24, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order on ``America's Supply Chains,'' which directs several federal agency actions to secure and strengthen America's supply chains. This review, included in the White House Report ``Building Resilient Supply Chains, Revitalizing American Manufacturing, and Fostering Broad-Based Growth'', identified numerous areas of supply chain vulnerabilities. The ongoing shortages in the semiconductor product supply chain are having an adverse impact on a wide range of industry sectors. With the goal of accelerating information flow across the various segments of the supply chain, identifying data gaps and bottlenecks in the supply chain, and potential inconsistent demand signals, the Department is seeking responses from interested parties (including domestic and foreign semiconductor design firms, semiconductor manufacturers, materials and equipment suppliers, as well as semiconductor intermediate and end-users) to the questions set forth in this notice.