August 30 -- The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) invites the public to submit comments to OMB by September 29, 2021 regarding the proposal to continue the Annual Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States (BE-15).
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 non-benchmark years from similar data reported in the BE-12, Benchmark Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States, 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.
BEA uses BE-15 annual survey data to derive estimates of U.S. affiliates’ value added. These estimates can be used to calculate and analyze U.S. affiliates’ share of U.S. gross domestic product and to evaluate affiliates’ profitability and productivity. Data on employment by affiliates are used to estimate U.S.-affiliate shares of the U.S. economy, both in the aggregate and by industry. In addition, data for the BE-15 annual survey provide financial statements against which data on transactions and positions between parents and affiliates that are reported on the quarterly BE-605 survey can be checked for consistency.
The data are used by several U.S. Government agencies, including the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the International Trade Administration of the Commerce Department, the Departments of Treasury and State, the Council of Economic Advisers, and the Federal Reserve Board, to support U.S. international economic policy. The International Trade Administration’s SelectUSA office uses the data in advising foreign investors seeking to invest in the United States. The Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States uses the data as background information in its reports to Congress. Without this information, current data on the amount and financial and operating characteristics of foreign direct investment in the United States would not be available.
Bilateral investment treaties (BITs) are negotiated with interested countries to facilitate and protect U.S. investment interests. During BIT negotiations, data from this and related surveys provide important information on the level and impact of direct investment on the U.S. economy.
The data are used by state governments in assessing the impact of foreign direct investment on individual states, in advising foreign investors seeking to invest in the United States, and in developing state programs to attract foreign direct investment.
Preliminary data are released 15 to 18 months after the reports are due. An analysis of the data appears in the BEA’s monthly online journal, the Survey of Current Business, the following month. Final data will be released approximately one year later. All of the statistics developed from the survey results, as well as the Survey articles, are available on BEA’s web site (www.bea.gov).
The potential respondent universe for the BE-15 annual survey is derived from the 2017 Benchmark Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States, BE-12, and from transactions reported on the Survey of New Foreign Direct Investment in the United States, BE-13. The potential universe consists of all U.S. business enterprises in which a foreign person owns or controls, directly or indirectly, 10 percent or more of the voting securities of an incorporated U.S. business enterprise, or an equivalent interest of an unincorporated U.S. business enterprise.
BEA FDI in the U.S. (FDIUS) webpage:
https://www.bea.gov/international/di1fdiop
FDIUS proposal to OMB:
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202105-0608-001 Click IC List for forms, View Supporting Statement for technical documentation. Click Comment to submit.
FR notice inviting public comment to OMB:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/08/30/2021-18629/agency-information-collection-activities-submission-to-the-office-of-management-and-budget-omb-for
For further information: Ricardo Limes, Chief, Multinational Operations Branch (MOB), Direct Investment Division (DID), BEA Ricardo.limes@bea.gov 301-278-9659
For AEA members wishing to submit comments to OMB, "A Primer on How to Respond to Calls for Comment on Federal Data Collections" is available at
https://www.aeaweb.org/content/file?id=5806