July 22 -- The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), Department of Commerce, invites public comments to OMB by August 22, 2024 regarding the proposed revision of the Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad (BE- 10). [Comments due 30 after submission to OMB on July 23.]
The Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad (BE- 10) obtains data on the financial structure and operations of U.S. parents and their foreign affiliates. The data are needed to provide reliable, useful, and timely measures of U.S. direct investment abroad, measure changes in such investment, and assess its impact on the U.S. and foreign economies. Such data are generally found in enterprise-level accounting records of respondent companies. The benchmark data provide a baseline for subsequent sample-based estimates in non-benchmark years. In particular, they serve as benchmarks for the quarterly direct investment estimates included in the U.S. international transactions, international investment position, and national income and product accounts, and for annual estimates of the U.S. direct investment abroad position and of the activities of U.S. multinational enterprises. 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.
Data from the BE-10 survey will provide benchmarks for deriving current universe estimates of direct investment from sample data collected in other BEA surveys in non-benchmark years. They serve as benchmarks for the quarterly direct investment estimates included in the U.S. international transactions, international investment position, and national income and product accounts, and for annual estimates of the U.S. direct investment position abroad and of the activities of U.S. multinational enterprises.
BEA uses benchmark survey data to derive estimates of value added in production by U.S. parents and their foreign affiliates. These estimates can be used to calculate and analyze the affiliates’ share of total production in foreign host countries, the parents’ share of total U.S. gross domestic product, and the respective shares of parents and affiliates in the worldwide production of U.S. multinationals. Data on employment by U.S. MNEs are used to estimate the U.S.-parent share of the MNEs’ worldwide employment.
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 benchmark survey provides detailed information, by country and industry, on assets, sales, employment, and other measures of affiliates' activities that the U.S. Government requires to assess their effects on U.S. and foreign economies.
Bilateral investment treaties (BITs) are negotiated with foreign 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 and the economies of foreign countries. The data also help identify areas where U.S. direct investment may be restricted.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) proposes the following changes:
o Data items to be added:
-- Employment—A question will be added to the Employment section of the BE-10A form to collect data on employees who are on the payroll of the U.S. company but live overseas on a permanent basis. This would include full and part-time employees that work for a foreign affiliate but are paid by the U.S. parent company, and those employees that were hired, or moved, abroad to fill a remote-work position offered by the U.S. parent.
-- Equity investment—A question will be added to the Assets section of the BE-10C form to collect equity investment in other foreign affiliates, consistent with the BE-10B form.
o Data items to be modified:
-- Supplement A—Will be modified on the BE-10B and C forms to offer more options for the reasons the foreign business enterprises changed since last reported, such as options for “acquired” or “established” if it is a “new” enterprise, and to identify the date of the transaction for new enterprises.
-- Advertising—Question 109 which collects advertising sales data on the BE-10B form will be expanded to capture additional sales detail by affiliated and unaffiliated customer.
-- Digital economy—Questions on services provided via digital intermediation platforms collected on the BE-10A (items 60-62) and BE-10B (item 108), and questions on digital delivery and digital ordering collected on the BE-10A (items 63-65) and BE-10B forms (items 110-112) will be modified to more accurately reflect terminology used by BEA survey respondents, and to reflect updates to the definitions of digitally ordered and delivered in the Handbook on Measuring Digital Trade (second edition) jointly authored by the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Trade Organization, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
This survey is a benchmark survey, or census. The potential respondent universe for the 2024 Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad, BE-10, consists of all U.S. persons (in the broad legal sense, including companies) that own 10 percent or more of the voting securities of an incorporated foreign business enterprise, or an equivalent interest in an unincorporated foreign business enterprise. Persons subject to the reporting requirements of the BE-10, Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad, would be required to respond, whether or not they are contacted by BEA.
U.S. Direct Investment Abroad:
https://www.bea.gov/international/di1usdop
BEA submission to OMB:
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202404-0608-002 Click on IC List for questionnaire, View Supporting Statement for technical documentation. Submit comments through this site.
FR notice inviting public comment:
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-16007
For AEA members wishing to submit comments, "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