22 USC 3144 - Access to information; confidentiality

Collapse to view only § 3144. Access to information; confidentiality

§ 3141. Congressional findings
§ 3142. Report by Secretary of Commerce
§ 3143. Reports by Government Accountability Office
§ 3144. Access to information; confidentiality
§ 3145. Construction of foreign direct investment and international financial data provisions
§ 3146. Definitions

§ 3141. Congressional findings

The Congress makes the following findings:

(1) The United States Government collects substantial amounts of information from foreign owned or controlled business enterprises or affiliates operating in the United States.

(2) Additional analysis and presentation of this information is desirable to assist the public debate on the issue of foreign direct investments in the United States.

(3) Information collected from foreign owned or controlled firms by the Bureau of Economic Analysis has serious analytical limitations because it is largely collected on an “enterprise” basis that does not permit an adequate analysis by industry groupings.

(4) Statistical and analytic comparisons of the performance of foreign owned or controlled businesses operating within the United States with other business enterprises operating within the same industry can be accomplished under sections 3101(b) and 3104(c) of this title, and under Executive Order Numbered 11961, without the need to collect additional information, by sharing with other authorized Government agencies the employer identification numbers maintained by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

(5) Public disclosures of confidential business information collected by the United States Government relating to international direct investment flows could cause serious damage to the accuracy of the statistical data base.

(6) The Government Accountability Office may have limited access to Government data on foreign direct investment.

(Pub. L. 101–533, § 2, Nov. 7, 1990, 104 Stat. 2344; Pub. L. 108–271, § 8(b), July 7, 2004, 118 Stat. 814.)

§ 3142. Report by Secretary of Commerce

(a) Annual report on foreign direct investment in United States

(b) Sources of data

In preparing each report under subsection (a), the Secretary of Commerce, or the Secretary’s designees, shall consider information collected by—

(1) the Bureau of Economic Analysis under the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act (22 U.S.C. 3101 and following);

(2) the Bureau of the Census on industry, manufacturing, research and development, and trade, under title 13;

(3) the Bureau of Labor Statistics pertaining to information collected under the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act, but only to the extent that such information is in a form that cannot be associated with, or otherwise identify, directly or indirectly, a person, including any enterprise or establishment;

(4) the Secretary of Commerce or the Secretary’s designee pursuant to section 2 1

1 See References in Text note below.

of Executive Order 11858 of May 7, 1975;

(5) the United States Department of Agriculture under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501 and following);

(6) the Department of the Treasury under section 6039C of title 26, but only to the extent that such information is in a form that cannot be associated with, or otherwise identify, directly or indirectly, a person, including any enterprise or establishment;

(7) the Department of Energy under section 7267(8) of title 42, but only to the extent that such information is in a form that cannot be associated with, or otherwise identify, directly or indirectly, a person, including any enterprise or establishment;

(8) other Federal agencies not referred to in paragraphs (1) through (7), but only to the extent that such information is in a form that cannot be associated with, or otherwise identify, directly or indirectly, a person, including any enterprise or establishment;

(9) foreign governments and agencies thereof; and

(10) private sector sources.

(1) The analysis in each report prepared under subsection (a) shall, to the extent of available data, compare business enterprises controlled by foreign persons with other business enterprises in the United States with respect to employment, market share, value added, productivity, research and development, exports, imports, profitability, taxes paid, and investment incentives and services provided by State and local governments (including quasi-governmental entities).

(2) Each such analysis shall be done by significant industry sectors and geographical regions, except that information shall not be presented in a way in which any person, including any business enterprise or establishment, can be identified. The restriction contained in the preceding sentence on presentation of information does not apply to information that is obtained from foreign governments or agencies thereof and that has been published pursuant to the lawful disclosure of the information. To the extent that data are available, each such analysis shall include an analysis, together with current levels and trends, of the number and market share of business enterprises at least 10 percent of the voting securities or other evidences of ownership of which are owned or controlled by a foreign person, and of the number and market share of the establishments of such business enterprises, that are engaged substantially in the production or coproduction of any critical technologies identified in the most recent assessment prepared under section 4816 of title 10 or included in the most recent report submitted to the President under section 6683 1 of title 42.

(Pub. L. 101–533, § 3, Nov. 7, 1990, 104 Stat. 2344; Pub. L. 102–484, div. A, title X, § 1054(f), Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2503; Pub. L. 103–160, div. A, title XI, § 1182(d)(2), Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1773; Pub. L. 105–261, div. A, title X, § 1069(d)(2), Oct. 17, 1998, 112 Stat. 2136; Pub. L. 117–81, div. A, title XVII, § 1702(l)(4), Dec. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 2160.)

§ 3143. Reports by Government Accountability Office

(a) In general

(b) Reports

Consistent with the provisions of this section, the Comptroller General may submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Committee on Ways and Means, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, and to the Joint Economic Committee of the Congress reports—

(1) analyzing reports issued by the Secretary of Commerce under section 3142 of this title;

(2) making recommendations for changes in the analysis done in the report due the following year under section 3142 of this title;

(3) making recommendations for improving the collection by respective Federal agencies of data on foreign direct investment in the United States, including use of private sector data, and improving survey questionnaires to obtain useful and consistent information that avoids unnecessary redundancy among Federal agencies;

(4) reviewing the status and processes for reconciliation of data exchanged as required by this Act and the amendments made by this Act, and making any recommendations for improving and augmenting international financial data;

(5) making recommendations for possible additional policy coordination within the executive branch affecting foreign direct investment in the United States; and

(6) making recommendations for improvement of the coverage, industry classification, and consistency among Federal agencies of their respective surveys.

(1) The Comptroller General may, to the extent permitted by law, including section 3104(c) of this title and section 3144 of this title, also review data and information at the Bureau of the Census, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis and from time to time report to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Committee on Ways and Means, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, and to the Joint Economic Committee of the Congress.

(2) The Comptroller General shall, in carrying out paragraph (1), comply with procedures relating to access to and disclosure of data and information established within the Federal statistical agencies referred to in paragraph (1), and maintain any and all individually identifiable data and information at the statistical agency where the information is reviewed.

(d) Confidentiality; review by other agencies

In preparing any report under this section, the Comptroller General shall not—

(1) disclose any confidential business information or present any information in a way in which any person, including a business enterprise or establishment, can be identified; or

(2) combine, match, or use in any other way individually identifiable data or information maintained by any of the Federal statistical agencies referred to in subsection (c) with any other individually identifiable confidential data or information that is not collected by such statistical agencies.

Before issuing any such report, the Comptroller General shall in each instance submit the report to the head or heads of the agency or agencies from which confidential or identifiable information described in the preceding sentence was obtained. The agency or agencies concerned shall promptly review the report for the purpose of assuring that the confidentiality of such information and identity is maintained, and for any other purpose, and shall provide the Comptroller General with appropriate comments or other suggestions within 10 working days after receiving the report.

(e) Right of access

(Pub. L. 101–533, § 4, Nov. 7, 1990, 104 Stat. 2346; Pub. L. 104–316, title I, § 111(c), Oct. 19, 1996, 110 Stat. 3833; Pub. L. 108–271, § 8(b), July 7, 2004, 118 Stat. 814.)

§ 3144. Access to information; confidentiality

(a) Confidentiality

(1) Those officers and employees who have access to information under this Act to which the provisions of section 9 of title 13 apply must have been sworn, as provided for in section 23(c) of such title, to observe the limitations imposed by section 9(a) of such title and to be subject to the provisions of section 214 of such title to the same extent as such section applies to officers or employees of the Bureau of the Census.

(2) Only those officers and employees who have sworn to observe the provisions of section 5(c) of the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act (22 U.S.C. 3104(c)) may have access under this Act to information to which such provisions apply, and such officers and employees are subject to the penalties for improper disclosure of such information provided in section 5(e) of that Act [22 U.S.C. 3104(e)] to the same extent as such section applies to officers or employees designated to perform functions under that Act [22 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.].

(3) Those officers and employees referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this section 1

1 So in original. Probably should be “subsection”.

shall be subject to any other restriction or penalty imposed by law with respect to disclosure of information to which such officers or employees have access under this Act.

(b) Violations and penalties

(d) Information immune from process

(e) Implementation

(1) The Secretary of Commerce shall be responsible for the implementation of the exchange of information under this Act between the Bureau of the Census and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and shall resolve any questions on access to information, data, or methodology that may arise between the Bureau of the Census and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, except that the Secretary shall not construe this section in a manner which would prevent the augmentation and improvement of the quality of international data collected under the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act [

(2) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall be responsible for the implementation of the exchange of information under this Act between the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and shall resolve any questions on access to information, data, or methodology that may arise between the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, except that the Director shall not construe this section in a manner which would prevent the augmentation and improvement of the quality of international data collected under the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act [22 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.].

(Pub. L. 101–533, § 8, Nov. 7, 1990, 104 Stat. 2350.)

§ 3145. Construction of foreign direct investment and international financial data provisions

(a) In general

(b) Implementation

All departments and agencies implementing this Act and the amendments made by this Act shall, with respect to surveys or questionnaires used in such implementation—

(1) eliminate questions that are no longer necessary,

(2) cooperate with one another in order to ensure that questions asked are consistent among the departments and agencies, and

(3) develop new questions in order to obtain more refined statistics and analyses,

consistent with the purposes of the provisions of law amended by this Act and the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980.1

1 See References in Text note below.

(Pub. L. 101–533, § 9, Nov. 7, 1990, 104 Stat. 2351.)

§ 3146. Definitions

For purposes of this Act—

(1) the terms “foreign”, “direct investment”, “international investment”, “United States”, “business enterprise”, “foreign person”, and “United States person” have the meanings given those terms in section 3102 of this title; and

(2) the term “foreign direct investment in the United States” means direct investment by foreign persons in any business enterprise that is a United States person.

(Pub. L. 101–533, § 10, Nov. 7, 1990, 104 Stat. 2351.)