Manufacturing.gov header image
     Advanced Search
 
 
 
 
 
The Office of Competition and Economic Analysis
 
 

As successive GATT and WTO negotiations have reduced border protections of manufactured products over time, domestic policies that affect manufacturers’ costs and ability to innovate have increased in importance in determining manufacturers’ competitiveness. The Office of Competitiveness and Regulatory Analysis addresses competitiveness issues by undertaking analysis of domestic and international policy studies and regulatory policy analysis.


Domestic and International Policy Studies

   
Completed Analysis Ongoing Analysis
Energy in 2020: Assessing the Economic Effects of Commercialization of Cellulosic Ethanol The Effect of Inward FDI Restrictions on the Energy Sector
Potential Exports of U.S. Clean Coal Technology through 2030  
Visas and Foreign Direct Investment  
Employment Changes in U.S. Food Manufacturing: The Impact of Sugar Prices  
   

Completed Analysis

Energy in 2020: Assessing the Economic Effects of Commercialization of Cellulosic Ethanol

U.S. dependence on imports of crude oil has steadily increased for three decades. One way to reduce this dependence is to increase domestic production of renewable fuels such as ethanol. Cellulosic ethanol is ethanol that is manufactured from the cellulosic materials in biomass, such as crop and forestry residues, energy crops, and wood wastes. This report examines the effect on the U.S. economy in 2020 if advances in technology allow cellulosic ethanol to become commercially viable and if production of it becomes adequate to allow total annual U.S. ethanol production to reach 30 billion gallons.

Potential Exports of U.S. Clean Coal Technology through 2030

Increased demand for coal-fired electricity capacity worldwide could lead to as much as $36 billion dollars of exports for U.S. clean coal equipment manufacturers from 2003 until 2030. Specifically, China, India, and South Korea present the greatest value of U.S. clean coal technology exports in this study, representing approximately $26 billion, $3.5 billion, and $3.2 billion, respectively. Australia, Brazil, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, and the EU 25 account for an additional $2.9 billion of growth.

Visas and Foreign Direct Investment

Foreign direct investment plays a major role in the U.S. economy, both as a key driver of the economy and as an important source of innovation, exports, and jobs.1 Because the U.S. share of global FDI inflows has declined since the late 1990s and the competition to attract FDI has grown more intense, the United States must strive to maintain its ability to attract FDI. One of the more important issues facing those interested in investing in the United States is the timely availability of business-related visas.

Employment Changes in U.S. Food Manufacturing: The Impact of Sugar Prices

This report was written in response to a provision in the 2005 appropriations act for the Department of Commerce (P.L. 108-447), more than 10,000 jobs were lost between 1997 and 2002 at sugar-consuming companies, such as confectioneries. It suggests that high domestic sugar prices were a major factor in this trend. The study points out that many U.S. manufacturers of sugar-containing products have closed or relocated their plants to locations where sugar prices are less than half of the U.S. price. In 2004, for example, the price of U.S. refined sugar was 23.5 cents per pound compared to the world price at 10.9 cents.

[Return to list of Domestic and International Policy Studies]

Ongoing Analysis

The Effect of Inward FDI Restrictions on the Energy Sector

This analysis quantifies the effects on the U.S. economy of delays in inward foreign investment transactions in the United States. Inward foreign direct investment (FDI) is an important source of investment capital in the U.S. economy, representing 12 percent of the total U.S. capital stock. FDI in the U.S. manufacturing sector is even more important, where the share is even greater, 27 percent.

[Return to list of Domestic and International Policy Studies]

 

Regulatory Policy Analysis

   
Completed Analysis Ongoing Analysis
OSHA's Worker Exposure to Hexavalent Chromium Rule EPA'S Definition of Solid Waste
  EPA'S Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Rule
  OSHA'S Occupational Exposure to Crystalline Silica Rule
  OSHA'S Occupational Exposure to Beryllium Rule
  DOT'S Side Impact Safety Regulation
  DOJ'S Americans With Disabilities Act
   

Manufacturing and Services (MAS) has a comprehensive program of regulatory review, of which OCEA is an integral component. MAS and OCEA analysts leverage their industry knowledge and capacity for economic analysis to improve Federal regulatory outcomes through several actions:

  • Supplementing Agency Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) with richer industry knowledge that incorporates analysis of upstream and downstream economic activities, including impacts on business competitiveness in an increasingly open U.S. economy.

  • Ensuring that costs associated with a given rule are assessed in the context of overall regulatory burden faced by businesses from all existing/proposed rules.

  • Introducing new approaches to regulatory analysis that draws on lessons from assessments of the soundness of past Regulatory Impact Analyses.

MAS' primary value added to the regulatory process is using its industry and international trade expertise to improve analysis of proposed regulations. Industry expertise allows MAS to evaluate the regulatory agencies' impact assessments and businesses' ability to stay competitive. For example, one type of analysis that is seldom undertaken by regulatory agencies is macroeconomic multi-market analysis, which OCEA can undertake to assess the impact of proposed rules on economic growth and job creation. Additionally, a policy or regulation affects not only the immediate industry but also other upstream and downstream markets, and MAS analysis takes these economic impacts into consideration. Traditionally, this type of impact assessment falls outside the scope of analyses performed by the regulatory agencies.


MAS contributes to the regulatory review process by undertaking analyses intended to supplement—not replace—the mandated analyses undertaken by the rulemaking agencies. MAS also ensures that appropriate industry and other stakeholder input on competitiveness are injected into the rulemaking deliberations. This twin role of bringing supplemental industry analysis and ensuring appropriate stakeholder input into the rule-making process leads to more informed decision making and improved business competitiveness.

The Current State of Regulatory Policy Activity

MAS has formed seven teams to carry out analysis of impacts of seven major rules:

  1. EPA's Definition of Solid Waste

  2. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule governing spill prevention control and countermeasures

  3. OSHA's Occupational Exposure to Crystalline Silica

  4. OSHA's Occupational Exposure to Beryllium Rule

  5. The Department of Transportation's Side Impact Safety Regulation

  6. The Department of Justice's Americans With Disabilities Act

  7. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rule establishing a permissible exposure limit for Hexavalent Chromium

EPA'S Definition of Solid Waste. In October 2003, EPA published its proposed rule to revise the Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The rule was nominated in OMB's 2005 report, "Regulatory Reform of the U.S. Manufacturing Sector," as one that, if reformed, could enhance competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing.

Under the current RCRA, certain waste streams are regulated as hazardous wastes, even when they are being recycled. The objective of a reform of this rule is to increase recycling rates while reducing the costs of managing hazardous wastes.

On March 26, 2007, EPA published a supplemental proposal for the Definition of Solid Waste rule in the Federal Register (read ITA's summary here). Comments on the proposal will be accepted until June 25, 2007.

To provide industry input about this rule, please contact at 202-482-5159. [Return to list of regulatory studies]

EPA'S Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) Rule. The SPCC rule was selected by EPA for review after a request by OMB to update old rules that may be overly burdensome. The rule describes measures that must be taken to prevent oil spills, and applies to any company that stores more than 1320 gallons of oil on its property. The rule was nominated in OMB's 2005 report, "Regulatory Reform of the U.S. Manufacturing Sector," as one that, if reformed, could enhance competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing.

The current rule was set down in 1973, and many businesses are unaware of the it and are not in compliance. EPA has proposed to allow small facilities with storage capacity below a certain threshold to use streamlined, less expensive requirements. However, a number of problems will remain, and so a "loose-ends" rule is being considered for 2007.

To provide industry input about this rule, please contact at 202-482-4423. [Return to list of regulatory studies]

OSHA'S Occupational Exposure to Crystalline Silica Rule. Crystalline silica is a small particle of common sand. Pursuant to a court order, OSHA must issue a final crystalline silica exposure standard. OSHA has proposed a reduction in the current workplace exposure standard from 100 to 50 micrograms per cubic meter. The rule will have significant economic impacts on a substantial number of entities, mainly construction services and mining.

To provide industry input about this rule, please contact at 202-482-4877. [Return to list of regulatory studies]

OSHA'S Occupational Exposure to Beryllium Rule. OSHA has proposed a rule to reduce the PEL to Beryllium from 2.0 micrograms/cubic meter to a more restrictive PEL (possibly set at 0.2 micrograms/cubic meter, as proscribed by the Department of Energy in 1999) for workers exposed. OSHA began work on the reforming the rule in 1999 by announcing a proposed rule for public comment in 2002.

To provide industry input about this rule, please contact at 202-482-0607. [Return to list of regulatory studies]

DOT'S Side Impact Safety Regulation. MAS staff have been reviewing the Department of Transportation/NHTSA proposed side impact safety regulation since February 2006. A very complex rulemaking, NHTSA issued its proposed rule in May 2004 and said at the time the new regulation could become a final rule as early as 2005. The automakers agreed to voluntarily install side air bags in all vehicles by September 1, 2009. But NHTSA continues to consider a proposal that would require automakers to significantly upgrade their side protection systems. This is the last major crash-worthiness regulation that is in the works.

To provide industry input about this rule, please contact n at 202-482-5898. [Return to list of regulatory studies]

DOJ'S Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). The Department of Justice is adopting rules and standards that ensure accessibility by handicapped individuals.

To provide industry input about this rule, please contact at 202-482-5027. [Return to list of regulatory studies]

OSHA's Worker Exposure to Hexavalent Chromium Rule (completed rule)

This rule was nominated in OMB's 2005 report, "Regulatory Reform of the U.S. Manufacturing Sector," as one that, if reformed, could enhance competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing.

Under a court order, OSHA promulgated a final rule reducing permissible worker exposure to hexavalent chromium from 50 to 5 micrograms per cubic meter (mcm). MAS worked with OMB, OSHA, and industry to come up with a final rule that ensured worker safety and did not create undue burden on U.S. businesses competitiveness. [Return to list of regulatory studies]


FDI - Defined by the Bureau of Economic Analysis as the purchase by a foreign resident of more than 10 percent of equity in a domestic company. [return to FDI paragraph]

Links to Web sites outside the U.S. federal government or the use of trade, firm, or corporation names within the International Trade Administration Web sites are for the convenience of the user. Such use does not constitute an official endorsement or approval by the U.S. Commerce Department of any private sector Web site, product, or service.

Indicates a PDF file. If you can't open these, download a free Acrobat Reader.