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The U.S. Census Bureau (Census Bureau) is seeking public comments to understand the impact of potentially removing the Electronic Export Information (EEI) filing requirements for shipments between the United States and Puerto Rico from the Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR), title 15, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), part 30. This proposal will not change the filing requirement for shipments from Puerto Rico to foreign countries.

There are many federal agencies and private organizations that use the trade statistics collected by the Census Bureau regarding trade between the United States and Puerto Rico. The Bureau of Economic Analysis, within the U.S. Department of Commerce, uses these statistics to compile the United States' Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  Without these trade statistics, the GDP of both the U.S. Mainland and Puerto Rico could be significantly understated. The Census Bureau comments regarding the overall impact potentially eliminating the filing requirements for shipments between the United States and Puerto Rico would have, as well as identifying possible alternative datasets.