[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 190 (Monday, October 3, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-24363]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: October 3, 1994]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

 

Request for Public Comment With Respect To the Annual National 
Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 303 of the Trade and Tariff Act of 1984, 
as amended, USTR is required to publish annually the National Trade 
Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE). With this notice, the 
Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is requesting interested parties to 
assist it in identifying significant barriers to U.S. exports of goods, 
services and overseas direct investment for inclusion in the NTE. 
Particularly important are impediments materially affecting the actual 
and potential financial performance of an industry sector. The TPSC 
invites written comments which provide views relevant to the issues to 
be examined in preparing the NTE.

DATES: Public comments are due at USTR not later than noon on November 
1, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Carolyn Frank, Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the 
United States Trade Representative, 600 17th Street NW., Room 501, 
Washington, DC 20506.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
John Panulas, Assistant Director for Policy Coordination, Office of the 
United States Trade Representative, (202) 395-9599.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Submissions should contain descriptions of 
any or all of the following nine categories of foreign trade barriers:
    (1) import policies (e.g., tariffs and other import charges, 
quantitative restrictions, import licensing, and customs barriers);
    (2) standards, testing, labeling, and certification (including 
unnecessarily restrictive application of phytosanitary standards, 
refusal to accept U.S. manufacturers' self-certification of conformance 
to foreign product standards, and environmental restrictions);
    (3) discriminatory government procurement practices (e.g., ``buy 
national'' policies and closed bidding);
    (4) export subsidies (e.g., export financing on preferential terms 
and agricultural export subsidies that displace U.S. exports in third 
country markets);
    (5) lack of intellectual property protection (e.g., inadequate 
patent, copyright, and trademark regimes);
    (6) services barriers (e.g., limits on the range of financial 
services offered by foreign financial institutions, regulation of 
international data flows, restrictions on the use of data processing, 
and quotas on imports of foreign films);
    (7) investment barriers (e.g., limitations on foreign equity 
participation and on access to foreign government-funded R&D consortia, 
local content, technology transfer and export requirements, and 
restrictions on repatriation of earnings, capital, fees and royalties);
    (8) anticompetitive practices tolerated by foreign governments 
(including anticompetitive activities of both state-owned and private 
firms which apply to services or to goods and which restrict the sale 
of U.S. products to any firm, not just to the foreign firms that 
perpetuate the practices); and
    (9) other barriers (i.e., barriers that encompass more than one 
category listed above or that affect a single sector).
    In comparison with last year's report, this year we are adding a 
new category, anti-competitive practices, to the NTE. In addition, the 
standards category will now encompass restrictive foreign environmental 
practices, and the investment category will cover restrictions on U.S. 
access to foreign government-funded research and development (R&D) 
consortia.
    Submissions should contain estimates of the potential increase in 
exports that would result from the removal of the barrier, as well as a 
clear discussion of the method(s) by which the estimates were computed. 
Estimates should fall within the following value ranges: less than $5 
million; $5 to $25 million; $25 million to $50 million; $50 million to 
$100 million; $100 million to $500 million; or over $500 million.
    Please note that interested parties discussing barriers in more 
than one country should provide a separate submission for each country.

Written Comments

    All written comments should be addressed to: Carolyn Frank, Trade 
Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative, 600 17th Street NW., Room 501, Washington, DC 20506.
    All submissions must be in English and should conform to the 
information requirements of 15 CFR 2007.
    A party must provide ten copies of its submission which must be 
received at USTR no later than noon on November 1, 1994. If the 
submission contains business confidential information, ten copies of a 
non-confidential version must also be submitted. A justification as to 
why the information contained in the submission should be treated 
confidentially must be included in the submission. In addition, any 
submissions containing business confidential information must be 
clearly marked ``confidential'' at the top and bottom of the cover page 
(or letter) and of each succeeding page of the submission. The version 
that does not contain confidential information should also be clearly 
marked, at the top and bottom of each page, ``public version'' or 
``non-confidential.''
    Written comments submitted in connection with this request, except 
for information granted ``business confidential'' status pursuant to 15 
CFR 2007.7, will be available for public inspection shortly after the 
filing deadline. Inspection is by appointment only with the staff of 
the USTR Public Reading Room and can be arranged by calling (202) 295-
6186.
Frederick L. Montgomery,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 94-24363 Filed 9-30-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-M