[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 182 (Friday, September 19, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49207-49208]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-24868]


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COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS


Request for Public Comments on Bilateral Consultations with the 
Government of Thailand

September 15, 1997.
AGENCY: Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA).

ACTION: Notice.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ross Arnold, International Trade 
Specialist, Office of Textiles and Apparel, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, (202) 482-4212. For information on categories for which 
consultations have been requested, call (202) 482-3740.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    Authority: Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended; 
section 204 of the Agricultural Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C. 
1854); Uruguay Round Agreements Act.

    On August 28, 1997, under the terms of Article 6 of the Uruguay 
Round Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) and the Uruguay Round 
Agreements Act, the Government of the United States requested 
consultations with the Government of Thailand with respect to yarn, 85% 
or more by weight artificial staple fiber, Category 603, produced or 
manufactured in Thailand.
    The purpose of this notice is to advise the public that, if no 
solution is agreed upon in consultations with the Government of 
Thailand, the Government of the United States reserves its right to 
establish a twelve-month limit of not less than 1,664,653 kilograms for 
the entry and withdrawal from warehouse for consumption of yarn of 85% 
or more artificial staple fiber in Category 603, produced or 
manufactured in Thailand.
    A summary statement of serious damage, the actual threat of serious 
damage or the exacerbation of serious damage concerning Category 603 
follows this notice.
    Anyone wishing to comment or provide data or information regarding 
the treatment of Category 603 or to comment on domestic production or 
availability of products included in Category 603 is invited to submit 
10 copies of such comments or information to Troy H. Cribb, Chairman, 
Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements, U.S. Department 
of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230; ATTN: Helen L. LeGrande. The 
comments received will be considered in the context of the 
consultations with the Government of Thailand.
    Because the exact timing of the consultations is not yet certain, 
comments should be submitted promptly. Comments or information 
submitted in response to this notice will be available for public 
inspection in the Office of Textiles and Apparel, room H3100, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 
DC.
    Further comments may be invited regarding particular comments or 
information received from the public which the Committee for the 
Implementation of Textile Agreements considers appropriate for further 
consideration.
    The solicitation of comments regarding any aspect of the 
implementation of an agreement is not a waiver in any respect of the 
exemption contained in 5 U.S.C.553(a)(1) relating to matters which 
constitute ``a foreign affairs function of the United States.''
    The United States remains committed to finding a solution 
concerning Category 603. Should such a solution be reached in 
consultations with the Government of Thailand, further notice will be 
published in the Federal Register.
    A description of the textile and apparel categories in terms of HTS 
numbers is available in the CORRELATION: Textile and Apparel Categories 
with the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (see Federal 
Register notice 61 FR 66263, published on December 17, 1996).
Troy H. Cribb,
Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

Summary of Statement in Support of Request for Consultations Under 
Article 6 of the ATC--Thailand
Category 603--Yarn, 85 Percent or more by Weight Artificial Staple 
Fiber
August 1997
    The USG has determined that the increase in imports of yarn for 
sale, 85 percent or more by weight artificial staple fiber, Category 
603, has caused serious damage, or actual threat thereof, to the 
industry in the United States producing like and/or directly 
competitive yarn for sale.
    Imports of the subject yarn from all sources increased by 15.9 
percent in 1996 over 1995, a net increase of nearly 2.0 million 
kilograms. Domestic orders fell by 19.5 percent and domestic production 
declined 7.7 percent in 1996 as inventories increased by 17.4 percent. 
Increasing low-valued imports forced domestic spinners to cut their 
prices and margins to remain price competitive. Mills cut prices in 
1996 and continued to lose orders to imports with unfilled orders 
dropping 19.5 percent in 1996 below the 1995 level. During the first 
quarter of 1997 domestic industry orders fell 26.3 percent, as 
inventories increased 22.3 percent and production fell 20 percent from 
the same period last year.
    Capacity utilization declined as production fell, causing severe 
margin pressure as fixed costs had to be allocated over fewer sales, 
which cut gross margins. Compounded with the pressure to lower prices, 
mills' profitability evaporated. Seventy-eight percent of the companies 
reported declining profitability in 1996 on the product in question. 
Two mills fell victim to the margin squeeze and shut down. Production 
worker employment in the defined industry lost a total of 403 jobs in 
1996. More jobs were lost in 1997, as another firm exited the business, 
resulting in a net loss of 619 jobs from 1995 to the first quarter of 
1997.
    The USG concluded that the increase in imports from 1995 to 1996 is 
the direct cause of serious damage to the industry as reflected in the 
industry's declining production, the substantial increase in 
inventories, the industry's deteriorating financial performance, and 
the significant fall in unfilled orders, man-hours, and employment.

[[Page 49208]]

    The USG has also determined that serious damage to this industry is 
directly attributable to a sharp and substantial increase in imports of 
the subject yarn from Thailand. Imports from Thailand have increased 
significantly, both absolutely and relative to domestic production and 
world imports, thereby increasing Thailand's share of U.S. imports and 
the U.S. market. Thailand's low-valued imports adversely affected U.S. 
domestic prices.U.S. imports of the subject yarn from Thailand rose to 
1,279,683 kilograms in 1996, an increase of 22.3 percent above the 
1,046,174 kilograms imported during 1995. In the first quarter of 1997, 
imports from Thailand surged to 610,843 kilograms, 85.8 percent above 
the 328,698 kilograms imported in the first quarter of 1996. Imports 
from Thailand for the year ending June 1997 reached 1,557,205 
kilograms, 39.7 percent above the 1,114,926 kilograms imported during 
the same period a year earlier.
    The USG further determined that increases in imports of the subject 
yarn from all sources constitute the actual threat of serious damage or 
the exacerbation of serious damage to the defined domestic industry 
producing a like and/or directly competitive product, and that, based 
on sharp and substantial increases in imports of the subject product 
from Thailand, such threat was attributable to Thailand.
[FR Doc. 97-24868 Filed 9-18-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F