[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 98 (Wednesday, May 21, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27787-27789]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-12893]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS


Procedures for Considering Requests from the Public for Textile 
and Apparel Safeguard Actions on Imports from China

May 19, 2003.
AGENCY: The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (The 
Committee).

ACTION: Notice of Procedures

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the procedures the Committee for the 
Implementation of Textile Agreements (the Committee) will follow in 
considering requests from the public for textile and apparel safeguard 
actions as provided for in the Report of the Working Party on the 
Accession of China to the World Trade Organization (the Accession 
Agreement). The Committee hereby notifies interested parties of the 
procedures it will follow in considering requests.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 21, 2003.

ADDRESS: Request must be submitted to: the Chairman, Committee for the 
Implementation of Textile Agreements, Room H3100, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 14th and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20230. 
Ten copies of any such request must be provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Dulka, Office of Textiles and 
Apparel, U.S. Department of Commerce, (202) 482-4058.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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

BACKGROUND:

    The Accession Agreement textile and apparel safeguard allows the 
United States and other World Trade Organization Member countries that 
believe imports of Chinese origin textile and apparel products are, due 
to market disruption, threatening to impede the orderly development of 
trade in these

[[Page 27788]]

products to request consultations with China with a view to easing or 
avoiding such market disruption. Upon receipt of the request, China has 
agreed to hold its shipments to a level no greater than 7.5 percent (6 
percent for wool product categories) above the amount entered during 
the first 12 months of the most recent 14 months preceding the request 
for consultations. The United States may implement such a limit. 
Consultations with China will be held within 30 days of receipt of the 
request for consultations, and every effort will be made to reach 
agreement on a mutually satisfactory solution within 90 days of receipt 
of the request for consultations. If agreement on a different limit is 
reached, the Committee will issue a Federal Register Notice containing 
a directive to the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection that 
implements the negotiated limit.
    The limit is effective beginning on the date of the request for 
consultations and ending on December 31 of the year in which 
consultations were requested, or where three or fewer months remained 
in the year at the time of the request for consultations, for the 
period ending 12 months after the request for consultations. No limit 
may remain in effect beyond one year, without reapplication, unless 
otherwise agreed between the United States and China. No limit may be 
applied to the same product at the same time under these procedures and 
under the product-specific China safeguard implemented by Section 421 
of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2451).
    In order to facilitate the implementation of the Accession 
Agreement textile and apparel safeguard, the Committee has determined 
that it is appropriate to publish procedures it will follow in 
considering requests for Accession Agreement textile and apparel 
safeguard actions. However, the Committee has determined that actions 
taken under this safeguard fall within the foreign affairs exception to 
the rulemaking provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1), and this notice does 
not waive that determination. These procedures are not subject to the 
requirement to provide prior notice and opportunity for public comment, 
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1) and 553(b)(A).

1. Requirements for Requests.

    The Committee will review requests from the public for Accession 
Agreement textile and apparel safeguard actions on imports of Chinese 
origin textile and apparel products (such products must have been 
covered by the WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing as of the date 
the WTO Agreement entered into force) sent to the Chairman, Committee 
for the Implementation of Textile Agreements, Room H3100, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 
DC 20230. Ten copies of any such request must be provided. The 
Committee will protect any business confidential information that is 
marked business confidential from disclosure to the full extent 
permitted by law. To the extent that business confidential information 
is provided, two copies of a non-confidential version must also be 
provided, in which business confidential information is summarized or, 
if necessary, deleted. Within 15 working days of receipt of a request, 
the Committee will determine whether the request provides the 
information necessary for the Committee to consider the request in 
light of the considerations set forth below. If the request does not, 
the Committee will promptly notify the requester of the reasons for 
this determination and the request will not be considered. However, the 
Committee will reevaluate any request that is resubmitted with 
additional information.
    Consistent with longstanding Committee practice in considering 
textile safeguard actions, requests may be filed by an entity (which 
may be a trade association, firm, certified or recognized union, or 
group of workers) that is representative of either: (A) a domestic 
producer or producers of a product that is a like or directly 
competitive with the subject Chinese textile or apparel product; or (B) 
a domestic producer or producers of a component used in the production 
of a product that is like or directly competitive with the subject 
Chinese textile or apparel product.
    A request will only be considered if the request includes the 
specific information set forth below in support of a claim that the 
Chinese origin textile or apparel product is, due to market disruption, 
threatening to impede the orderly development of trade in like or 
directly competitive products.
    A. Product description. Name and description of the imported 
product concerned, including the category or categories or part thereof 
of the U.S. Textile and Apparel Category System (see ``Textile 
Correlation'' at http://otexa.ita.doc.gov/corr.htm) under which such 
product is classified, the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States subheading(s) under which such product is classified, and the 
name and description of the like or directly competitive domestic 
product concerned.
    B. Import data. The following data, in quantity by category unit 
(see ``Textile Correlation''), on total imports into the United States 
and imports from China into the United States:
    * Annual data for the most recent five full calendar years for 
which such data are available;
    * Quarterly data for the most recent year for which such data are 
partially available, and quarterly data for the same quarter(s) of the 
previous year (e.g. January-March 2002, April-June 2002 and January-
March 2001, April-June 2001).
    The data should demonstrate that imports of Chinese origin textile 
and apparel products that are like or directly competitive with the 
product produced by the domestic industry concerned are increasing 
rapidly in absolute terms.
    C. Production Data. The following data, in quantity by category 
unit (see ``Textile Correlation''), on United States domestic 
production of the like or directly competitive products of U.S. origin 
indicating the nature and extent of market disruption:
    * Annual data for the most recent five full calendar years for 
which such data are available;
    * Quarterly data for the most recent year for which such data are 
partially available, and quarterly data for the same quarter(s) of the 
previous year (e.g. January-March 2002, April-June 2002 and January-
March 2001, April-June 2001).
    If the like or directly competitive product(s) of U.S. origin does 
not correspond to a category or categories of the U.S. Textile and 
Apparel Category system for which production data are available from 
official statistics of the U.S. Department of Commerce (see ``U.S. 
Imports, Production, Markets, Import Production Ratios and Domestic 
Market Shares for Textile and Apparel Product Categories'' at website: 
http://otexa.ita.doc.gov/ipbook.pdf), the requester must provide a 
complete listing of all sources from which the data were obtained and 
an affirmation that to the best of the requester's knowledge, the data 
represent substantially all of the domestic production of the like or 
directly competitive product(s) of U.S. origin. In such cases, data 
should be reported in the first unit of quantity in the Harmonized 
Tariff Schedule of the United States (http://dataweb.usitc.gov/SCRIPTS/
tariff/toc.html) for the Chinese origin textile and/or apparel products 
and the like or directly competitive products of U.S. origin.

[[Page 27789]]

    D. Market Share Data. The following data, in quantity by category 
unit (see ``Textile Correlation''), on imports from China as a 
percentage of the domestic market (defined as the sum of domestic 
production of like or directly competitive products and total imports); 
on total imports as a percentage of the domestic market; and on 
domestic production of like or directly competitive products as a 
percentage of the domestic market:
    * Annual data for the most recent five full calendar years for 
which such data are available;
    * Quarterly data for the most recent year for which such data is 
partially available, and quarterly data for the same quarter(s) of the 
previous year (e.g. January-March 2002, April-June 2002 and January-
March 2001, April-June 2001).
    E. Additional Information. A description of how the Chinese origin 
textile and apparel product(s) have adversely affected the domestic 
industry producing like or directly competitive articles, such as the 
effect of imports from China on prices in the United States or any 
other data deemed to be pertinent.

2. Consideration of Requests.

    If the Committee determines that the request provides the 
information necessary for it to be considered, the Committee will cause 
to be published in the Federal Register a notice seeking public 
comments regarding the request, which will include the request and the 
date by which comments must be received. The Federal Register notice 
and the request, with the exception of information marked ``business 
confidential'', will be posted by the Department of Commerce's Office 
of Textiles and Apparel on the Internet (otexa.ita.doc.gov). The 
comment period shall be 30 calendar days. To the extent business 
confidential information is provided, a non-confidential version must 
also be provided, in which business confidential information is 
summarized or, if necessary, deleted. Comments received, with the 
exception of information marked ``business confidential'', will be 
available in the Department of Commerce's Trade Reference Room for 
review by the public. If a comment alleges that there is no market 
disruption or that the subject imports are not the cause of market 
disruption, the Committee will closely review any supporting 
information and documentation, such as information about domestic 
production or prices of like or directly competitive products. In the 
case of requests submitted by entities that are not the actual 
producers of a like or directly competitive product, particular 
consideration will be given to comments representing the views of 
actual producers in the United States of a like or directly competitive 
product.
    With respect to any request considered by the Committee, the 
Committee will make a determination within 60 calendar days of the 
close of the comment period as to whether the Committee will request 
consultations with China. If the Committee is unable to make a 
determination within 60 calendar days, it will cause to be published in 
a notice in the Federal Register, including the date by which it will 
make a determination. If the Committee makes a negative determination, 
it will cause this determination and the reasons therefore to be 
published in the Federal Register. If the Committee makes an 
affirmative determination that imports of Chinese origin textiles and 
apparel products are, due to market disruption, threatening to impede 
the orderly development of trade in these products, the Committee will 
request consultations with China with a view to easing or avoiding such 
market disruption. Consultations with China will be held within 30 days 
of receipt of the request for consultations, and every effort will be 
made to reach agreement on a mutually satisfactory solution within 90 
days of receipt of the request for consultations. Immediately after the 
Chinese Government receives the requests for consultations, the 
Committee will cause to be published a notice in the Federal Register 
that such consultations have been requested. The notice will identify 
quantitative limits on imports into the United States of Chinese origin 
textile and apparel products subject to the request for consultations. 
The notice will further provide that, absent a mutually satisfactory 
solution, the limits will terminate on December 31 of the year in which 
the request for consultations was made, unless three or fewer months 
remain in that year at the time of the request. If three or fewer 
months remain in the year at the time of the request, the notice will 
provide that, absent a mutually satisfactory solution, the limits will 
terminate one year from the date on which consultations were requested. 
The quantitative limits identified in the notice shall be 7.5 percent 
(6 percent for wool products) above the amount of Chinese origin 
textile and apparel products subject to the request for consultations 
entered into the United States during the first 12 months of the most 
recent 14 months preceding the month in which the request for 
consultations was made. The notice also will contain a summary 
statement of the reasons and justifications for the request for 
consultations with China.
    3. Self Initiation. The Committee may, on its own initiative, 
consider whether imports of Chinese origin textile and apparel products 
are, due to market disruption, threatening to impede the orderly 
development of trade in these products. In such considerations, the 
Committee will follow procedures consistent with those set forth in 
Section 2 of this notice, including causing to be published in the 
Federal Register a notice seeking public comment regarding the action 
it is considering.
    4. Reapplication. Under the Accession Agreement, no action may 
remain in effect beyond one year, without reapplication, unless 
otherwise agreed between the United States and China. Reapplication 
will only take place if the Committee makes a new affirmative 
determination that imports of Chinese origin textiles and apparel 
products are, due to market disruption, threatening to impede the 
orderly development of trade in these products. In considering requests 
or in considerations begun on its own initiative for reapplication, the 
Committee will follow procedures consistent with those set forth in 
this notice.
    5. Business Confidential Information. Public Reading Room. The 
Committee will protect any business confidential information that is 
marked business confidential from disclosure to the full extent 
permitted by law. To the extent that business confidential information 
is provided, two copies of a non-confidential version must also be 
provided, in which business confidential information is summarized or, 
if necessary, deleted. The Committee will make available to the public 
non-confidential versions of the request that is being considered, non-
confidential versions of any public comments received with respect to a 
request, and, in the event consultations are requested, the statement 
of the reasons and justifications for the request subsequent to the 
delivery of the statement to China.

D. Michael Hutchinson,
Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile 
Agreements.
[FR Doc.03-12893 Filed 5-20-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-S