[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 62 (Friday, March 31, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16349-16350]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-4739]


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

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Trade Policy Staff Committee; Request for Public Comment on 
Review of Employment Impact of a Proposed Free Trade Agreement Between 
the United States and Malaysia

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative; Department of 
Labor.

ACTION: Request for comments.

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

SUMMARY: The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) gives notice that the 
Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the 
Department of Labor (Labor) are initiating a review of the impact of a 
proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the United States and 
Malaysia on U.S. employment, including labor markets. This notice seeks 
written public comment on potentially significant sectoral or regional 
employment impacts (both positive and negative) in the United States as 
well as other likely labor market impacts of the FTA.

DATES: USTR and Labor will accept any comments received during the 
course of the negotiation of the FTA. However, comments should be 
received by noon, May 12, 2006 to be assured of timely consideration in 
the preparation of the report.

ADDRESSES: Submissions by electronic mail: [email protected]. 
Submissions by facsimile: Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, Trade 
Policy Staff Committee, at (202) 395-6143.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning 
public comments, contact Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, TPSC, Office 
of the USTR, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508, telephone (202) 
395-3475. Substantive questions concerning the employment impact review 
should be addressed to Greg Schoepfle, Acting Director, Office of 
International Economic Affairs, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 
U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 
20210, telephone (202) 693-4887; or Lewis Karesh, Assistant U.S. Trade 
Representative for Labor, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative, 600 17th St., NW., Washington, DC 20508, telephone 
(202) 395-6120.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background Information

    In accordance with section 2104 of the Trade Act of 2002 (Trade 
Act) (19 U.S.C. 3804), on March 8, 2006, the United States Trade 
Representative notified the Congress of the President's intent to 
initiate FTA negotiations with Malaysia. Also, the United States Trade 
Representative requested the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) 
to provide advice on probable economic effects of an FTA as soon as 
possible. USTR and ITC mutually agreed to delivery of the report by 
June 30. In addition, USTR published a notice in the Federal Register 
soliciting views from the public on the negotiations in general, and 
the TPSC will hold a public hearing on May 3, 2006. The United States 
intends to begin negotiations with Malaysia in June 2006.

2. Employment Impact Review

    Section 2102(c)(5) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 3802(c)(5)) directs 
the President to ``review the impact of future trade agreements on 
United States employment, including labor markets, modeled after 
Executive Order 13141 to the extent appropriate in establishing 
procedures and criteria, report to the Committee on Ways and Means of 
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate 
on such review, and make that report available to the public.'' USTR 
and Labor will conduct the employment reviews through the TPSC.
    The employment impact review will be based on the following 
elements, which are modeled to the extent

[[Page 16350]]

appropriate after those in EO 13141. The review will be: (1) Written; 
(2) initiated through a notice in the Federal Register soliciting 
public comment and information on the employment impact of the FTA in 
the United States; (3) made available to the public in draft form for 
public comment, to the extent practicable; and (4) made available to 
the public in final form.
    Comments may be submitted on potentially significant sectoral or 
regional employment impacts (both positive and negative) in the United 
States as well as other likely labor market impacts of the FTA. Persons 
submitting comments should provide as much detail as possible in 
support of their submissions.

3. Requirements for Submissions

    In order to ensure prompt and full consideration of responses, the 
TPSC strongly urges and prefers electronic (e-mail) submissions in 
response to this notice. In the event that an e-mail submission is 
impossible, submissions should be made by facsimile.
    Persons making submissions by e-mail should use the following 
subject line: ``Employment Impact Review for a Free Trade Agreement 
between the United States and Malaysia.'' Documents should be submitted 
as WordPerfect, MSWord, or text (.TXT) files. Spreadsheets submitted as 
supporting documentation are acceptable as Quattro Pro or Excel files. 
If any document submitted electronically contains business confidential 
information, the file name of the business confidential version should 
begin with the characters ``BC-,'' and the file name of the public 
version should begin with the character ``P-.'' The ``P-'' or ``BC-'' 
should be followed by the name of the submitter. Persons who make 
submissions by e-mail should not provide separate cover letters; 
information that might appear in a cover letter should be included in 
the submission itself. To the extent possible, any attachments to the 
submission should be included in the same file as the submission 
itself, and not as separate files.
    Written comments will be placed in a file open to public inspection 
pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.5, except confidential business information 
exempt from public inspection in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6. 
Confidential business information submitted in accordance with 15 CFR 
2003.6 must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top of 
each page, including any cover letter or cover page, and must be 
accompanied by a non-confidential summary of the confidential 
information. All public documents and non-confidential summaries shall 
be available for public inspection in the USTR Reading Room in Room 3 
of the Annex of the Office of the USTR, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, 
DC 20508. An appointment to review the file may be made by calling 
(202) 395-6186. The USTR Reading Room is generally open to the public 
from 10 a.m-12 noon and 1-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Appointments 
must be scheduled at least 48 hours in advance.

Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. E6-4739 Filed 3-30-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-D2-P