[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 80 (Wednesday, April 26, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24763-24764]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-6221]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Docket No. WTO/DS-338]


WTO Dispute Settlement Proceeding Regarding Canada--Provisional 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duties on Grain Corn From the United 
States

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is 
providing notice that on March 17, 2006, in accordance with the 
Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (``WTO 
Agreement''), the United States requested consultations regarding 
Canada's provisional antidumping and countervailing duties on imports 
of unprocessed grain corn from the United States. That request may be 
found at http://www.wto.org contained in a document designated as WT/
DS338/1. USTR invites written comments from the public concerning the 
issues raised in this dispute.

DATES: Although USTR will accept any comments received during the 
course of the consultations, comments should be submitted on or before 
May 12, 2006 to be assured of timely consideration by USTR.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted (i) electronically, to 
[email protected], with ``Canada Corn Preliminary Injury (DS338)'' in the 
subject line, or (ii) by fax, to Sandy McKinzy at (202) 395-3640, with 
a confirmation copy sent electronically to the electronic mail address 
above, in accordance with the requirements for submission set out 
below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Yocis, Assistant General 
Counsel, Office of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th 
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508, (202) 395-6150.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 127(b) of the Uruguay Round 
Agreements Act (URAA) (19 U.S.C. 3537(b)(1)) requires that notice and 
opportunity for comment be provided after the United States submits or 
receives a request for the establishment of a WTO dispute settlement 
panel. In an effort to provide additional opportunity for comment, USTR 
is providing notice that consultations have been requested pursuant to 
the WTO Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement 
of Disputes (``DSU''). If such consultations should fail to resolve the 
matter and a dispute settlement panel is established pursuant to the 
DSU, such panel, which would hold its meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, 
would be expected to issue a report on its findings and recommendations 
within nine months after it is established.

Major Issues Raised by the United States

    On March 17, 2006, the United States requested consultations 
regarding Canada's provisional antidumping and countervailing duties on 
unprocessed grain corn from the United States and certain related 
measures. Those measures include:
     The imposition of provisional antidumping and 
countervailing duties on imports of unprocessed grain corn from the 
United States on December 15, 2005 (Canada Gazette, Part I, Vol. 153, 
No. 53, p. 4321, published December 31, 2005), including the 
preliminary determination of injury by the Canadian International Trade 
Tribunal (CITT) on November 15, 2005 (Canada Gazette, Part I, Vol. 153, 
No. 48, p. 3891, published November 26, 2005) and the accompanying 
Statement of Reasons, released on November 30, 2005 and available on 
the CITT's Web site at ftp://ftp.citt-tcce.gc.ca/doc/english/Dumping/PreInq/determin/pi2f001_e.pdf; and
     The Special Import Measures Act, R.S. 1985, c. S-15, and 
any amendments, implementing measures, and related measures.
    In its preliminary injury determination, the CITT did not address 
or otherwise refer to certain factors mandated by the WTO agreements, 
such as the volume of imports, the price of imports, and the impact of 
imports on the domestic industry. In addition, the CITT expressly 
decided not to analyze the evidence before it with respect to 
causation, including the causal link between imports and injury and 
injury caused by factors other than imports. Instead, the CITT decision 
is based entirely on a supposed correlation between past injury to the 
Canadian domestic industry with past and projected future declines in 
the U.S. domestic price of grain corn, rather than the mandatory 
factors in the agreements. Further, the Special Import Measures Act 
would appear to require the imposition of antidumping and 
countervailing duties upon a CITT finding that the ``dumping and 
subsidizing'' of subject goods, including alleged effects of subsidies 
on the domestic prices of those goods in the market of the dumping or 
subsidizing country, have injured Canada's domestic industry, even in 
the absence of any finding of injury caused by dumped or subsidized 
imports as provided for in the WTO agreements.
    USTR believes these measures are inconsistent with Canada's 
obligations under Articles 1, 3, and 7 of the Agreement on 
Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and 
Trade 1994 (``AD Agreement''), Articles 10, 15, and 17 of the Agreement 
on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (``SCM Agreement''), and 
Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994.

Public Comment: Requirements for Submissions

    Interested persons are invited to submit written comments 
concerning the issues raised in the dispute. Comments should be 
submitted (i) electronically, to [email protected], with ``Canada Corn 
Preliminary Injury (DS338)'' in the subject line, or (ii) by fax, to 
Sandy McKinzy at (202) 395-3640, with a confirmation copy sent 
electronically to the electronic mail address above.
    USTR encourages the submission of documents in Adobe PDF format as 
attachments to an electronic mail. Interested persons who make 
submissions by electronic mail should not provide separate cover 
letters; information that might appear in a cover letter should be 
included in the submission itself. Similarly, 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.

[[Page 24764]]

    Comments must be in English. A person requesting that information 
contained in a comment submitted by that person be treated as 
confidential business information must certify that such information is 
business confidential and would not customarily be released to the 
public by the commenter. Confidential business information must be 
clearly designated as such and ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' must be marked 
at the top and bottom of the cover page and each succeeding page. 
Persons who submit confidential business information are encouraged to 
also provide a non-confidential summary of the information.
    Information or advice contained in a comment submitted, other than 
business confidential information, may be determined by USTR to be 
confidential in accordance with section 135(g)(2) of the Trade Act of 
1974 (19 U.S.C. 2155(g)(2)). If the submitter believes that information 
or advice may qualify as such, the submitter.
    (1) Must clearly so designate the information or advice;
    (2) Must clearly mark the material as ``SUBMITTED IN CONFIDENCE'' 
at the top and bottom of the cover page and each succeeding page; and
    (3) Is encouraged to provide a non-confidential summary of the 
information or advice.
    Pursuant to section 127(e) of the URAA (19 U.S.C. 3537(e)), USTR 
will maintain a file on this dispute settlement proceeding, accessible 
to the public, in the USTR Reading Room, which is located at 1724 F 
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508. The public file will include non-
confidential comments received by USTR from the public with respect to 
the dispute; if a dispute settlement panel is convened or in the event 
of an appeal from such a panel, the U.S. submissions, the submissions, 
or non-confidential summaries of submissions, received from other 
participants in the dispute; the report of the panel and, if 
applicable, the report of the Appellate Body. An appointment to review 
the public file (Docket WTO/DS-338, Canada Corn Dispute) may be made by 
calling the USTR Reading Room at (202) 395-6186. The USTR Reading Room 
is open to the public from 9:30 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., 
Monday through Friday.

Daniel Brinza,
Assistant United States Trade Representative for Monitoring and 
Enforcement.
 [FR Doc. E6-6221 Filed 4-25-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W6-P