[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 133 (Thursday, July 10, 2008)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 39585-39587]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-15754]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

15 CFR Part 336

Docket No.: 070712324-8763-02
RIN 0625-AA74


Imports of Certain Cotton Shirting Fabric: Implementation of 
Tariff Rate Quota Established Under the Tax Relief and Health Care Act 
of 2006

AGENCY: Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration.

ACTION: Final Rule.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') publishes this 
final rule to adopt, without change, an interim final rule that 
implemented tariff rate quotas (``TRQ'') for a limited quantity of 
certain cotton shirting fabrics pursuant to Section 406 of the Tax 
Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (``the Act''), which President Bush 
signed into law on December 20, 2006 (Pub. L. 109-432). Section 
406(b)(1) of the Act authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to issue 
licenses to eligible manufacturers under headings 9902.52.08 through 
9902.52.19 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, 
specifying the restrictions under each such license on the quantity of 
cotton woven fabrics that may be entered each year by or on behalf of 
the manufacturer.

DATES: This final rule is effective July 10, 2008.

ADDRESSES: 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laurie Mease, Office of Textiles and 
Apparel, U.S. Department of Commerce, (202) 482-3400.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

    President Bush signed the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 
into law on December 20, 2006 (Pub. L. 109-432). Section 406(b)(1) of 
the Act authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to issue licenses to 
eligible manufacturers under headings 9902.52.08 through 9902.52.19 of 
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, specifying the 
restrictions under each such license on the quantity of cotton woven 
fabrics that may be entered each year by or on behalf of the 
manufacturer.
    The Act creates an annual tariff rate quota providing for temporary 
reductions through December 31, 2009 in the import duties of cotton 
woven fabrics suitable for making cotton shirts (new Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States (HTS) headings 9902.52.08, 9902.52.09, 
9902.52.10, 9902.52.11, 9902.52.12, 9902.52.13, 9902.52.14, 9902.52.15, 
9902.52.16, 9902.52.17, 9902.52.18, and 9902.52.19). The reduction in 
duty is limited to 85 percent of the total square meter equivalents of 
all imported woven fabrics of cotton containing 85 percent or more by 
weight of cotton used by manufacturers in cutting and sewing men's and 
boys' cotton shirts in the United States and purchased by such 
manufacturers during calendar year 2000.
    The Act requires that the Secretary of Commerce must issue licenses 
and ensure that the tariff rate quotas are fairly allocated to eligible 
manufacturers under such headings 9902.52.08 through 9902.52.19.
    On July 24, 2007, the Department published an interim final rule 
that established eligibility criteria and application requirements to 
receive an allocation under the TRQ. See Imports of Certain Cotton 
Shirting Fabric: Implementation of Tariff Rate Quota Established Under 
the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, 72 FR 40235 (July 24, 
2007). The interim regulations were effective upon publication to 
prevent costs incurred by TRQ recipients that would have, in effect, 
nullified duty benefits, particularly for those TRQ recipients who had 
small shipments.
    The Department intends to make its determination regarding 
allocation of the tariff rate quota no later than December 31 of the 
year preceding the tariff rate quota year. Commerce anticipates 
publishing a Federal Register Notice (FRN) each September soliciting 
license applications for the following calendar year. Applications will 
be due within 30 days of the FRN's publication and licenses will be 
issued to eligible manufacturers within 60 days of the application 
deadline.
    The tariff rate quota licenses will be issued to eligible 
manufacturers on the basis of the percentage of each manufacturer's 
quantity of imported woven fabrics described under HTS

[[Page 39586]]

headings 9902.52.08 through 9902.52.19 during calendar year 2000, 
compared to the imports of such fabric by all manufacturers that 
qualify for a tariff rate quota allocation.
    Pursuant to statutory requirements, the tariff rate quota 
allocation will be limited to persons (including firms, corporations, 
or other legal entities) who cut and sew men's and boys' cotton shirts 
in the United States and who, during calendar year 2000, were 
manufacturers cutting and sewing men's and boys' cotton shirts in the 
United States from imported woven fabrics of cotton containing 85 
percent or more by weight of cotton of the kind described in HTS 
headings 9902.52.08 through 9902.52.19 purchased by such manufacturers 
during calendar year 2000. Any manufacturer who becomes a successor-of-
interest to a manufacturer of the cotton woven shirts described in HTS 
headings 9902.52.08 through 9902.52.19 during 2000 because of a 
reorganization or otherwise, shall be eligible to apply for a TRQ.
    In order to receive a license, eligible manufactures must submit 
ITA Form 4156P entitled ``Affidavit for Application for TRQ License 
Cotton Shirting Fabric Tariff Rate Quota'' containing the following 
information:
    (1) Company name, address, contact telephone number, e-mail 
address, federal tax identification number, name of person submitting 
the application, and title, or capacity in which the person is acting 
for the applicant.
    (2) The name and address of each plant and/or contractor location 
in the United States where men's and boys' cotton shirts of imported 
woven fabric of the kind described in HTS headings 9902.52.08 through 
9902.52.19 was cut and sewn in calendar year 2000.
    (3) The date of purchase shall be (a) the invoice date if the 
manufacturer is not the importer of record; and (b) the date of entry 
if the manufacturer is the importer of record.
    (4) The quantity of imported woven fabrics of cotton containing 85 
percent or more by weight of cotton purchased during calendar year 2000 
for use in the cutting and sewing of men's and boys' shirts in the 
United States.
    At the conclusion of the application the applicant must attest that 
``all information contained in the application is complete and correct 
and no false claims, statements or representations have been made.'' 
Applicants should be aware that, generally, pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 
Sec. 3729 persons providing false or fraudulent claims, and pursuant to 
18 U.S.C. Sec. 1001, persons making materially false statements or 
representations, are subject to civil or criminal penalties, 
respectively. All applications must be notarized by a licensed public 
notary.
    Any business confidential information provided in an application 
must be marked ``business confidential.'' Such information will be kept 
confidential and protected from disclosure to the full extent permitted 
by law.
    The applicant must retain records substantiating the information 
provided in the application for a period of 3 years. Such records must 
be made available upon request by an appropriate government official.

Conditions of License Use

    The importer of record of fabric entered or withdrawn from 
warehouse for consumption under a license must be the Licensee or an 
importer authorized by the Licensee to act on its behalf. A Licensee 
may only authorize an importer to import fabric under the license on 
its behalf by making such authorization in writing or by electronic 
notice to the importer and providing a copy of such authorization to 
the Department. The authorization must include the unique number of the 
license, must specify the type of fabric imported by micron count, and 
must be in the possession of the importer at the time of filing the 
entry summary or warehouse withdrawal for consumption (Customs Form 
7501) or its electronic equivalent. The authorization also must include 
the unique PIN assigned by the licensee to the importer. A copy of the 
authorization and PIN assigned to each importer must be provided to the 
Department by fax (202) 482-0858 or by mail to the Office of Textiles 
and Apparel, Room 3001, United States Department of Commerce, 
Washington, D.C. 20230. This authorization may only be withdrawn by 
notifying the importer, in writing or by electronic notice, with a copy 
provided to the Department. The Licensee also must advise the 
Department of each authorized importer's Importer of Record 
Identification Number.
    The Licensee should inform its authorized importers that if they 
enter an amount less than the exact amount requested and authorized by 
the Import Approval, the importer must annotate the Import Approval 
form and send a copy to the Department and to the Licensee. This 
annotation will be used to correct the record of use of the license. 
Failure to provide such information could disrupt the orderly use of 
the license. Imports in excess of the amount of import approval are not 
authorized.

Public Comments

    While the interim regulations became effective on July 24, 2007, 
the Department of Commerce solicited comments on the interim 
regulations and expressed particular interest in comments concerning 
any impact the regulations might have on small or medium sized 
businesses. The public comment period closed on September 24, 2007. The 
Department did not receive any comments on the interim regulations.

Action Being Taken by the Department of Commerce

    The Department of Commerce is adopting without change the interim 
final rule that became effective July 24, 2007. Title 15, Part 336 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations sets forth regulations regarding the 
issuance and effect of licenses for the allocation of certain cotton 
shirting fabrics under the tariff rate quotas established by Section 
406 of the Act.

Classification

    Executive Order 12866: This rule has been determined to be not 
significant under EO 12866.
    Paperwork Reduction Act: These regulations contain information 
collection requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). 
The information collection requirements have been approved by the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under Control Number 0625-0260.
    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required 
to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty for failure 
to comply with, a collection of information subject to the requirements 
of the PRA unless that collection of information displays a current 
valid OMB control number. The information collected will be used by the 
Department to allocate the tariff rate quota among manufacturers. 
Responses to the collection of information are required for a 
manufacturer to receive allocation of the tariff rate quota. Records 
substantiating information provided in an application must be retained. 
It is estimated that the annual burden for the collection will average 
one hour per application. This includes the time for reviewing 
instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and 
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the 
collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate 
or any other aspect of this collection of information, including 
suggestions for reducing this burden, to the Office of Management and 
Budget,

[[Page 39587]]

Washington, DC, 20503 (Attention: ITA Desk Officer).

Dated: July 3, 2008.
David Spooner,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 336

    Imports, Quotas, Reporting and Record-keeping, Tariffs, Textiles.
For reasons stated in the preamble, the Interim Final Rule, which was 
published on July 24, 2007 at 72 FR 40235, is adopted as final without 
change.
[FR Doc. E8-15754 Filed 7-9-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S