[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 180 (Monday, September 17, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57181-57182]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-22870]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
[Dispute No. WTO/DS437]
WTO Dispute Settlement Proceeding Regarding United States--
Countervailing Duty Measures on Certain Products from China
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 (AUSTR@)
is providing notice that on August 20, 2012, the People's Republic of
China (``China'') requested the establishment of a dispute settlement
panel with the United States under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing
the World Trade Organization (``WTO Agreement'') concerning
countervailing duty determinations and orders by the Department of
Commerce (``DOC'') on imports of the products from China listed below.
The panel request may be found at www.wto.org contained in a document
designated as WT/DS437/2. 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 dispute settlement proceedings, comments should be
submitted on or before November 2, 2012, to be assured of timely
consideration by USTR.
ADDRESSES: Public comments should be submitted electronically to
www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2012-0010. If you are unable to
provide submissions by www.regulations.gov, please contact Sandy
McKinzy at (202) 395-9483 to arrange for an alternative method of
transmission.
If (as explained below) the comment contains confidential
information, then the comment should be submitted by fax only to Sandy
McKinzy at (202) 395-3640.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ben Kostrzewa, Assistant General
Counsel, Office of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th
Street NW., Washington, DC 20508, (202) 395-9579.
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. Consistent with this obligation, USTR is providing notice that a
dispute settlement panel has been established pursuant to the WTO
Dispute Settlement Understanding (``DSU''). The panel will hold its
meetings in Geneva, Switzerland.
Major Issues Raised by China
On August 20, 2012, China requested the establishment of a panel
concerning the determinations to initiate countervailing duty
investigations and the preliminary and final countervailing duty
determinations and countervailing duty orders issued by the DOC on the
following imports from China: Lightweight Thermal Paper (Investigation
C-570-921); Circular Welded Austenitic Stainless Pressure Pipe
(Investigation C-570-931); Certain Circular Welded Carbon Quality Steel
Line Pipe (Investigation C-570-936); Citric Acid and Certain Citrate
Salts (Investigation C-570-938); Certain Tow Behind Lawn Groomers and
Certain Parts Thereof (Investigation C-570-940); Certain Kitchen
Appliance Shelving and Racks (Investigation C-570-942); Certain Oil
Country Tubular Goods (Investigation C-570-944); Pre-Stressed Concrete
Steel Wire Strand (Investigation C-570-946); Certain Steel Grating
(Investigation C-570-948); Wire Decking (Investigation C-570-950);
Certain Magnesia Carbon Bricks (Investigation C-570-955); Certain
Seamless Carbon and Alloy Steel Standard Line and Pressure Pipe
(Investigation C-570-957); Certain Coated Paper Suitable for High-
Quality Print Graphics Using Sheet-Fed Presses (Investigation C-570-
959); Drill Pipe (Investigation C-570-966); Aluminum Extrusions
(Investigation C-570-968); Multilayered Wood Flooring (Investigation C-
570-971); Certain Steel Wheels (Investigation C-570-974); Steel Wire
(Investigation C-570-976); High Pressure Steel Cylinders (Investigation
C-570-978); Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not
Assembled Into Modules (Investigation C-570-980); Utility Scale Wind
Towers (Investigation C-570-982); and Drawn Stainless Steel Sinks
(Investigation C-570-984) (together, the ``challenged determinations
and orders''). China alleges that the United States acted
inconsistently with Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade 1994 (``GATT 1994''); Articles 1, 2, 10, 11, 12, 14, and 32 the
Agreement on
[[Page 57182]]
Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (``SCM Agreement''); and Article
15 the Protocol on the Accession of the People's Republic of China
(``Protocol of Accession''). The challenged determinations and orders
are available at the following web page of the Department of Commerce:
http://ia.ita.doc.gov/frn/index.html.
China also states that it is requesting the establishment of a
panel with respect to the ``rebuttable presumption'' established and
applied by the DOC, under which the DOC considers majority government
ownership of an enterprise sufficient to determine that an enterprise
is a ``public body'' within the meaning of Article 1.1 of the SCM
Agreement, unless a party is able to demonstrate that majority
government ownership does not result in `control' of the enterprise.''
The panel request was largely similar to the consultations request
filed on May 25, 2012.
Public Comment: Requirements for Submissions
Interested persons are invited to submit written comments
concerning the issues raised in this dispute. Persons may submit public
comments electronically to www.regulations.gov docket number USTR-2012-
0010. If you are unable to provide submissions by www.regulations.gov,
please contact Sandy McKinzy at (202) 395-9483 to arrange for an
alternative method of transmission.
To submit comments via www.regulations.gov, enter docket number
USTR-2012-0010 on the home page and click ``search.'' The site will
provide a search-results page listing all documents associated with
this docket. Find a reference to this notice by selecting ``Notice''
under ``Document Type'' on the left side of the search-results page,
and click on the link entitled ``Submit a Comment'' (For further
information on using the www.regulations.gov Web site, please consult
the resources provided on the Web site by clicking on ``How to Use This
Site'' on the left side of the home page.)
The www.regulations.gov site provides the option of providing
comments by filling in a AType Comments field, or by attaching a
document using an ``upload file'' field. It is expected that most
comments will be provided in an attached document. If a document is
attached, it is sufficient to type ``See attached'' in the ``Type
Comments'' field.
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 submitter.
Confidential business information must be clearly designated as such
and the submission must be marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top
and bottom of the cover page and each succeeding page. Any comment
containing business confidential information must be submitted by fax
to andy McKinzy at (202) 395-3640. A non-confidential summary of the
confidential information must be submitted to www.regulations.gov. The
non-confidential summary will be placed in the docket and open to
public inspection.
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) Must provide a non-confidential summary of the information or
advice.
Any comment containing confidential information must be submitted
by fax. A non-confidential summary of the confidential information must
be submitted to www.regulations.gov. The non-confidential summary will
be placed in the docket and open to public inspection. Pursuant to
section 127(e) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3537(e)),
USTR will maintain a docket on this dispute settlement proceeding
accessible to the public at www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-
2012-0010.
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, any non-confidential submissions, or non-
confidential summaries of submissions, received from other participants
in the dispute, will be made available to the public on USTR's Web site
at www.ustr.gov, and the report of the panel, and, if applicable, the
report of the Appellate Body, will be available on the Web site of the
World Trade Organization, www.wto.org. Comments open to public
inspection may be viewed on the www.regulations.gov Web site.
Juan Millan,
Acting Assistant United States Trade Representative for Monitoring and
Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 2012-22870 Filed 9-14-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F2-P