[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