[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 238 (Tuesday, December 11, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73732-73734]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-29872]


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TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Dispute No. WTO/DS449]


WTO Dispute Settlement Proceeding Regarding United States ; 
Countervailing and Anti-Dumping 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 
(``USTR'') is providing notice that on November 19, 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 Public Law 112-99, ``An act to apply the countervailing duty 
provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930 to nonmarket economy countries, 
and for other purposes'' (``Pub. L. 112-99''), and the countervailing 
and anti-dumping duty determinations and actions by the Department of 
Commerce, the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. Customs 
and Border Protection 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/DS449/2. 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 December 30, 2012, to be assured of timely 
consideration by USTR.

[[Page 73733]]


ADDRESSES: Public comments should be submitted electronically to 
www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2012-0031. If you are unable to 
provide submissions at 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: Joseph Rieras, Assistant General 
Counsel, Office of the United States Trade Representative; or Lisa 
Wang, Assistant General Counsel, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative. Contact information is: 600 17th Street NW., 
Washington, DC 20508, (202) 395-3150.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 127(b)(1) 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 
China has requested a panel pursuant to the WTO Understanding on Rules 
and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (``DSU''). Once it 
is established, the panel will hold its meetings in Geneva, 
Switzerland, and would be expected to issue a report on its findings 
and recommendations within nine months after it is established.

Major Issues Raised by China

    On November 19, 2012, China requested the establishment of a panel 
concerning Public Law 112-99, ``An act to apply the countervailing duty 
provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930 to nonmarket economy countries, 
and for other purposes'' (``Pub. L. 112-99''), and the concurrent 
application of anti-dumping and countervailing duties under the 
nonmarket economy methodology with respect to the following 
investigations and reviews initiated between November 20, 2006 and 
March 13, 2012 on the following imports from China: Coated Free Sheet 
Paper (C-570-907); Circular Welded Carbon Quality Steel Pipe (C-570-
911); Light-Walled Rectangular Pipe and Tube (C-570-915); Laminated 
Woven Sacks (C-570-917); Certain New Pneumatic Off-The-Road Tires; (C-
570-913); Certain New Pneumatic Off-The-Road Tires, Administrative 
Review (C-570-913); Raw Flexible Magnets (C-570-923); Lightweight 
Thermal Paper (C-570-921); Sodium Nitrite (C-570-926); Circular Welded 
Austenitic Stainless Pressure Pipe (C-570-931); Certain Circular Welded 
Carbon Quality Steel Line Pipe (C-570-936); Citric Acid and Certain 
Citrate Salts (C-570-938); Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts, 
Administrative Review (C-570-938); Certain Tow Behind Lawn Groomers and 
Certain Parts Thereof (C-570-940); Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving 
and Racks (C-570-942); Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving and Racks, 
Administrative Review (C-570-942), Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods 
(C-570-944), Prestressed Concrete Steel Wire Strand (C-570-946); 
Certain Steel Grating (C-570-948); Wire Decking (C-570-950); Narrow 
Woven Ribbons With Woven Selvedge (C-570-953); Certain Magnesia Carbon 
Bricks (C-570-955); Certain Seamless Carbon and Alloy Steel Standard, 
Line, and Pressure Pipe (C-570-957); Certain Coated Paper Suitable for 
High-Quality Print Graphics Using Sheet-Fed Presses (C-570-959); 
Certain Potassium Phosphate Salts (C-570-963); Drill Pipe (C-570-966); 
Aluminum Extrusions (C-570-968); Multilayered Wood Flooring (C-570-
971); Certain Steel Wheels (C-570-974); Galvanized Steel Wire (C-570-
976); High Pressure Steel Cylinders (C-570-978); Crystalline Silicon 
Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, (C-570-980); 
Utility Scale Wind Towers (C-570-982); Drawn Stainless Steel Sinks (C-
570-984); Coated Free Sheet Paper (A-570-906); Circular Welded Carbon 
Quality Steel Pipe (A-570-910); Light-Walled Rectangular Pipe and Tube 
(A-570-916); Laminated Woven Sacks (A-570-914); Certain New Pneumatic 
Off-The-Road Tires (A-570-912); Certain New Pneumatic Off-The-Road 
Tires, Administrative Review (A-570-912); Raw Flexible Magnets (A-570-
922); Lightweight Thermal Paper (A-570-920); Sodium Nitrite (A-570-
925); Circular Welded Austenitic Stainless Pressure Pipe (A-570-930); 
Certain Circular Welded Carbon Quality Steel Line Pipe (A-570-935); 
Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts (A-570-937); Citric Acid and 
Certain Citrate Salts, Administrative Review (A-570-937); Certain Tow 
Behind Lawn Groomers and Certain Parts Thereof (A-570-939); Certain 
Kitchen Appliance Shelving and Racks (A-570-941); Certain Kitchen 
Appliance Shelving and Racks, Administrative Review (A-570-941); 
Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods (A-570-943); Prestressed Concrete 
Steel Wire Strand (A-570-945); Certain Steel Grating (A-570-947); Wire 
Decking (A-570-949); Narrow Woven Ribbons With Woven Selvedge (A-570-
952); Certain Magnesia Carbon Bricks (A-570-954); Certain Seamless 
Carbon and Alloy Steel Standard, Line, and Pressure Pipe (A-570-956); 
Certain Coated Paper Suitable for High-Quality Print Graphics Using 
Sheet-Fed Presses (A-570-958); Certain Potassium Phosphate Salts (A-
570-962); Drill Pipe (A-570-965); Aluminum Extrusions (A-570-967); 
Multilayered Wood Flooring (A-570-970); Certain Steel Wheels (A-570-
973); Galvanized Steel Wire (A-570-975); High Pressure Steel Cylinders 
(A-570-977); Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not 
Assembled Into Modules (A-570-979); Utility Scale Wind Towers (A-570-
981); and Drawn Stainless Steel Sinks (A-570-983). China alleges that 
the United States acted inconsistently with Articles VI, X:1, X:2, X:3 
of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (``GATT 1994''), 
Articles 10, 15, 19, 21 and 32 of the Agreement on Subsidies and 
Countervailing Measures (``SCM Agreement''), and Articles 9 and 11 of 
the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the GATT 1994 (``AD 
Agreement''). The challenged investigations and reviews are available 
at the following Web page of the Department of Commerce: http://ia.ita.doc.gov/frn/index.html.
    The panel request was largely similar to the consultations request 
filed on September 17, 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-
0031. If you are unable to provide submissions at 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-2012-0031 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 ``Comment Now!.'' (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 
Regulations.gov Site'' on the bottom of the page.)

[[Page 73734]]

    The www.regulations.gov site provides the option of providing 
comments by filling in a ``Type 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 Sandy 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-2012-0031. 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. 2012-29872 Filed 12-10-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F3-P