[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 171 (Thursday, September 3, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53328-53330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-21879]


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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION

[Investigation No. TA-131-040]


WTO Environmental Goods Trade Negotiations: Advice on the 
Probable Economic Effect of Providing Duty-Free Treatment, Second List 
of Articles

AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.

ACTION: Institution of investigation, scheduling of public hearing, and 
opportunity to provide written submissions.

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SUMMARY: Following receipt of a request dated August 20, 2015 (received 
August

[[Page 53329]]

21, 2015) from the United States Trade Representative (USTR) under 
section 131 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2151), the U.S. 
International Trade Commission (Commission) instituted investigation 
No. TA-131-040, WTO Environmental Goods Trade Negotiations: Advice on 
the Probable Economic Effect of Providing Duty-Free Treatment, Second 
List of Articles.

DATES: 
October 5, 2015: Deadline for filing requests to appear at the public 
hearing.
October 6, 2015: Deadline for filing pre-hearing briefs and statements.
October 14, 2015: Public hearing.
October 19, 2015: Deadline for filing post-hearing briefs and 
statements.
October 19, 2015: Deadline for filing all other written submissions.
December 4, 2015: Transmittal to USTR of Commission's report.

ADDRESSES: All Commission offices, including the Commission's hearing 
rooms, are located in the United States International Trade Commission 
Building, 500 E Street SW., Washington, DC. All written submissions 
should be addressed to the Secretary, United States International Trade 
Commission, 500 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20436. The public record 
for this investigation may be viewed on the Commission's electronic 
docket (EDIS) at http://www.usitc.gov/secretary/edis.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Project Leader Mahnaz Khan (202-205-
2046 or [email protected]), or Deputy Project Leader Karl Tsuji 
(202-708-3434 or [email protected]) for information specific to this 
investigation. For information on the legal aspects of this 
investigation, contact William Gearhart of the Commission's Office of 
the General Counsel (202-205-3091 or [email protected]). The 
media should contact Margaret O'Laughlin, Office of External Relations 
(202-205-1819 or [email protected]). Hearing-impaired 
individuals may obtain information on this matter by contacting the 
Commission's TDD terminal at 202-205-1810. General information 
concerning the Commission may also be obtained by accessing its 
Internet server (http://www.usitc.gov). Persons with mobility 
impairments who will need special assistance in gaining access to the 
Commission should contact the Office of the Secretary at 202-205-2000.
    Background: In his letter, the USTR noted that he had notified 
Congress on March 21, 2014, of the President's intent to enter into 
negotiations with a group of World Trade Organization (WTO) Members to 
eliminate tariffs on environmental goods, and that on July 8, 2014, the 
United States and thirteen other WTO members launched negotiations on 
the Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA). The USTR also noted that, in 
preparation for the EGA negotiations, he had requested, and the 
Commission provided, two reports in 2014 with advice and information on 
U.S. environmental goods trade. He also noted that the product coverage 
submitted for preparation of those reports was provisional, given the 
absence of a universally accepted definition of an ``environmental 
good.'' He said that during the course of the EGA negotiations and 
USTR's preparatory consultations, a range of additional potential 
products have been identified.
    As requested by the USTR, the Commission will, pursuant to section 
131 of the Trade Act of 1974, provide a report containing its advice as 
to the probable economic effect of providing duty-free treatment for 
imports of these additional potential products (as identified in the 
list attached to the USTR's letter) from all U.S. trading partners on 
(i) industries in the United States producing like or directly 
competitive products, and (ii) consumers. As requested, the report will 
provide analysis for each of the additional potential products for 
which U.S. tariffs remain, taking into account implementation of U.S. 
commitments in the WTO. The Commission's advice will be based on the 
U.S. tariff nomenclature in effect during 2015 and trade data for 2014. 
As requested, the Commission will provide its report to the USTR by 
December 4, 2015.
    The USTR stated that portions of the Commission's report will be 
classified as national security information and that the USTR considers 
the report to be an inter-agency memorandum that will contain pre-
decisional advice and be subject to the deliberative process privilege.
    Public Hearing: A public hearing in connection with this 
investigation will be held at the U.S. International Trade Commission 
Building, 500 E Street SW., Washington, DC, beginning at 9:40 a.m. on 
October 14, 2015. Requests to appear at the public hearing should be 
filed with the Secretary, no later than 5:15 p.m., October 5, 2015, in 
accordance with the requirements in the ``Submissions'' section below. 
All pre-hearing briefs and statements should be filed not later than 
5:15 p.m., October 6, 2015; and all post-hearing briefs and statements 
should be filed not later than 5:15 p.m., October 19, 2015.
    Written Submissions: In lieu of or in addition to participating in 
the hearing, interested parties are invited to file written submissions 
concerning this investigation. All written submissions should be 
addressed to the Secretary, and should be received not later than 5:15 
p.m., October 19, 2015. All written submissions must conform with the 
provisions of section 201.8 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and 
Procedure (19 CFR 201.8). Section 201.8 and the Commission's Handbook 
on Filing Procedures require that interested parties file documents 
electronically on or before the filing deadline and submit eight (8) 
true paper copies by 12:00 p.m. eastern time on the next business day. 
In the event that confidential treatment of a document is requested, 
interested parties must file, at the same time as the eight paper 
copies, at least four (4) additional true paper copies in which the 
confidential information must be deleted (see the following paragraph 
for further information regarding confidential business information). 
Persons with questions regarding electronic filing should contact the 
Office of the Secretary (202-205-2000).
    Any submissions that contain confidential business information 
(CBI) must also conform with the requirements of section 201.6 of the 
Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure (19 CFR 201.6). Section 
201.6 of the rules requires that the cover of the document and the 
individual pages be clearly marked as to whether they are the 
``confidential'' or ``non-confidential'' version, and that the 
confidential business information be clearly identified by means of 
brackets. All written submissions, except for confidential business 
information, will be made available for inspection by interested 
parties.
    The Commission may include some or all of the confidential business 
information submitted in the course of this investigation in the report 
it sends to the USTR. The Commission will not otherwise publish any 
confidential business information in a manner that would reveal the 
operations of the firm supplying the information.
    Summaries of Written Submissions: The Commission intends to publish 
summaries of the positions of interested persons in an appendix to its 
report. Persons wishing to have a summary of their position included in 
the appendix should include a summary with their written submission. 
The summary may not exceed 500 words, should be in MSWord format or a 
format that can be easily converted to MSWord, and should not include 
any confidential business information. The summary will

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be published as provided if it meets these requirements and is germane 
to the subject matter of the investigation. In the appendix the 
Commission will identify the name of the organization furnishing the 
summary, and will include a link to the Commission's Electronic 
Document Information System (EDIS) where the full written submission 
can be found.

    Issued: August 28, 2015.

    By order of the Commission.
Lisa R. Barton,
Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2015-21879 Filed 9-2-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7020-02-P