[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 15, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39065-39066]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-14169]


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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Miscellaneous 
Tariff Bill (MTB) Petition Submission and Comment Forms

AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.

ACTION: In accordance with the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the U.S. International Trade 
Commission (Commission) hereby gives notice that it plans to submit a 
request for approval of two forms to the Office of Management and 
Budget for review and requests public comment on its draft collection.

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DATES: To ensure consideration, written comments must be submitted on 
or before August 16, 2016.

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 comments should 
be addressed to the Secretary, United States International Trade 
Commission, 500 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20436 and filed 
electronically on the Commission's electronic docket (EDIS) at https://edis.usitc.gov.
    Written Comments: You may submit comments, identified by docket 
number MISC-034. All submissions should be addressed to the Secretary 
and must conform to 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. 
Persons with questions regarding electronic filing should contact the 
Office of the Secretary, Docket Services Division (202-205-1802).
    Additional Information: Copies of the forms, supporting documents, 
and previously submitted comments may be downloaded from the Commission 
Web site at http://www.usitc.gov/mtbps. This information may also be 
obtained from contact Jennifer Rohrbach, USITC MTB Program Manager, 
Office of Operations ([email protected] or 202-205-2088) or 
Philip Stone, Office of Industries MTB Coordinator 
([email protected] or 202-205-3424). 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 Web site (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.
    Purpose of Information Collection: The information requested by 
these forms is for use by the Commission in connection with evaluating 
miscellaneous tariff petitions submitted under the authority of 
American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016 (Pub. L. 114-159 
approved May 20, 2016). Section 3 of this Act establishes a process for 
the submission and consideration of petitions and public comments for 
duty suspensions and reductions for imported goods in the Harmonized 
Tariff Schedule of the United States. The collection periods are 60-day 
periods starting October 15, 2016 and October 15, 2019.
    Summary of Proposal:
    (1) Number of forms submitted: 2.
    (2) Title of forms: Miscellaneous Tariff Petition Submission Form 
and Miscellaneous Tariff Petition Comment Form.
    (3) Type of request: New.
    (4) Frequency of use: Twice.
    (5) Description of affected industry: Domestic firms.
    (6) Estimated number of petitioners and commenters: up to 5,000 
petitions; 14,000 comments.
    (7) Estimated total number of hours to complete the form: 5 hours 
for compiling information and submitting petitions and 0.5 hours to 
draft and submit comments.
    (8) Information obtained from the forms that qualifies as 
confidential business information will be so treated by the Commission 
and not disclosed in a manner that would reveal the individual 
operations of a firm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    I. Abstract: Duty rates on imported goods are established by 
Congress in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS). 
Temporarily duty suspensions and reductions are set forth in chapter 
99, subchapter II of the HTS, although no such suspensions or 
reductions are currently in effect. In large part due to the 
Commission's role

[[Page 39066]]

in maintaining and publishing the official HTS, pursuant to the Omnibus 
Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, the Commission has supplied 
memoranda containing factual information concerning individual bills 
introduced in many sessions of Congress to seek such duty suspensions 
or reductions.
    The new Act referenced above requires the Commission to establish a 
process to receive petitions that will take the place of individual 
miscellaneous tariff bills, and specifies the contents of such 
petitions. The Act also provides that these petitions must be made 
available on the Commission's Web site so that public comment on each 
one may be filed. The Act specifies the contents of Commission 
preliminary and final reports and requires the Commission to make 
several determinations concerning the petitions. Lastly, the Act 
requires the Commission to make particular recommendations concerning 
the petitions and provide the necessary information to Congress that 
will permit the Congress to decide which such petitions should be 
included in a miscellaneous tariff bill. The Act specifies the schedule 
for conducting each cycle of collections of petitions and for the 
Commission to submit a report to the House Committee on Ways and Means 
and the Senate Committee on Finance containing information and its 
determinations.
    II. Method of Collection: Each interested party will be required to 
establish a user web account on the Commission Web site to submit a 
petition requesting the creation or renewal of miscellaneous tariff 
provisions in the HTS comment on a previously submitted petition.
    III. Request for Comments: Comments are invited on (1) whether the 
proposed collection of information is necessary; (2) the accuracy of 
the agency's estimate of the burden (including hours and cost) of the 
proposed collection of information; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways 
to minimize the burden of the collection of information, including 
through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.
    The draft forms and other supplementary documents may be downloaded 
from the USITC Web site at http://www.usitc.gov/mtbps.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they will also become a matter of public record.

    By order of the Commission.

    Issued: June 10, 2016.
Lisa R. Barton,
Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2016-14169 Filed 6-14-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-P