[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 11, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3357-3359]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-00062]


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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION


Notice of Publication of Petitions for Duty Suspensions and 
Reductions and Opportunity To Comment on Petitions

AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice of publication on the Commission's Web site of petitions 
for duty suspensions and reductions and request for comments on the 
petitions filed.

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SUMMARY: As required by the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act 
of 2016, the Commission has published on its Web site the petitions for 
duty suspensions and reductions that were timely filed and contain the 
required information, and the Commission is requesting members of the 
public to submit comments to the Commission on the petitions published 
no later than the close of business February 24, 2017.

DATES: January 11, 2017: Date of publication on the Commission's Web 
site of petitions for duty suspensions and reductions and opening date 
for filing comments concerning those petitions. February 24, 2017, 5:15 
p.m., EST: Closing date and time for the submission of comments 
concerning the petitions for duty suspensions and reductions published 
on the Commission's Web site. Comments must be submitted in electronic 
form via the Commission's secure web portal. The Commission will not 
accept comments submitted in paper or in any other form or format.

ADDRESSES: All Commission offices are located in the United States 
International Trade Commission Building, 500 E Street SW., Washington, 
DC. The public file for this proceeding may be viewed on the 
Commission's Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Petition System (MTBPS) at 
https://www.usitc.gov/mtbps.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general inquiries, contact 
Jennifer Rohrbach at [email protected]. For filing inquiries, contact 
the Office of Secretary, Docket Services division, U.S. International 
Trade Commission, telephone (202) 205-3238.
    The media should contact Peg O'Laughlin, Public Affairs Officer 
(202-205-1819 or [email protected]). General information 
concerning the Commission may be obtained by accessing its internet 
server (https://www.usitc.gov).
    Background: The American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016 
(the Act), (Public Law 114-159, May 20, 2016), 19 U.S.C. 1332 note, 
establishes a new process for the submission and consideration of 
requests for temporary duty suspensions and reductions. Section 3(b)(1) 
of the Act requires that the Commission initiate the process by 
publishing a notice requesting members of the public who can 
demonstrate that they are likely beneficiaries of duty suspensions or 
reductions to submit petitions and Commission disclosure forms to the 
Commission. As required by the Act, the Commission published that 
notice in the Federal Register on October 14, 2016 (81 FR 71114), with 
all such petitions to be submitted no later than the close of business 
on December 12, 2016. Section 3(b)(3)(A) of the Act requires that the 
Commission, no later than 30 days after the expiration of the period 
for filing petitions, that is, by January 11, 2017, publish on its Web 
site the petitions received that contain the information required by 
the Act. Section 3(b)(3)(B) of the Act requires that the Commission, at 
the same time, publish a notice requesting members of the public to 
submit comments to the Commission on the petitions published. Such 
comments must be submitted to

[[Page 3358]]

the Commission during the 45-day period beginning on the date of 
publication of the notice--in this case, by February 24, 2017.
    Following conclusion of the period for filing comments, the 
Commission will, as required by sections 3(b)(3)(C) and (E) of the Act, 
submit preliminary and final reports to the House Committee on Ways and 
Means and the Senate Committee on Finance (Committees) on the petitions 
received. The Commission will submit its reports in June and August 
2017, respectively. The reports are to include the Commission's 
analysis and recommendations regarding the petitions, including whether 
there is domestic production of the article, whether the estimated loss 
in revenues due to the duty suspension or reduction does not exceed 
$500,000, and whether the duty suspension or reduction will be 
available to any person importing the article. The Commission is 
required to classify the petitions into categories based on whether (1) 
the petition meets the requirements for inclusion in a miscellaneous 
tariff bill; (2) the Commission recommends inclusion in such a bill 
with specified technical changes, changes in product scope, or 
adjustment in the amount of duty reduction; (3) the Commission 
recommends against inclusion in a bill because the petition does not 
meet the petitioning requirements or the petitioner is not a likely 
beneficiary; and (4) the Commission otherwise recommends not including 
the petition. The Committees and the Congress will make the final 
decision regarding the imported articles to be included in a bill.
    Section 3(c) of the Act also requires the U.S. Department of 
Commerce (Commerce), with input from U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
(CBP) and other Federal agencies, to submit a report to the Commission 
and to the Committees. This report is to include information related to 
domestic production and technical changes that are necessary for 
purposes of administration when articles are presented for importation.
    Procedures for filing a Comment: The Commission has promulgated 
rules of practice and procedure that address, inter alia, the 
submission of comments on the petitions filed. The rules, in the form 
of an interim rule, are published at 19 CFR part 220 (81 FR 67144, 
Sept. 30, 2016)--see in particular 19 CFR 220.10. The rules are also 
posted on the Commission's Web site along with other materials, 
including a handbook, designed to assist the public in filing petitions 
and comments--see https://www.usitc.gov/mtbps.
    Who may file. Comments may be filed by any member of the public. 
The Commission is particularly interested in receiving comments from 
domestic producers with respect to whether they produce an article that 
is identical to, like, or directly competitive with an article that is 
the subject of a petition for a duty suspension or reduction, and if 
they do, whether they object to such a duty suspension or reduction. 
The Commission is also interested in receiving comments from 
individuals and entities who believe they would be a likely beneficiary 
of a particular duty suspension or reduction, or who, having been named 
in the petition or another comment as a likely beneficiary, wish to 
state that they would not be a likely beneficiary of a particular duty 
suspension or reduction. The statute defines ``likely beneficiary'' to 
mean ``an individual or entity likely to utilize, or benefit directly 
from the utilization of, an article that is the subject of a petition 
for a duty suspension or reduction.''
    Petitioning parties may also submit comments. However, any such 
comments must not amend or seek to amend a petition that the submitter 
previously filed, and the Commission will not consider any comments 
from a petitioner to such effect.
    Method for filing. Comments concerning petitions for duty 
suspensions and reductions may be filed only electronically via the 
Commission's designated secure MTBPS web portal and in the format 
designated by the Commission in that portal. The portal may be accessed 
through the Commission's Web site at https://www.usitc.gov under 
``Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Information.'' The portal contains a series 
of prompts and links that will assist persons in providing the required 
information. The Commission will not accept comments submitted in paper 
or in any other form or format. Comments must contain all information 
required in the portal in order to be considered properly filed. 
Comments, including any attachments thereto, must otherwise comply with 
the Commission's rules and Handbook on MTB Filing Procedures. Persons 
seeking to comment on more than one petition must submit a separate 
comment for each petition.
    Persons filing comments should be aware that they must be prepared 
to complete their entire comment when they enter the portal. The portal 
will not allow them to edit, amend, or complete the comment at a later 
time. Accordingly, they should have all the information in hand that 
they will need to complete their comment at the time they enter the 
portal. The types of information that a person submitting a comment may 
need are listed in the Commission's Before You File a Comment guide, 
which is also located on the Commission's Web site at https://www.usitc.gov/mtbps.
    Time for filing. To be considered, comments must be filed no 
earlier than the publication date of this notice in the Federal 
Register and no later than the close of business (5:15 p.m. EST) on 
February 24, 2017. The Commission will not accept comments filed after 
that time and date.
    Amendment and withdrawal of comments. The Commission's secure web 
portal will not allow a person who has formally submitted a comment to 
amend that comment. Instead, that person must withdraw the original 
comment and file a new comment that incorporates the changes. The new 
comment must be filed within the 45-day period designated for 
submitting comments (i.e., before 5:15 p.m. EST on February 24, 2017). 
Comments may not be withdrawn or amended after the close of the 45-day 
period for filing comments.
    Comments containing confidential business information. The portal 
will permit persons submitting comments to claim that certain 
information should be treated either as confidential business 
information or as information protected from disclosure under the 
Privacy Act. However, because of the portal's design, the portal 
instructs that such information not be included in attachments to 
comments. Persons who include confidential business information and 
information protected under the Privacy Act in attachments to their 
comments will be presumed to have waived any privilege and the 
information will be disclosed to the public when the comments and 
attachments are posted on the Commission's Web site. See further 
information below on possible disclosure of confidential business 
information.
    Confidential Business Information. The Commission will not release 
information which the Commission considers to be confidential business 
information within the meaning of Sec.  201.6(a) of its Rules of 
Practice and Procedure (19 CFR 201.6) unless the party submitting the 
confidential business information had notice, at the time of 
submission, that such information would be released by the Commission, 
or such party subsequently consents to the release of the information.

[[Page 3359]]

    Confidential business information submitted to the Commission in 
comments may be disclosed to and/or used by (1) the Commission in 
calculating the estimated revenue loss required under the Act, which 
may be based in whole or in part on the estimated values of imports 
submitted in comments (as well as by petitioners in their petitions); 
or (2) the Commission, its employees, and contract personnel (a) in 
processing petitions and comments and preparing reports under the 
American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016 or (b) in internal 
investigations, audits, reviews, and evaluations relating to the 
programs, personnel, and operations of the Commission including under 5 
U.S.C. Appendix 3; or (3) Commerce for use in preparing its report to 
the Commission and the Committees, and the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture and CBP for use in providing information for that report; 
or (4) U.S. government employees and contract personnel, solely for 
cybersecurity purposes, subject to the requirement that all contract 
personnel will sign appropriate nondisclosure agreements.

    By order of the Commission.

    Issued: January 3, 2017.
Katherine M. Hiner,
Acting Supervisory Attorney.
[FR Doc. 2017-00062 Filed 1-10-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7020-02-P