[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 85 (Thursday, May 4, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20864-20865]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-08956]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration


Subsidy Programs Provided by Countries Exporting Softwood Lumber 
and Softwood Lumber Products to the United States; Request for Comment

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) seeks public comment on 
any subsidies, including stumpage subsidies, provided by certain 
countries exporting softwood lumber or softwood lumber products to the 
United States during the period July 1, 2016, through December 31, 
2016.

DATES: Comments must be submitted within 30 days after publication of 
this notice.

ADDRESSES: See the Submission of Comments section below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Terpstra or Brendan Quinn, 
Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3965 or (202) 482-5848, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On June 18, 2008, section 805 of Title VIII of the Tariff Act of 
1930 (the Softwood Lumber Act of 2008) was enacted into law. Under this 
provision, the Secretary of Commerce is mandated to submit to the 
appropriate Congressional committees a report every 180 days on any 
subsidy provided by countries exporting softwood lumber or softwood 
lumber products to the United States, including stumpage subsidies.
    Commerce submitted its last subsidy report on December 16, 2016. As 
part of its newest report, Commerce intends to include a list of 
subsidy programs identified with sufficient clarity by the public in 
response to this notice.\1\
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    \1\ On April 24, 2017, the Department issued its preliminary 
determination in the on-going countervailing duty investigation 
involving Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada. See Certain 
Softwood Lumber Products From Canada: Preliminary Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determination, and Alignment of Final 
Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 82 FR 19657 
(April 28, 2017).
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Request for Comments

    Given the large number of countries that export softwood lumber and 
softwood lumber products to the United States, we are soliciting public 
comment only on subsidies provided by countries the exports of which 
accounted for at least one percent of total U.S. imports of softwood 
lumber by quantity, as classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule code 
4407.1001 (which accounts for the vast majority of imports), during the 
period July 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016. Official

[[Page 20865]]

U.S. import data published by the United States International Trade 
Commission Tariff and Trade DataWeb indicate that only one country, 
Canada, exported softwood lumber to the United States during that time 
period in amounts sufficient to account for at least one percent of 
U.S. imports of softwood lumber products. We intend to rely on similar 
previous six-month periods to identify the countries subject to future 
reports on softwood lumber subsidies. For example, we will rely on U.S. 
imports of softwood lumber and softwood lumber products during the 
period January 1, 2017 through June 30, 2017, to select the countries 
subject to the next report.
    Under U.S. trade law, a subsidy exists where an authority: (i) 
Provides a financial contribution; (ii) provides any form of income or 
price support within the meaning of Article XVI of the GATT 1994; or 
(iii) makes a payment to a funding mechanism to provide a financial 
contribution to a person, or entrusts or directs a private entity to 
make a financial contribution, if providing the contribution would 
normally be vested in the government and the practice does not differ 
in substance from practices normally followed by governments, and a 
benefit is thereby conferred.\2\
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    \2\ See section 771(5)(B) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.
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    Parties should include in their comments: (1) The country which 
provided the subsidy; (2) the name of the subsidy program; (3) a brief 
description (at least 3-4 sentences) of the subsidy program; and (4) 
the government body or authority that provided the subsidy.

Submission of Comments

    Persons wishing to comment should file comments by the date 
specified above. Comments should only include publicly available 
information. Commerce will not accept comments accompanied by a request 
that a part or all of the material be treated confidentially due to 
business proprietary concerns or for any other reason. Any such 
comments or materials will be returned to the submitter and will not be 
considered in Commerce's report. Comments must be filed in electronic 
Portable Document Format (PDF) submitted on CD-ROM or by email to the 
email address of the EC Webmaster, below.
    The comments received will be made available to the public in PDF 
on the Enforcement and Compliance Web site at the following address: 
http://enforcement.trade.gov/sla2008/sla-index.html. Any questions 
concerning file formatting, access on the Internet, or other electronic 
filing issues should be addressed to Laura Merchant, Enforcement and 
Compliance Webmaster, at (202) 482-0367, email address: 
[email protected].
    All comments and submissions in response to this Request for 
Comment should be received by Commerce no later than 5 p.m. Eastern 
Standard Time on the above-referenced deadline date.

    Dated: April 28, 2017.
Gary Taverman,
Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing 
Duty Operations.
[FR Doc. 2017-08956 Filed 5-3-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P