[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 100 (Thursday, May 25, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24142-24143]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-10667]


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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION


Petitions for Duty Suspensions and Reductions: Notice That the 
Commission Will Accept Additional Comments Through Its Web Site 
Relating to Certain Petitions Included in Its Preliminary Report to the 
Congress

AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice that the Commission will accept additional comments from 
the public on certain petitions for duty suspensions and reductions 
included in its preliminary report to the House Committee on Ways and 
Means and the Senate Committee on Finance.

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SUMMARY: The Commission intends to provide a limited opportunity for 
members of the public to submit additional comments on certain 
petitions for duty suspensions and reductions. Under the American 
Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016 (the Act), the Commission 
will submit a preliminary report on the petitions for duty suspensions 
and reductions that have been filed with it to the House Ways and Means 
Committee and the Senate Finance Committee on June 9, 2017.
    In that report, the Commission will categorize petitions as (a) 
petitions that meet the requirements of the Act with or without 
modification (Category I, II, III, or IV petitions), (b) petitions that 
do not contain the information required by the Act or that were not 
filed by a likely beneficiary (Category V petitions), and (c) petitions 
that the Commission does not recommend for inclusion in a miscellaneous 
tariff bill (Category VI petitions). The Commission has decided that it 
will accept additional comments from the public on any petitions that 
are listed as Category VI petitions for a ten day period beginning on 
June 12, 2017, at 8:45 a.m. As provided below, all such comments must 
be submitted to the Commission electronically through the Commission 
Web site https://www.usitc.gov/mtbps. The Commission will not accept 
comments filed in paper form or in any other form or format.

DATES: June 12, 2017, 8:45 a.m. EST: Opening date and time for 
submission of additional comments on Category VI petitions.
    June 21, 2017, 5:15 p.m. EST: Closing date and time for submission 
of comments on Category VI petitions.

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 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).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background: The American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016 
(the Act), Public Law 114-159, May 20, 2016, 19 U.S.C. 1332 note, 
established a new process for the submission and consideration of 
requests for temporary duty suspensions and reductions. As required by 
the Act, the Commission initiated the new process by publishing a 
notice in the Federal Register permitting members of the public to 
submit petitions of duty suspensions and reductions to the Commission 
for a 60-day period beginning October 14, 2017. (See 81 FR 71114 (Oct. 
14, 2017)). After the window for filing petitions closed on December 
12, 2017, the Commission published, as required by the Act, a notice in 
the Federal Register announcing publication on its Web site of the 
petitions for duty suspensions and reductions that were submitted to 
the Commission and not withdrawn. (82 FR 3357 (Jan. 11, 2017)). The 
notice invited members of the public to submit comments on these 
petitions during a 45-day period, which ended February 24, 2017.
    Pursuant to the Act, the Commission is required to submit 
preliminary and final reports on the petitions to the House Committee 
on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance (the Committees). 
The Commission's preliminary report is due to the Committees on June 9, 
2017. In its preliminary report to the Committees, the Commission must 
evaluate whether petitions meet the requirements of the Act and should 
be included in an omnibus miscellaneous tariff bill.
    In preparing its report, the Act requires that the Commission take 
into account the report of the Secretary of Commerce, issued April 10, 
2017. In the report, the Secretary analyzed, for each petition, whether 
there was domestic production of the article that was the subject of a 
petition, and if so, whether a domestic producer of the article 
objected to the petition. In the report, based on consultations with 
Customs and Border Protection, the Secretary also recommended whether 
any technical changes were necessary to make each petition's article 
description administrable.
    In its preliminary report, the Commission must place these 
petitions into one of six categories. Specifically, the Commission must 
categorize each petition as (a) a petition that meets the requirements 
of the Act without modification (Category I petition), (b) a petition 
that meets the requirements of the Act with certain modifications 
(Category II, III or IV petitions), (c) a petition that does not 
contain the information required by the Act or was not filed by a 
likely beneficiary (Category V petition), or (d) a petition that the 
Commission does not recommend for inclusion in a miscellaneous tariff 
bill (Category VI petition).
    The Commission has decided to re-open its Web site portal for the 
limited purpose of allowing members of the public to submit comments on 
petitions that have been categorized as Category VI petitions in its 
preliminary report. The Commission will re-open the portal for this 
limited purpose on June 12, 2017 at 8:45 a.m. and will close the portal 
on June 21, 2017 at 5:15 p.m. As discussed below, the Commission will 
only accept information from the public that relates to its decision to 
place these petitions into Category VI.
    Content of Comments: The public will be able to comment on the 
administrability of the article descriptions in the petitions, the 
existence of domestic producer objections to the petitions, and other 
issues affecting their placement in Category VI. In particular, the 
Commission seeks input that would clarify or narrow the scope of 
proposed

[[Page 24143]]

article descriptions in Category VI petitions, including the 
constituent materials in the intended merchandise or similar 
information that would help verify the classification of the goods in 
chapters 1-97 of the HTS. Similarly, the Commission seeks information 
that could clarify technical criteria, distinguish the intended 
merchandise in a petition from other goods in the same rate line, or 
narrow the scope of an article description to avoid covering 
domestically produced goods.

Procedures for Filing a Comment

    Who may file. Comments may be filed by any member of the public, 
including the firm or its representative who filed the petition. 
However, the Commission will consider only comments that relate to 
petitions listed under category VI in the Commission's preliminary 
report submitted to the Committees on June 9, 2017. The Commission will 
not consider comments that relate to petitions listed under categories 
I, II, III, IV, and V in the preliminary report.
    Method for filing. Comments may only be filed 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://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 or consider 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 will need to complete their comment at the time 
they enter the portal.
    Time for filing. To be considered, comments must be filed no 
earlier than June 12, 2017 at 8:45 a.m. and no later than the close of 
business (5:15 p.m. EST) on June 21, 2017. The Commission will not 
accept comments filed before or after these times and dates.
    Amendment and withdrawal of comments. The Commission's secure web 
portal will not allow a person who has formally submitted a comment 
during this filing period 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 before 5:15 
p.m. EST on June 21, 2017. Comments may not be withdrawn or amended 
after that time.
    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 (e.g., a home address). 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.
    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); 
(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; (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: May 19, 2017.
Lisa R. Barton,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2017-10667 Filed 5-24-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7020-02-P