[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 218 (Tuesday, November 14, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52765-52766]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-24579]



[[Page 52765]]

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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Docket Number USTR-2017-0014]


Generalized System of Preferences: Import Statistics Relating to 
Competitive Need Limitations and Deadline for Filing Petitions

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice of statistics availability and deadline for submission 
of petitions.

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SUMMARY: Import statistics for the first nine months of 2017 relating 
to competitive need limitations (CNLs) under the Generalized System of 
Preferences (GSP) program are available on the Office of the United 
States Trade Representative (USTR). These import statistics identify 
some articles for which the 2017 trade levels may exceed statutory 
CNLs.
    In a Federal Register notice dated August 11, 2017, USTR said it 
would announce the procedures to receive petitions requesting waivers 
of CNLs. This notice provides those procedures. Interested parties may 
find the import statistics useful in deciding whether to submit a 
petition to waive the CNLs for individual beneficiary developing 
countries (BDCs) with respect to specific GSP-eligible articles. USTR 
will announce decisions on the petitions accepted for review, a 
schedule for any related public hearings, and the opportunity to 
provide comments, in the Federal Register at a later date.

DATES: The GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) 
must receive your CNL waiver petition by midnight, December 5, 2017.

ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made through 
the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. The docket 
number is USTR-2017-0014. Follow the instructions for submitting 
comments in section D below. For alternatives to on-line submissions, 
please contact Naomi Freeman at (202) 395-2974.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Naomi Freeman at (202) 395-2974 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: 

A. Background

    The GSP program provides for the duty-free treatment of designated 
articles when imported from designated BDCs. The GSP program is 
authorized by Title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 et 
seq.), as amended, and is implemented in accordance with Executive 
Order 11888 of November 24, 1975, as modified by subsequent Executive 
Orders and Presidential Proclamations.

B. Competitive Need Limitations

    Section 503(c)(2)(A) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2463(c)(2)(A)) 
sets out the two different measures for CNLs. When the President 
determines that a BDC has exported to the United States during a 
calendar year either (1) a quantity of a GSP-eligible article having a 
value in excess of the applicable amount for that year ($180 million 
for 2017), or (2) a quantity of a GSP-eligible article having a value 
equal to or greater than 50 percent of the value of total U.S. imports 
of the article from all countries (50 percent CNL), the President must 
terminate GSP duty-free treatment for that article from that BDC no 
later than July 1st of the next calendar year, unless the President 
grants a waiver before the exclusion goes into effect. Interested 
parties should submit CNL waiver petitions based on 2017 annual review 
procedures in the event that the Congress extends the GSP program 
beyond its current December 31, 2017 expiration date. CNLs do not apply 
to least-developed countries or beneficiaries of the African Growth and 
Opportunity Act.
    Any interested party may submit a petition seeking a waiver of the 
2017 CNL for individual BDCs with respect to specific GSP-eligible 
articles. In addition, under section 503(c)(2)(F) of the Trade Act (19 
U.S.C. 2463(c)(2)(F)), the President may waive the 50 percent CNL with 
respect to an eligible article imported from a BDC, if the value of 
total imports of that article from all countries during the calendar 
year did not exceed the applicable de minimis amount for that year 
($23.5 million for 2017).

C. Interim 2017 Import Statistics

    USTR has compiled interim import statistics for the first nine 
months of 2017 to provide advance notice of articles that may exceed 
the CNLs shown below for 2017. You also can find this information on 
the USTR Web site at https://ustr.gov/issue-areas/preference-programs/generalized-system-preferences-gsp/current-reviews/gsp-2017-annual. 
Full calendar year 2017 data for individual tariff subheadings will be 
available in February 2018 on the Web site of the U.S. International 
Trade Commission at http://dataweb.usitc.gov/.
    USTR has organized the interim 2017 import statistics to show, for 
each article, the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS) subheading and BDC of origin, the value of imports of the 
article from the specified country for the first nine months of 2017, 
and the corresponding share of total imports of that article from all 
countries. The list includes the GSP-eligible articles from BDCs which, 
based on interim nine-month 2017 data, exceed $120 million, or an 
amount greater than 42 percent of the total value of U.S. imports of 
that product.

A. 0410.00.00: Edible products of animal origin, nesi (Indonesia)
B. 0714.40.10: Fresh or chilled taro (Colocasia spp.), whether or not 
sliced or in the form of pellets (Ecuador)
C. 2106.90.98: Other food preps nesoi, incl preps for the manufacture 
of beverages, non-dairy coffee whiteners, herbal teas and flavored 
honey (Thailand)
D. 2909.19.18: Ethers of acyclic monohydric alcohols & deriv, nesoi 
(Brazil)
E. 3808.91.30: Insecticides, nesoi, containing an inorganic substance, 
put up for retail sale (India)
F. 3823.11.00: Stearic acid (Indonesia)
G. 4011.20.10: New pneumatic radial tires, of rubber, of a kind used on 
buses or trucks (Indonesia)
H. 6802.99.00: Monumental or building stone & arts. thereof, nesoi, 
further worked than simply cut/sawn, nesoi Brazil)
I. 7403.19.00: Refined copper, unwrought articles nesoi (Brazil)
J. 8450.20.00: Household- or laundry-type washing machines, each of a 
dry linen capacity exceeding 10 kg (Thailand)
K. 9001.50.00: Spectacle lenses of materials other than glass, 
unmounted (Thailand)

    USTR is providing the list on its Web site, which includes the 
relevant nine-month trade statistics for each of these products, as a 
courtesy for informational purposes only. The list is based on interim 
2017 trade data, and may not include all articles that may be affected 
by the GSP CNLs. Regardless of whether or not an article is included on 
the list referenced in this notice, all determinations and decisions 
regarding application of the CNLs of the GSP program will be based on 
full calendar-year 2017 import data for each GSP-eligible article. USTR 
advises interested parties to conduct their own review of anticipated 
full calendar-year 2017 import data with regard to the possible 
application of GSP CNLs.

D. Requirements for Submissions

    In order to be assured of consideration, you must submit your 
petition by the midnight, December 5, 2017, deadline to docket number 
USTR-

[[Page 52766]]

2017-0014 via www.regulations.gov. All submissions in response to this 
notice must conform to the GSP regulations set forth at 15 CFR part 
2007--https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=271bd12a5ef9cae0c4c178d1131ac292&mc=true&node=pt15.3.2007&rgn=div5--except as modified below.
    The GSP Subcommittee strongly encourages on-line submissions, using 
the https://www.regulations.gov Web site. All submissions must be in 
English and must be transmitted electronically via www.regulations.gov 
using docket number USTR-2017-0014. To make a submission via 
www.regulations.gov, enter the appropriate docket number on the home 
page and click ``search.'' The site will provide a search-results page 
listing all documents associated with this docket. Find a reference to 
this notice and click on the link entitled ``Comment Now!'' For further 
information on using the www.regulations.gov Web site, please consult 
the resources provided on the Web site by clicking on ``How to Use 
Regulations.gov'' on the bottom of the home page.
    USTR will not accept hand-delivered submissions. USTR will not 
accept submissions for review that do not provide the information 
required by sections 2007.0 and 2007.1 of the GSP regulations, except 
upon a detailed showing in the submission that the petitioner made a 
good faith effort to obtain the information required.
    The https://www.regulations.gov Web site allows users to provide 
comments by filling in a ``Type Comment'' field, or by attaching a 
document using an ``Upload File'' field. The GSP Subcommittee prefers 
that you provide submissions as an attached document. If you attach a 
document, it is sufficient to type ``See attached'' in the ``Type 
Comment'' field. USTR prefers submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or 
Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. If the submission is in another file 
format, please indicate the name of the software application in the 
``Type Comment'' field. At the beginning of the submission or on the 
first page (if an attachment), include the following text (in bold and 
underlined): (1) ``2017 CNL Petition'' and (2) the eight-digit HTSUS 
subheading number in which the product is classified. Interested 
parties submitting petitions that request action with respect to 
specific products also should list at the beginning of the submission, 
or on the first page (if an attachment) the following information: (1) 
The requested action; and (2) if applicable, the beneficiary developing 
country. Submissions should not exceed 30 single-spaced, standard 
letter-size pages in 12-point type, including attachments.
    Please do not attach separate cover letters or data attachments to 
electronic submissions; rather, include any such information in the 
comments themselves. Similarly, to the extent possible, please include 
any exhibits, annexes, or other attachments in the same file as the 
comment itself, rather than submitting them as separate files.
    For any electronic submissions that contain business confidential 
information, the file name of the business confidential version should 
begin with the characters ``BC''. Any page containing business 
confidential information must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS 
CONFIDENTIAL'' on the top of that page and the submission should 
clearly indicate, via brackets, highlighting, or other means, the 
specific information that is business confidential. A filer requesting 
business confidential treatment must certify that the information is 
business confidential and would not customarily be released to the 
public by the submitter. Filers of submissions containing business 
confidential information also must submit a public version of their 
comments that we will place in the docket for public inspection. The 
file name of the public version should begin with the character ``P''. 
The ``BC'' and ``P'' should be followed by the name of the person or 
entity submitting the comments. Filers submitting comments containing 
no business confidential information should name their file using the 
name of the person or entity submitting the comments.
    You will receive a submission tracking number upon completion of 
the submissions procedure at https://www.regulations.gov. The tracking 
number is your confirmation that the submission was received into 
https://www.regulations.gov. The GSP Subcommittee is not able to 
provide technical assistance for the Web site. The GSP Subcommittee may 
not consider documents that are not submitted in accordance with these 
instructions.
    As noted, the GSP Subcommittee strongly urges submitters to file 
comments through www.regulations.gov. You must make any alternative 
arrangements with Naomi Freeman in advance of transmitting a comment. 
You can contact Ms. Freeman at (202) 395-2974.
    We will post comments in the docket for public inspection, except 
business confidential information. You can view comments on the https://www.regulations.gov Web site by entering the relevant docket number in 
the search field on the home page.

Erland Herfindahl,
Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for the Generalized System 
of Preferences and Chair of the GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy 
Staff Committee, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2017-24579 Filed 11-13-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F8-P