[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 221 (Thursday, November 15, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57527-57528]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-24919]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Results of the 2017/2018 Annual Generalized System of Preferences
Review
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is
announcing the results of the 2016/2017 Annual Generalized System of
Preferences (GSP) Review with respect to: Products considered for
addition to the list of eligible products for GSP; products considered
for removal from the list of eligible products for certain beneficiary
countries; decisions related to competitive need limitations (CNLs),
including petitions for waivers of CNLs; and requests to reinstate/
redesignate products previously excluded from GSP eligibility for
certain countries.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lauren Gamache, Director for GSP at
(202) 395-2974 or [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
The GSP program provides for the duty-free treatment of designated
articles when imported from beneficiary developing countries (BDCs).
The GSP program is authorized by title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19
U.S.C. 2461-2467), as amended, and is implemented in accordance with
Executive Order 11888 of November 24, 1975, as modified by subsequent
Executive Orders and Presidential Proclamations.
Each year, USTR leads the interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee
(TPSC) in reviewing the list of products eligible for GSP benefits.
After completion of a process that includes public hearings, USTR
provides recommendations to the President on appropriate actions based
on statutory criteria, including exclusions from duty-free treatment of
products from certain countries when they have reached the statutory
CNL thresholds.
The GSP statute (19 U.S.C. 2463(c)(2)) establishes CNLs as a basis
for withdrawing duty-free treatment. The statute provides that when the
President determines that a GSP beneficiary has exported to the United
States during any calendar year a quantity of an eligible article that
either is greater than a specified amount ($180 million for 2017), or
exceeds 50 percent of the appraised value of the total U.S. imports of
that article, the President ``shall, not later than November 1 of the
next calendar year, terminate the duty-free treatment for that
article'' from that beneficiary, unless a waiver is granted.\1\
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\1\ CNLs do not apply to least-developed or sub-Saharan African
beneficiaries (19 U.S.C. 2463(c)(2)(D)).
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The statute provides that the President may waive either CNL if,
before November 1 of the calendar year following the year in which
imports exceeded CNLs, the President (1) receives advice from the U.S.
International Trade Commission (USITC) on whether any industry in the
United States is ``likely to be adversely affected by such waiver'';
(2) determines, based on certain statutory considerations,\2\ that such
a waiver is in the national economic interest; and (3) publishes that
determination in the Federal Register. The statute further provides
that the President may disregard the 50 percent CNL if total imports of
an article did not exceed a de minimis amount ($23.5 million in 2017),
or if the product was not produced in the United States in any of the
three preceding calendar years.
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\2\ These include the general statutory considerations for
granting duty-free treatment for any article from any beneficiary
under 19 U.S.C. 2461, as well as the country eligibility criteria
set forth in 19 U.S.C. 2462(c).
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As part of the 2017/2018 GSP Annual Review, the TPSC reviewed three
types of actions related to the CNLs: (1) Whether to grant CNL waivers
for products from certain countries, (2) whether to redesignate
products from certain countries previously excluded from GSP
eligibility based on CNLs; and (3) whether to grant de minimis CNL
waivers for products from certain countries.
B. Results of the 2017/2018 Annual GSP Review
In the 2017/2018 Annual GSP Review, the TPSC reviewed (1) petitions
to add nine products to the list of those eligible for duty-free
treatment under GSP; (2) petitions to remove the GSP eligibility of two
products; (3) petitions to waive CNLs for five products from
beneficiary countries; (4) 92 products eligible for one-year de minimis
waivers of CNLs; and (5) petitions to redesignate products previously
excluded from GSP
[[Page 57528]]
eligibility for certain beneficiary countries.
Presidential Proclamation 9813 of October 30, 2018, implements the
President's decisions regarding the 2017/2018 Annual GSP Review,
including CNL waivers and product redesignations. The modifications to
the GSP program that were implemented by Presidential Proclamation 9813
became effective on November 1, 2018. This notice provides a summary of
the results of the 2017/2018 Annual GSP Review. You can also view the
results, comprising six lists, at https://www.regulations.gov using
docket number USTR-2017-0014, under ``Supporting and Related
Materials'' and on the USTR website at https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/IssueAreas/gsp/Decisions%20on%202017_2018%20%20product%20review.pdf.
As described in List I, the President denied all petitions to add
products to the list of GSP-eligible products for all BDCs. The
products in List I, however, remain eligible for duty-free preferences
for least-developed beneficiary countries only. For ease of reference,
a brief description and the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS)
categories of the nine products included in List I follows:
1. Certain fresh pears (HTS 0808.30.40)
2. certain melon and citrus fruit peel (HTS 0814.00.80)
3. cottonseed (HTS 1207.29.00)
4. crude sunflower-seed or safflower oil (HTS 1512.11.00)
5. certain prepared or preserved apples (HTS 2008.99.05)
6. p-Anisic acid, clofibrate, and 3-phenoxybenzoic acid (HTS
2918.99.05)
7. certain aromatic carboxylic acids and their derivatives described in
U.S. Note 3 (HTS 2918.99.43)
8. certain aromatic carboxylic acids and their derivatives not covered
in U.S. Note 3 (HTS 2918.99.47)
9. certain rubber transmission V-belts (HTS 4010.33.30)
A complete description of the nine products is included in List I.
By statute (19 U.S.C. 2463(a)(1)(C)), these products may not be
reconsidered for addition to GSP for the next three years.
As described in List II, the President granted the petition to
remove tart cherry juice concentrate and other cherry juice (HTS
2009.89.6011 and HTS 2009.89.6019) from GSP eligibility for Turkey. To
reflect this change, cherry juice imported into the United States now
falls under a new HTS category, 2009.89.65. Cherry juice from Turkey
now enters the United States at the Normal Trade Relations (NTR) duty
rate in column 1 of the HTS. In addition, the President denied the
petition to remove nonadhesive plates and sheets (HTS 3920.51.50) from
GSP for Indonesia and Thailand. These products will continue to enter
the United States duty-free.
As described in List III, the President granted a petition to
redesignate ammonium perrhentate (HTS 2841.90.20) from Kazakhstan to
GSP. This product now enters the United States duty-free. The remaining
redesignation petitions were denied: Apple, quince and pear pastes and
purees (HTS 2007.9948) from Argentina; sunflower seed oilcake (HTS
2306.30.00) from Argentina; certain odoriferous or flavoring compounds
(HTS 2909.50.40) from Indonesia; fancy bovine leather (full grain,
whole, unsplit) (HTS 4107.11.80) from Argentina; certain tropical
plywood (HTS 4412.31.41) from Indonesia; granite monumental or building
stone (HTS 6802.93.00) from India; and certain ferroniobium (HTS
7202.93.80) from Brazil. These products will continue to enter the
United States at NTR duty rates and, by statute (19 U.S.C.
2463(a)(1)(C)), may not be reconsidered for addition to GSP for the
next three years.
As described in List IV, three articles exceeded the CNLs in 2017
for which no petition was received and now enter the United States at
the NTR duty rates. These products are ethers of acyc monohydric
alcohols (HTS 2909.19.18) and refined copper (HTS 7403.19.00) from
Brazil, and washing machines (HTS 8450.20.00) from Thailand.
As described in List V, the President granted three petitions for
CNL waivers: (1) Edible birds' nests (HTS 0410.00.00) from Thailand;
(2) lithium carbonates (HTS 2836.91.00) from Argentina; and (3)
ferrosilicon chromium (HTS 7202.50.00) from Kazakhstan. These three
products will continue to enter the United States duty-free. The
following products did not receive a CNL waiver and are therefore
subject to the NTR duty rates: Essential oils of lemon (HTS 3301.03.00)
from Argentina, and monumental or building stone (HTS 6802.99.00) from
Brazil.
As described in List VI, the President did not grant de minimis
waivers to 92 products that exceeded the 50 percent import share CNL
but for which the aggregate value of all U.S. imports of that article
was below the 2017 de minimis level of $23.5 million. These products
now enter the United States at the NTR duty rate.
Erland Herfindahl,
Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for the Generalized System
of Preferences, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2018-24919 Filed 11-14-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F9-P