[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 226 (Friday, November 23, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59417-59418]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-25677]


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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION

[Investigation Nos. TA-131-044 and TPA-105-005]


U.S.-EU Trade Agreement: Advice on the Probable Economic Effect 
of Providing Duty-Free Treatment for Currently Dutiable Imports; 
Institution of Investigation and Scheduling of Hearing

AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice of investigation and scheduling of a public hearing.

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SUMMARY: Following receipt on November 9, 2018, of a request from the 
United States Trade Representative (USTR) for a report containing 
advice and an assessment, the Commission instituted Investigation Nos. 
TA-131-044 and TPA-105-005, U.S.-EU Trade Agreement: Advice on the 
Probable Economic Effect of Providing Duty-free Treatment for Currently 
Dutiable Imports.

DATES: December 6, 2018: Deadline for filing requests to appear at the 
public hearing.
    December 10, 2018: Deadline for filing prehearing briefs and 
statements.
    December 18, 2018: Public hearing.
    January 4, 2019: Deadline for filing post-hearing briefs and 
submissions.
    January 4, 2019: Deadline for filing all other written statements.
    March 19, 2019: Transmittal of Commission report to the USTR.

ADDRESSES: All Commission offices, including the Commission's hearing 
rooms, are located in the U.S. International Trade Commission Building, 
500 E Street SW, Washington, DC. All written submissions should be 
addressed to the Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E 
Street SW, Washington, DC 20436. The public record for this 
investigation may be viewed on the Commission's electronic docket 
(EDIS) at https://edis.usitc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Project Leader Diana Friedman (202-
205-3433 or [email protected] ) or Deputy Project Leader Mary 
Roop (202-708-2277 or [email protected]) for information specific to 
this investigation. For information on the legal aspects of this 
investigation, contact William Gearhart of the Commission's Office of 
the General Counsel (202-205-3091 or [email protected]). The 
media should contact Margaret O'Laughlin, Office of External Relations 
(202-205-1819 or [email protected]). Hearing-impaired 
individuals may obtain information on this matter by contacting the 
Commission's TDD terminal at 202-205-1810. General information 
concerning the Commission may also be obtained by accessing its website 
(https://www.usitc.gov). Persons with mobility impairments who will 
need special assistance in gaining access to the Commission should 
contact the Office of the Secretary at 202-205-2000.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background: In his letter of November 8, 2018, the USTR requested 
that the Commission provide certain advice under section 131 of the 
Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2151) and an assessment under section 
105(a)(2)(B)(i)(III) of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities 
and Accountability Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4204(a)(2)(B)(i)(III)) with 
respect to the effects of providing duty-free treatment for imports of 
products from the EU.
    More specifically, the USTR, under authority delegated by the 
President and

[[Page 59418]]

pursuant to section 131 of the Trade Act of 1974, requested that the 
Commission provide a report containing its advice as to the probable 
economic effect of providing duty-free treatment for imports of 
currently dutiable products from the EU on (i) industries in the United 
States producing like or directly competitive products, and (ii) 
consumers. The USTR asked that the Commission's analysis consider each 
article in chapters 1 through 97 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
the United States (HTS) for which U.S. tariffs will remain, taking into 
account implementation of U.S. commitments in the World Trade 
Organization. The USTR asked that the advice be based on the HTS in 
effect during 2018 and trade data for 2017.
    In addition, the USTR requested that the Commission prepare an 
assessment, as described in section 105(a)(2)(B)(i)(III) of the 
Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 
2015, of the probable economic effects of eliminating tariffs on 
imports from the EU of those agricultural products described in the 
list attached to the USTR's request letter on (i) industries in the 
United States producing the products concerned, and (ii) the U.S. 
economy as a whole. The USTR's request letter and list of agricultural 
products are posted on the Commission's website at https://www.usitc.gov.
    For the purposes of these analyses, the USTR requested that the 
Commission assume that the United Kingdom will no longer be a Member 
State of the EU. The USTR indicated that those sections of the 
Commission's report that relate to the advice and assessment of 
probable economic effects will be classified. The USTR also indicated 
that he considers the Commission's report to be an interagency 
memorandum that will contain pre-decisional advice and be subject to 
the deliberative process privilege. As requested, the Commission will 
provide its report to USTR as soon as possible, which is March 19, 
2019.
    Public Hearing: A public hearing in connection with this 
investigation will be held at the U.S. International Trade Commission 
Building, 500 E Street SW, Washington, DC, beginning at 9:30 a.m. on 
Tuesday, December 18, 2018. Requests to appear at the public hearing 
should be filed with the Secretary no later than 5:15 p.m., Thursday, 
December 6, 2018, in accordance with the requirements in the ``Written 
Submissions'' section below. All prehearing briefs and statements 
should be filed not later than 5:15 p.m., Monday, December 10, 2018, 
and all post-hearing briefs and statements should be filed not later 
than 5:15 p.m., Friday, January 4, 2019. For further information, call 
202-205-2000.
    Written Submissions: In lieu of or in addition to participating in 
the hearing, interested parties are invited to file written submissions 
concerning this investigation. All written submissions should be 
addressed to the Secretary, and should be received not later than 5:15 
p.m., January 4, 2019. All written submissions must conform to the 
provisions of section 201.8 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and 
Procedure (19 CFR 201.8). Section 201.8 and the Commission's Handbook 
on Filing Procedures require that interested parties file documents 
electronically on or before the filing deadline and submit eight (8) 
true paper copies by 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the next business day. 
In the event that confidential treatment of a document is requested, 
interested parties must file, at the same time as the eight paper 
copies, at least four (4) additional true paper copies in which the 
confidential information must be deleted (see the following paragraphs 
for further information regarding confidential business information). 
Persons with questions regarding electronic filing should contact the 
Office of the Secretary, Docket Services Division (202-205-1802).
    Confidential Business Information: Any submissions that contain 
confidential business information must also conform to the requirements 
of section 201.6 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure 
(19 CFR 201.6). Section 201.6 of the rules requires that the cover of 
the document and the individual pages be clearly marked as to whether 
they are the ``confidential'' or ``non-confidential'' version, and that 
the confidential business information is clearly identified by means of 
brackets. All written submissions, except for confidential business 
information, will be made available for inspection by interested 
parties.
    The Commission may include some or all of the confidential business 
information submitted in the course of this investigation in the report 
it sends to the USTR. Additionally, all information, including 
confidential business information, submitted in this investigation may 
be disclosed to and used: (i) By the Commission, its employees and 
Offices, and contract personnel (a) for developing or maintaining the 
records of this or a related proceeding, 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 (ii) by U.S. government employees and contract 
personnel (a) for cybersecurity purposes or (b) in monitoring user 
activity on U.S. government classified networks. The Commission will 
not otherwise disclose any confidential business information in a way 
that would reveal the operations of the firm supplying the information.
    Summaries of Written Submissions: Persons wishing to have a summary 
of their position included in the report should include a summary with 
their written submission and should mark the summary as having been 
provided for that purpose. The summary should be clearly marked as 
``summary'' at the top of the page. The summary may not exceed 500 
words, should be in MS Word format or a format that can be easily 
converted to MS Word, and should not include any confidential business 
information. The summary will be published as provided if it meets 
these requirements and is germane to the subject matter of the 
investigation. The Commission will list the name of the organization 
furnishing the summary and will include a link to the Commission's 
Electronic Document Information System (EDIS) where the full written 
submission can be found.

    By order of the Commission.
    Issued: November 20, 2018.
Lisa Barton,
Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2018-25677 Filed 11-21-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-P