[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 239 (Thursday, December 13, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64154-64155]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-26933]


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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION

[Investigation Nos. TA-131-045 and TPA-105-006]


U.S.-UK 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-131-045 and TPA-105-006, U.S.-UK Trade Agreement: Advice on the 
Probable Economic Effect of Providing Duty-free Treatment for Currently 
Dutiable Imports.

DATES: January 10, 2019: Deadline for filing requests to appear at the 
public hearing.
    January 14, 2019: Deadline for filing prehearing briefs and 
statements.
    January 31, 2019: Public hearing.
    February 11, 2019: Deadline for filing post-hearing briefs and 
submissions.
    February 11, 2019: Deadline for filing all other written 
statements.
    May 8, 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 David Guberman (202-
708-1396 or [email protected]) or Deputy Project Leader Amanda 
Lawrence (202-205-3185 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 (TPA Act) 
(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 United 
Kingdom (UK).
    More specifically, the USTR, under authority delegated by the 
President and 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 UK 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 TPA 
Act, of the probable economic effects of eliminating tariffs on imports 
from the UK 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 the UK will no longer be a Member State of the 
European Union. The USTR indicated that those sections of the 
Commission's report that relate to 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 the USTR as soon as possible, and no later than May 8, 2019.
    Public Hearing: A public hearing in connection with this 
investigation will

[[Page 64155]]

be held at the U.S. International Trade Commission Building, 500 E 
Street SW, Washington, DC, beginning at 9:30 a.m. on January 31, 2019. 
Requests to appear at the public hearing should be filed with the 
Secretary no later than 5:15 p.m., January 10, 2019, 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., January 14, 2019, and all post-hearing briefs and statements 
should be filed not later than 5:15 p.m., February 11, 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., February 11, 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 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: December 7, 2018.
Lisa Barton,
Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2018-26933 Filed 12-12-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7020-02-P