[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 62 (Monday, April 1, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12287-12289]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-06191]


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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION

[Investigation No. 332-503]


Earned Import Allowance Program: Evaluation of the Effectiveness 
of the Program for Certain Apparel From the Dominican Republic, Tenth 
Annual Review

AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice of opportunity to provide written comments in connection 
with the Commission's tenth and final annual review.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. International Trade Commission (Commission) has 
announced its schedule, including deadlines for filing written 
submissions, in connection with preparing a report on its tenth and 
final annual review in investigation No. 332-503, Earned Import 
Allowance Program: Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Program for 
Certain Apparel from the Dominican Republic, Tenth Annual Review.

DATES: 

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    June 7, 2019: Deadline for filing written submissions.
    September 20, 2019: Transmittal of tenth report to House Committee 
on Ways and Means and Senate Committee on Finance.

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Project leader Laura V. Rodriguez 
(202-205-3499 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.
    Background: Section 404(b) of the Dominican Republic-Central 
America-United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (CAFTA-DR 
Act) (19 U.S.C. 4112(b)) required the Secretary of Commerce to 
establish an Earned Import Allowance Program (EIAP) and directed the 
Commission to conduct annual reviews of the program to evaluate its 
effectiveness and make recommendations for improvements. Section 404(c) 
of the CAFTA-DR Act authorized certain apparel articles wholly 
assembled in an eligible country to enter the United States free of 
duty if accompanied by a certificate that shows evidence of the 
purchase of certain U.S. fabric. The term ``eligible country'' was 
defined to mean the Dominican Republic. More specifically, the program 
allowed producers (in the Dominican Republic) that purchased a certain 
quantity of qualifying U.S. fabric to produce certain cotton bottoms in 
the Dominican Republic to receive a credit that can be used to ship a 
certain quantity of eligible apparel using third-country fabrics from 
the Dominican Republic to the United States free of duty.
    Section 404(d)(1) of the CAFTA-DR Act directs the Commission to 
conduct an annual review of the program to evaluate the effectiveness 
of the program and make recommendations for improvements. Section 
404(d)(2) of the CAFTA-DR Act requires the Commission to submit 
annually its reports containing the results of its reviews to the House 
Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance. 
Section 404(e) of the CAFTA-DR Act states that the program is to be in 
effect for the 10-year period beginning on the date on which the 
President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that 
sections A, B, C, and D of the Annex to Presidential Proclamation 8213 
(December 20, 2007) have taken effect. In Presidential Proclamation 
8323 (November 25, 2008), the President certified that the provisions 
of Proclamation 8213 referenced in section 404(e)(1) of the CAFTA-DR 
Act, as amended, have taken effect. Commerce has announced that the 
program expired on December 1, 2018 with no more entries allowed after 
November 30, 2018. The Commission expects to submit its report on its 
tenth annual review by September 20, 2019.
    Copies of the Commission's prior reports are available on the 
Commission's website at www.usitc.gov, including the ninth annual 
report, which was published on August 3, 2018 (ITC Publication 4809). 
The Commission instituted this investigation pursuant to section 332(g) 
of the Tariff Act of 1930 to facilitate docketing of submissions and to 
facilitate public access to Commission records through the Commission's 
EDIS electronic records system. The Commission published notice of 
institution of this investigation in the Federal Register on April 29, 
2009 (47 FR 19592), and published notice of the Commission's invitation 
to submit information in connection with the ninth annual report in the 
Federal Register on March 2, 2018 (83 FR 9028).
    Written Submissions: Interested parties are invited to file written 
submissions concerning this tenth and final annual review. All written 
submissions should be addressed to the Secretary, and all such 
submissions should be received no later than 5:15 p.m., June 7, 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 noon eastern time on the next business day. If 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 will not include any confidential business 
information in the report that it sends to the Committees or makes 
available to the public. However, 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 for cybersecurity purposes. The Commission will not otherwise 
disclose any confidential business information in a manner that would 
reveal the operations of the firm supplying the information.
    Summary of Written Submissions: The Commission intends to publish a 
summary of the written submissions of interested persons in an appendix 
to its report. Persons wishing to have a summary of their position 
included in

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the appendix should include a summary with their written submission and 
should include a statement that the summary is included for this 
purpose. The summary may not exceed 500 words, should be in MSWord 
format or a format that can be easily converted to MSWord, 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. In the appendix the Commission 
will identify 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: March 26, 2019.
Katherine Hiner,
Acting Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2019-06191 Filed 3-29-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7020-02-P