[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 112 (Tuesday, June 11, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27159-27161]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-12421]
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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION
[Investigation No. 332-572]
Generalized System of Preferences: Possible Modifications, 2018
Review
AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.
ACTION: Notice of institution of investigation and scheduling of public
hearing.
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SUMMARY: Following receipt of a request on June 4, 2019, from the
United States Trade Representative (USTR), the U.S. International Trade
Commission (Commission) instituted investigation No. 332-572,
Generalized System of Preferences: Possible Modifications, 2018 Review,
for the purpose of providing advice and information relating to the
possible removal of articles, waiver of competitive need limitations,
and redesignation of articles.
DATES:
June 18, 2019: Deadline for filing requests to appear at the public
hearing.
June 18, 2019: Deadline for filing pre-hearing briefs and
statements.
July 2, 2019: Public hearing.
July 8, 2019: Deadline for filing post-hearing briefs and
statements.
July 8, 2019: Deadline for filing all other written submissions.
September 9, 2019: Transmittal of Commission report to the USTR.
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
should be addressed to the Secretary, United States 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: Information specific to this
investigation may be obtained from Mark Brininstool, Project Leader,
Office of Industries (202-708-1395 or [email protected]),
Sharon Ford, Deputy Project Leader, Office of Industries (202-205-3084
or [email protected]), or Marin Weaver, Technical Advisor, Office
of Industries (202-205-3461 or [email protected]). 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: In his letter, the USTR requested the advice and
information described below.
(1) Advice concerning the probable economic effect of removal of
certain articles from certain countries from eligibility for duty-free
treatment. The USTR notified the Commission that two articles from
Pakistan are being considered for removal from eligibility for duty-
free treatment under the GSP program. Under authority delegated by the
President, pursuant to section 332(g) of the Tariff Act of 1930, with
respect to the article listed in table A of the annex to the USTR
request letter, the USTR requested that the Commission provide its
advice as to the probable economic effect of the removal from
eligibility for duty-free treatment under the GSP program for these
articles from Pakistan on total U.S. imports, on U.S. industries
producing like or directly competitive articles, and on U.S. consumers
(see table A below).
Table A--Petitions Submitted To Remove Duty-Free Status From The Listed
Countries for a Product on the List of Eligible Articles for the
Generalized System of Preferences
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HTS subheading Brief description Country
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3907.61.00.................... Polyethylene Pakistan.
terephthalate,
having a viscosity
number of 78 ml/g or
higher.
3907.69.00.................... Polyethylene Pakistan.
terephthalate,
having a viscosity
number less than 78
ml/g.
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(2) Advice concerning the waiver of certain competitive need
limitations. Under authority delegated by the President, pursuant to
section 332(g) of the Tariff Act of 1930, and in accordance with
section 503(d)(1)(A) of the 1974 Act, the USTR requested that the
Commission provide advice on whether any industry in the United States
is likely to be adversely affected by a waiver of the competitive need
limitations (CNLs) specified in section 503(c)(2)(A) of the 1974 Act
for the countries and articles specified in table B of the annex to the
request letter (see table B below). The USTR also requested that the
Commission provide its advice as to the probable economic effect on
total U.S. imports, as well as on consumers, of the requested waivers.
With respect to the competitive need limitation in section
503(c)(2)(A)(i)(I) of the 1974 Act, the USTR requested that the
Commission use the dollar value limit of $185 million. Further,
pursuant to section 332(g) of the Tariff Act of 1930 and in accordance
with section
[[Page 27160]]
503(c)(2)(E) of the 1974 Act, the USTR requested that the Commission
provide its advice with respect to whether a like or directly
competitive article was produced in the United States in any of the
preceding three calendar years.
Table B--Petitions Submitted for Waiver of GSP CNLs
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HTS subheading Brief description Country
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3823.11.00.................... Stearic acid......... Indonesia.
9001.50.00.................... Spectacle lenses of Thailand.
materials other than
glass, unmounted.
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(3) Advice concerning redesignations. The USTR notified the
Commission that four articles are being considered for redesignation as
eligible articles for purposes of the GSP program. Under authority
delegated by the President, pursuant to section 332(g) of the Tariff
Act of 1930, the USTR requested that the Commission provide its advice
as to the probable economic effect on total U.S. imports, on U.S.
industries producing like or directly competitive articles, and on U.S.
consumers of the elimination of U.S. import duties on the articles in
table C of the annex to the USTR request letter from the listed
beneficiary countries (see table C below). Further, pursuant to section
332(g) of the Tariff Act of 1930 and in accordance with section
503(c)(2)(E) of the 1974 Act, the USTR requested that the Commission
provide its advice as to whether a like or directly competitive article
was produced in the United States in any of the preceding three
calendar years.
Table C--Petitions Submitted for Redesignation of Excluded Items From
the Listed Countries
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HTS subheading Brief description Country
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0603.13.00.................... Orchids, fresh cut... Thailand.
4412.10.05.................... Plywood, veneered Indonesia.
panels and similar
laminated wood, of
bamboo.
4412.31.4155.................. Plywood sheets n/o Indonesia.
6mm thick, with
specified tropical
wood outer ply, with
face ply nesoi, not
surface covered
beyond clear/
transparent.
4418.73.40.................... Assembled flooring Indonesia.
panels of bamboo,
other than for
mosaic, multilayer,
having a face ply
more than 6mm in
thickness.
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Time for reporting, HTS detail, portions of report to be
classified. As requested by the USTR, the Commission will provide the
requested advice and information by September 7, 2019. The USTR asked
that the Commission issue, as soon as possible thereafter, a public
version of the report containing only the unclassified information,
with any confidential business information deleted. As requested, the
Commission will provide its probable economic effect advice and
statistics (profile of the U.S. industry and market and U.S. import and
export data) and any other relevant information or advice separately
and individually for each U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading
for all products subject to the request. The USTR indicated that those
sections of the Commission's report and working papers that contain the
Commission's advice and assessment of probable economic effects on
domestic industries, on U.S. imports, and on U.S. consumers, will be
classified as ``confidential.'' The USTR also stated that his office
considers the Commission's report to be an inter-agency memorandum that
will contain pre-decisional advice and be subject to the deliberative
process privilege.
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
July 2, 2019. Requests to appear at the public hearing should be filed
with the Secretary no later than 5:15 p.m., June 18, 2019. All pre-
hearing briefs and statements should be filed no later than 5:15 p.m.,
June 18, 2019; and all post-hearing briefs and statements should be
filed no later than 5:15 p.m., July 8, 2019. All requests to appear,
and pre- and post-hearing briefs and statements should be filed in
accordance with the requirements of the ``written submissions'' section
below.
Written Submissions: In lieu of or in addition to appearing at 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., July 8, 2019. All written submissions must conform to the
provisions of Sec. 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 (https://www.usitc.gov/documents/handbook_on_filing_procedures.pdf) requires 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 paragraph 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 with the
requirements of Sec. 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
[[Page 27161]]
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.
Summaries of Written Submissions: The Commission intends to publish
summaries of the positions of interested persons. Persons wishing to
have a summary of their position included in the report should include
a summary with their written submission and should specifically state
the summary is intended for that purpose, and it should be titled as
such. 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
included in the report as provided if it meets these requirements and
is germane to the subject matter of the investigation. 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: June 7, 2019.
Katherine Hiner,
Supervisory Attorney.
[FR Doc. 2019-12421 Filed 6-10-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-P