[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 170 (Tuesday, September 3, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46079-46081]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-18910]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Docket Number USTR-2019-0012]


Request for Comments To Compile the National Trade Estimate 
Report on Foreign Trade Barriers

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), 
through the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC), publishes the National 
Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE Report) each year. 
USTR invites interested persons to submit written comments to assist it 
and the TPSC in identifying significant barriers to U.S. exports of 
goods and services, U.S. foreign direct investment, and the protection 
and enforcement of intellectual property rights for inclusion in the 
NTE Report. USTR also will consider responses to this notice as part of 
the annual review of the operation and effectiveness of all U.S. trade 
agreements regarding telecommunications products and services that are 
in force with respect to the United States.

DATES: October 31, 2019 at midnight EST: Deadline for submission of 
written comments.

ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made through 
the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments in section 4 below. The docket 
number is USTR-2019-0012. For alternatives to online submissions, 
contact Yvonne Jamison at (202) 395-3475 before transmitting a comment 
and in advance of the relevant deadline.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yvonne Jamison at (202) 395-3475.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Background

    Section 181 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2241), as amended, 
requires USTR annually to publish the NTE Report, which sets out an 
inventory of the most significant foreign barriers affecting U.S. 
exports of goods and services, including agricultural commodities, U.S. 
intellectual property, U.S. foreign direct investment by U.S. persons, 
especially if such investment has implications for trade in goods or 
services, and U.S. electronic commerce. The inventory facilitates U.S. 
negotiations aimed at reducing or eliminating these barriers and is a 
valuable tool in enforcing U.S. trade laws and strengthening the rules-
based trading system. You can find the 2019 NTE Report on USTR's 
website at https://www.ustr.gov under the tab `Reports and 
Publications.' To ensure compliance with the statutory mandate for the 
NTE Report and the Administration's commitment to focus on the most 
significant foreign trade barriers, USTR will take into account

[[Page 46080]]

submissions from interested parties in deciding which restrictions to 
include in the NTE Report.

2. Topics on Which USTR Seeks Information

    To assist USTR in preparing the NTE Report, commenters should 
submit information related to one or more of the following categories 
of foreign trade barriers:
    1. Import policies (for example, tariffs and other import charges, 
quantitative restrictions, import licensing, customs barriers and 
shortcomings in trade facilitation, and other market access barriers).
    2. Technical barriers to trade (for example, unnecessarily trade 
restrictive or discriminatory standards, conformity assessment 
procedures, or technical regulations, including unnecessary or 
discriminatory technical regulations or standards for 
telecommunications products).
    3. Sanitary and phytosanitary measures (for example, trade 
restrictions implemented through unwarranted measures not based on 
scientific evidence).
    4. Subsidies, including export subsidies (for example, export 
financing on preferential terms and agricultural export subsidies that 
displace U.S. exports in third country markets) and local content 
subsidies (for example, subsidies contingent on the purchase or use of 
domestic rather than imported goods).
    5. Government procurement restrictions (for example, ``buy national 
policies'' and closed bidding).
    6. Intellectual property protection (for example, inadequate 
patent, copyright, and trademark regimes and inadequate enforcement of 
intellectual property rights).
    7. Services barriers (for example, prohibitions or restrictions on 
foreign participation in the market, discriminatory licensing 
requirements or regulatory standards, local-presence requirements, and 
unreasonable restrictions on the types of services that providers may 
offer).
    8. Barriers to digital trade and electronic commerce (for example, 
barriers to cross-border data flows, including data localization 
requirements, discriminatory practices affecting trade in digital 
products, restrictions on the provision of internet-enabled services, 
and other restrictive technology requirements).
    9. Investment barriers (for example, limitations on foreign equity 
participation and on access to foreign government-funded research and 
development programs, local content requirements, technology transfer 
requirements and export performance requirements, and restrictions on 
repatriation of earnings, capital, fees, and royalties).
    10. Competition (for example, government-tolerated anticompetitive 
conduct of state-owned or private firms that restrict the sale or 
purchase of U.S. goods or services in the foreign country's markets, or 
abuse of competition laws to inhibit trade).
    11. Other barriers (for example, barriers that encompass more than 
one category, such as bribery and corruption, or that affect a single 
sector).
    Commenters should submit information related to one or more of the 
following export markets to be covered in the report: Algeria, Angola, 
the Arab League, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, 
Brazil, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa 
Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, 
Ethiopia, the European Union, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, 
India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Kuwait, Laos, 
Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, 
Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Qatar, Russia, 
Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, 
Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, and Vietnam.
    In addition, Section 1377 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness 
Act of 1988 (Section 1377) (19 U.S.C. 3106) requires USTR annually to 
review the operation and effectiveness of U.S. telecommunications trade 
agreements that are in force with respect to the United States. The 
purpose of the review is to determine whether any foreign government 
that is a party to one of those agreements is failing to comply with 
that government's obligations or is otherwise denying, within the 
context of a relevant agreement, ``mutually advantageous market 
opportunities'' to U.S. telecommunication products or services 
suppliers. USTR will consider responses to this notice in the review 
called for in Section 1377.
    Commenters should place particular emphasis on any practices that 
may violate U.S. trade agreements. USTR also is interested in receiving 
new or updated information pertinent to the barriers covered in the 
2019 NTE Report as well as information on new barriers. If USTR does 
not include in the 2020 NTE Report information that it receives 
pursuant to this notice, it will maintain the information for potential 
use in future discussions or negotiations with trading partners.

3. Estimate of Increase in Exports

    Each comment should include an estimate of the potential increase 
in U.S. exports that would result from removing any foreign trade 
barrier the comment identifies, as well as a description of the 
methodology the commenter used to derive the estimate. Commenters 
should express estimates within the following value ranges: Less than 
$5 million; $5 million to $25 million; $25 million to $50 million; $50 
million to $100 million; $100 million to $500 million; or, over $500 
million. These estimates will help USTR conduct comparative analyses of 
a barrier's effect over a range of industries.

4. Requirements for Submissions

    Persons submitting written comments must do so in English and must 
identify on the first page of the submission--``Comments Regarding 
Foreign Trade Barriers to U.S. Exports for 2020 Reporting.'' Commenters 
providing information on foreign trade barriers in more than one 
country should, whenever possible, provide a separate submission for 
each country.
    The deadline for submission is Thursday, October 31, 2019, at 
midnight EST. USTR strongly encourages commenters to make on-line 
submissions, using the www.regulations.gov website. To submit comments 
via www.regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR-2019-0012 on the home 
page and click `search.' The site will provide a search-results page 
listing all documents associated with this docket. Find a reference to 
this notice and click on the link entitled `comment now!'. For further 
information on using the www.regulations.gov website, please consult 
the resources provided on the website by clicking on `How to Use 
Regulations.gov' on the bottom of the home page.
    The www.regulations.gov website allows users to submit comments by 
filling in a `type comment' field, or by attaching a document using an 
`upload file' field. USTR prefers that you provide comments in an 
attached document. If you attach a document, please identify the name 
of the country to which the submission pertains in the `type comment' 
field. For example: See attached comments with respect to (name of 
country). USTR prefers submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe 
Acrobat (.pdf). If you use an application other than those two, please 
indicate the name of the application in the `type comment' field.

[[Page 46081]]

    Filers submitting comments containing no business confidential 
information (BCI) should name their file using the name of the person 
or entity submitting the comments. For any comments submitted 
electronically containing BCI, the file name of the business 
confidential version should begin with the characters `BC.' Any page 
containing BCI must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' on the 
top of that page. Filers of submissions containing BCI also must submit 
a public version of their comments that USTR will place in the docket 
for public inspection. The file name of the public version should begin 
with the character `P. Follow the `BC' and `P' with the name of the 
person or entity submitting the comments.
    Please do not attach separate cover letters to electronic 
submissions; rather, include any information that might appear in a 
cover letter in the comments themselves. Similarly, to the extent 
possible, please include any exhibits, annexes, or other attachments in 
the same file as the submission itself, not as separate files.
    As noted, USTR strongly urges that you file submissions through 
www.regulations.gov. You must make any alternative arrangements with 
Yvonne Jamison at (202) 395-3475 before transmitting a comment and in 
advance of the relevant deadline.
    USTR will post comments in the docket for public inspection, except 
BCI. You can view comments on the https://www.regulations.gov website 
by entering docket number USTR-2019-0012 in the search field on the 
home page. General information concerning USTR is available at https://www.ustr.gov.

Edward Gresser,
Chair of the Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States 
Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2019-18910 Filed 8-30-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE P