[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 52 (Tuesday, March 17, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15109-15111]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-05506]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Foreign Agricultural Service
WTO Agricultural Quantity-Based Safeguard Trigger Levels
AGENCY: Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
ACTION: Notice of product coverage and trigger levels for safeguard
measures provided for in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement
on Agriculture.
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SUMMARY: This notice lists the updated quantity-based trigger levels
for products which may be subject to additional import duties under the
safeguard provisions of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture. This notice
[[Page 15110]]
also includes the relevant period applicable for the trigger levels on
each of the listed products.
DATES: This notice is applicable on March 17, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Multilateral Affairs Division, Trade Policy and Geographic
Affairs, Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Stop 1070, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-1070.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Souleymane Diaby, (202) 720-2916,
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Article 5 of the WTO Agreement on
Agriculture provides that additional import duties may be imposed on
imports of products subject to tarification as a result of the Uruguay
Round, if certain conditions are met. The agreement permits additional
duties to be charged if the price of an individual shipment of imported
products falls below the average price for similar goods imported
during the years 1986-88 by a specified percentage. It also permits
additional duties when the volume of imports of that product exceeds
the sum of (1) a base trigger level multiplied by the average of the
last three years of available import data and (2) the change in yearly
consumption in the most recent year for which data are available
(provided that the final trigger level is not less than 105 percent of
the three-year import average). The base trigger level is set at 105,
110, or 125 percent of the three-year import average, depending on the
percentage of domestic consumption that is represented by imports.
These additional duties may not be imposed on quantities for which
minimum or current access commitments were made during the Uruguay
Round negotiations, and only one type of safeguard, price or quantity,
may be applied at any given time to an article.
Section 405 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act requires that the
President cause to be published in the Federal Register information
regarding the price and quantity safeguards, including the quantity
trigger levels, which must be updated annually based upon import levels
during the most recent 3 years. The President delegated this duty to
the Secretary of Agriculture in Presidential Proclamation No. 6763,
dated December 23, 1994, 60 FR 1007 (Jan. 4, 1995). The Secretary of
Agriculture further delegated this duty, which lies with the
Administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service (7 CFR 2.601(a)(42)).
The Annex to this notice contains the updated quantity trigger levels,
consistent with the provisions of Article 5.
Additional information on the products subject to safeguards and
the additional duties which may apply can be found in subchapter IV of
Chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(2019) and in the Secretary of Agriculture's Notice of Uruguay Round
Agricultural Safeguard Trigger Levels, published in the Federal
Register at 60 FR 427 (Jan. 4, 1995).
Notice: As provided in Section 405 of the Uruguay Round Agreements
Act, consistent with Article 5 of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, the
safeguard quantity trigger levels previously notified are superseded by
the levels indicated in the Annex to this notice. The definitions of
these products were provided in the Notice of Safeguard Action
published in the Federal Register, at 60 FR 427 (Jan. 4, 1995).
Issued at Washington, DC, this 28th day of February 2020.
Ken Isley,
Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service.
Annex-Quantity-Based Safeguard Trigger
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2020 Quantity-based safeguard trigger
Product ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trigger level Unit Period
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Beef.................................... 255,113 MT............................ Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Mutton.................................. 4,657 MT............................ Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Cream................................... 2,195,402 Liters........................ Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Evaporated or Condensed Milk............ 5,643,813 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Nonfat Dry Milk......................... 1,137,938 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Dried Whole Milk........................ 8,075,070 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Dried Cream............................. 34,923 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Dried Whey/Buttermilk................... 102,146 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Butter \1\.............................. 61,716,866 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Butteroil............................... 13,966,108 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Chocolate Crumb......................... 11,324,477 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Lowfat Chocolate Crumb.................. 76,422 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Animal Feed Containing Milk............. 622,860 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Ice Cream............................... 9,583,319 Liters........................ Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Dairy Mixtures.......................... 7,839,727 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Infant Formula Containing 3,931,855 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Oligosaccharides.
Blue Cheese............................. 4,218,639 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Cheddar Cheese.......................... 8,505,766 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
American-Type Cheese.................... 238,299 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Edam/Gouda Cheese....................... 9,479,493 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Italian-Type Cheese..................... 21,815,576 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Swiss Cheese with Eye Formation......... 28,131,565 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Gruyere Process Cheese.................. 4,007,719 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
NSPF Cheese............................. 46,553,755 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Lowfat Cheese........................... 93,681 Kilograms..................... Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Peanut Butter/Paste..................... 4,395 MT............................ Jan 1, 2020--Dec 31, 2020.
Peanuts \1\............................. 29,060 MT............................ April 1, 2020--Mar 31, 2021.
Raw Cane Sugar \1\...................... 766,524 MT............................ Oct 1, 2020--Sept 30, 2021.
Refined Sugars and Syrups \1\........... 256,005 MT............................ Oct 1, 2020--Sept 30, 2021.
Articles over 65% Sugar................. 482 MT............................ Oct 1, 2020--Sept 30, 2021.
Articles over 10% Sugar................. 11,093 MT............................ Oct 1, 2020--Sept 30, 2021.
Blended Syrups.......................... 391 MT............................ Oct 1, 2020--Sept 30, 2021.
Sweetened Cocoa Powder.................. 459 MT............................ Oct 1, 2020--Sept 30, 2021.
Mixes and Doughs........................ 781 MT............................ Oct 1, 2020--Sept 30, 2021.
[[Page 15111]]
Mixed Condiments and Seasonings......... 350 MT............................ Oct 1, 2020--Sept 30, 2021.
Short Staple Cotton \2\................. 45,688 Kilograms..................... Sep 20, 2020--Sep 19, 2021.
Harsh or Rough Cotton................... 32,968 Kilograms..................... Aug 1, 2020--July 31, 2021.
Medium Staple Cotton.................... 8,417 Kilograms..................... Aug 1, 2020--July 31, 2021.
Extra Long Staple Cotton................ 692,467 Kilograms..................... Aug 1, 2020--July 31, 2021.
Cotton Waste \2\........................ 1,013,866 Kilograms..................... Sep 20, 2020--Sep 19, 2021.
Cotton Processed but not Spun \2\....... 124,933 Kilograms..................... Sep 11, 2020--Sep 10, 2021.
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\1\ Includes change in U.S. consumption.
\2\ 12-month period from October to September.
[FR Doc. 2020-05506 Filed 3-16-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-10-P