[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 80 (Friday, April 24, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23059-23060]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08673]


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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION


Petitions for Duty Suspensions and Reductions; Notice That the 
Commission Will Accept Additional Comments Through Its Website Relating 
to Certain Petitions Included in Its Preliminary Report to the Congress

AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice that the Commission will accept additional comments from 
the public, during the period June 12 to June 22, 2020, on petitions 
for duty suspensions and reductions that the Commission places in 
Category VI in the preliminary report that it sends to the House 
Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance on June 
9, 2020.

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SUMMARY: The Commission will provide a limited opportunity for members 
of the public to submit additional comments on certain petitions for 
duty suspensions and reductions. Under the American Manufacturing 
Competitiveness Act of 2016 (the Act), the Commission must submit its 
preliminary report on the petitions for duty suspensions and reductions 
that have been filed with it to the House Committee on Ways and Means 
and the Senate Committee on Finance on June 9, 2020.
    In that report, the Commission must categorize each petition as 
either (a) a petition that meets the requirements of the Act with or 
without modification (Category I, II, III, or IV petitions), (b) a 
petition that does not contain the information required by the Act or 
that was not filed by a likely beneficiary (Category V petitions), or 
(c) a petition that the Commission does not recommend for inclusion in 
a miscellaneous tariff bill (Category VI petitions). The Commission has 
decided that it will accept additional comments from the public on any 
petitions that are listed as Category VI petitions for a ten-day period 
beginning on June 12, 2020, at 8:45 a.m. As provided below, all such 
comments must be submitted to the Commission electronically through the 
Commission website https://mtbps.usitc.gov. The Commission will not 
accept comments filed in paper form or in any other form or format.

DATES: 
    June 12, 2020, 8:45 a.m. EST: Opening date and time for submission 
of additional comments on Category VI petitions.
    June 22, 2020, 5:15 p.m. EST: Closing date and time for submission 
of comments on Category VI petitions.

ADDRESSES: All Commission offices are located in the United States 
International Trade Commission Building, 500 E Street SW, Washington, 
DC. You may view the public file for this proceeding on the 
Commission's Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Petition System (MTBPS) at 
https://mtbps.usitc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general inquiries, contact 
Jennifer Rohrbach at [email protected]. For filing inquiries, contact 
the Office of the Secretary, Docket Services, U.S. International Trade 
Commission, telephone (202) 205-3238. The media should contact Peg 
O'Laughlin, Public Affairs Officer (202-205-1819 or 
[email protected]). You may obtain general information 
concerning the Commission at https://www.usitc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background: The American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016 
(the Act), 19 U.S.C. 1332 note, established a process for the 
submission and consideration of requests for temporary duty suspensions 
and reductions. As required by the Act, the Commission initiated the 
process by publishing a notice in the Federal Register permitting 
members of the public to submit petitions for duty suspensions and 
reductions to the Commission during a 60-day period beginning October 
11, 2019 (84 FR 54924). After the period for filing petitions closed on 
December 10, 2020, the Commission published, as required by the Act, a 
notice in the Federal Register announcing publication on its website of 
the petitions for duty suspensions and reductions that were submitted 
to the Commission and not withdrawn (85 FR 1327). The notice invited 
members of the public to submit comments on these petitions during a 
45-day period, which ended February 24, 2020.
    Pursuant to the Act, the Commission is required to submit 
preliminary and final reports on the petitions to the House Committee 
on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance (the Committees). 
The Commission's preliminary report must be submitted to the Committees 
by June 9, 2020. In its preliminary report to the Committees, the 
Commission must evaluate each petition to determine whether it meets 
the requirements of the Act and should be included in an omnibus 
miscellaneous tariff bill.
    In preparing its report, the Act requires that the Commission take 
into account the report of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of 
Commerce (Commerce), issued April 9, 2020. In that report, the 
Secretary analyzed, for each petition, whether there was domestic 
production of the article that was the subject of a petition, and, if 
so, whether a domestic producer of the article objected to the 
petition. Based on consultations with U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP), the Secretary also recommended in that report whether 
any technical changes were necessary to make each petition's article 
description administrable.
    In its preliminary report, the Commission must place each petition 
into one of six categories. Specifically, the Commission must 
categorize each petition as: (1) A petition that meets the requirements 
of the Act without modification (Category I petition); (2) a petition 
that meets the requirements of the Act with certain modifications 
(Category II, III, or IV petitions); (3) a petition that does not 
contain the information required by the Act or was not filed by a 
likely beneficiary (Category V petition); or (4) a petition that the 
Commission does not recommend for inclusion in a miscellaneous tariff 
bill (Category VI petition).

[[Page 23060]]

    The Commission has decided to re-open its online portal for the 
limited purpose of allowing members of the public to submit comments on 
petitions that the Commission has categorized as Category VI petitions 
in its preliminary report. The Commission will re-open the portal for 
this limited purpose on June 12, 2020, at 8:45 a.m. and close the 
portal on June 22, 2020, at 5:15 p.m. As discussed below, the 
Commission will accept only information from the public that relates to 
the Commission's decision to place a petition into Category VI.
    Content of Comments: The public will be able to comment on the 
administrability of the article descriptions in a petition, the 
existence of domestic producer objections to a petition, and other 
issues affecting the placement of a petition in Category VI. In 
particular, the Commission seeks input that would clarify the scope of 
a proposed article description in a Category VI petition, including the 
constituent materials in the intended merchandise or similar 
information that would help verify the classification of the goods in 
chapters 1-97 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTS). Similarly, the Commission seeks information that could clarify 
technical criteria, distinguish the intended article in a petition from 
other goods in the same rate line, or narrow the scope of an article 
description to mitigate domestic producer objections as contemplated by 
the Act's description of Category IV. The Commission will not consider 
comments that seek to broaden or materially amend the nature of the 
goods covered in the original article description.

Procedures for Filing a Comment

    Who may file. Any member of the public may file comments, including 
the firm or its representative who filed the petition. However, the 
Commission will consider only comments that relate to petitions listed 
under Category VI in the preliminary report that the Commission submits 
to the Committees on June 9, 2020. The Commission will not consider 
comments that relate to petitions listed under Categories I, II, III, 
IV, and V in the preliminary report.
    Method for filing. Comments must be filed electronically via the 
Commission's designated secure web portal and in the format designated 
by the Commission in that portal. You may access the portal through the 
Commission's website at https://mtbps.usitc.gov. The portal contains a 
series of prompts and links that will assist persons in providing the 
required information. The Commission will not accept or consider 
comments submitted in paper or in any other form or format. Comments 
must contain all information required in the portal in order to be 
considered properly filed. Comments, including any attachments thereto, 
must otherwise comply with the Commission's Rules of Practice and 
Procedure, as further explained in the Commission's Handbook on MTB 
Filing Procedures. Persons seeking to comment on more than one petition 
must submit a separate comment for each petition.
    Persons filing comments should be aware that they must be prepared 
to complete their entire comment when they enter the portal. The portal 
will not allow them to edit, amend, or complete the comment at a later 
time.
    Time for filing. To be considered, comments must be filed no 
earlier than June 12, 2020, at 8:45 a.m. and no later than the close of 
business (5:15 p.m. EST) on June 22, 2020. The Commission will not 
accept comments filed before or after these dates and times.
    Amendment and withdrawal of comments. The Commission's secure web 
portal will not allow a person who has formally submitted a comment 
during this filing period to amend that comment. Instead, that person 
must withdraw the original comment and file a new comment that 
incorporates the changes. The new comment must be filed before 5:15 
p.m. EST on June 22, 2020. Comments may not be withdrawn or amended 
after that time.
    Comments containing confidential business information. The portal 
will permit persons submitting comments to claim that certain 
information should be treated either as confidential business 
information or as information protected from disclosure under the 
Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552, (e.g., a home address). However, because of 
the portal's design, the portal instructs that such information not be 
included in attachments to comments. Persons who include what they 
regard as confidential business information, or information protected 
under the Privacy Act, in attachments to their comments will be 
presumed to have waived any privilege and the information will be 
disclosed to the public when the comments and attachments are posted on 
the Commission's website. See further information below on possible 
disclosure of confidential business information.
    Confidential Business Information: The Commission will not release 
information which the Commission considers to be confidential business 
information within the meaning of Rule 201.6(a) of its Rules of 
Practice and Procedure (19 CFR 201.6) unless the party submitting the 
confidential business information had notice, at the time of 
submission, that such information would be released by the Commission, 
or such party subsequently consents to the release of the information.
    Confidential business information submitted to the Commission in 
comments may be disclosed to or used by (1) the Commission in 
calculating the estimated revenue loss required under the Act, which 
may be based in whole or in part on the estimated values of imports 
submitted in comments, as well as by petitioners in their petitions; 
(2) the Commission, its employees, and contract personnel (a) in 
processing petitions and comments and preparing reports under the Act 
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; (3) Commerce, for use in preparing 
its report to the Commission and the Committees, and the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture and CBP for use in providing information for 
that report; or (4) U.S. government employees and contract personnel, 
solely for cybersecurity purposes, subject to the requirement that all 
contract personnel will sign appropriate nondisclosure agreements.

    By order of the Commission.

    Issued: April 20, 2020.
William Bishop,
Supervisory Hearings and Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020-08673 Filed 4-23-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7020-02-P