[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 124 (Friday, June 26, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38488-38530]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-13824]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Docket No. USTR-2020-0023]


Review of Action: Enforcement of U.S. WTO Rights in Large Civil 
Aircraft Dispute

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Trade Representative is conducting a review of the 
action being taken in the Section 301 investigation involving the 
enforcement of U.S. World Trade Organization (WTO) rights in the Large 
Civil Aircraft dispute. In connection with this review, the U.S. Trade 
Representative is considering modifying the list of products of certain 
current or former European Union (EU) member States that currently are 
subject to additional duties. Annex I to this notice contains the list 
of products currently subject to additional duties. Annex II contains a 
list of products, originally published in the April and July 2019 
notices in this investigation, under consideration but not currently 
subject to additional duties. Annex III contains a new list of products 
being considered for imposition of additional duties. The Office of the 
United States Trade Representative (USTR) requests comments with 
respect to whether products listed in Annex I should be removed from 
the list or remain on the list; whether the rate of additional duty on 
specific products should be increased, up to a level of 100 percent; 
whether additional duties should be imposed on specific products listed 
in Annex II or Annex III; and on the rate of additional duty of up to 
100 percent to be applied to any products drawn from Annex II or Annex 
III. On June 26, 2020, USTR is opening an electronic portal for 
submission of comments regarding the review of the action.

DATES: 
    June 26, 2020: The docket entitled ``Comments Concerning the 
Enforcement of U.S. WTO Rights in Large Civil Aircraft Dispute'' will 
open on USTR's comment portal: https://comments.ustr.gov/s/.
    July 26, 2020: To be assured of consideration, you must submit 
comments by this date.

ADDRESSES: You must submit comments through the online comment portal: 
https://comments.ustr.gov/s/. Follow the instructions for submitting 
comments in section D below. For issues with on-line submissions, 
please contact the USTR Section 301 line at (202) 395-5725.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions about the investigation, 
contact Associate General Counsel Megan Grimball at (202) 395-5725, or 
Director for Europe Michael Rogers at (202) 395-3320. For questions on 
customs classification of products identified in the annexes to this 
notice, contact [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Proceedings in the Investigation

    For background on the proceedings in this investigation, please see 
the prior notices issued in the investigation: 84 FR 15028 (April 12, 
2019), 84 FR 32248 (July 5, 2019), 84 FR 54245 (October 9, 2019), 84 FR 
55998 (October 18, 2019), 84 FR 67992 (December 12, 2019), 85 FR 10204 
(February 21, 2020), 85 FR 14517 (March 12, 2020) and, 85 FR 31845 (May 
27, 2020).

B. Review of the Action in the Investigation

    The U.S. Trade Representative is conducting a review of the action 
being taken in the investigation to facilitate a possible modification 
of the action in accordance with Section 306(b)(2)(B)(i) of the 1974 
Trade Act, as amended. USTR invites public comments with respect to the 
maintenance or imposition of additional duties on the specific products 
of specific current or former EU member States indicated on the lists 
in the Annexes to this notice. Annex I lists the specific products of 
current or former EU member States that currently are subject to 
additional duties of 15 or 25 percent. See 85 FR 10204. Annex II lists 
products of current or former EU member States for which additional 
duties of up to 100 percent previously were proposed, but for which no 
additional duties currently are imposed in this investigation. See 84 
FR 15028 and 84 FR 32248.
    In addition, the U.S. Trade Representative is considering an 
additional list of products of France, Germany, Spain, and the United 
Kingdom that may be included on a final list of products subject to 
additional ad valorem duties of up to 100 percent. The additional list 
of products (included in Annex III to this notice) contains 30 tariff 
subheadings with an approximate value of $3.1 billion in terms of the 
estimated import trade value for calendar year 2018. If the U.S. Trade 
Representative determines to modify the action being taken in the 
investigation, the final list of products subject to additional duties 
in the action may be drawn from the list of products in Annexes I, II, 
or III.

C. Request for Public Comments

    With respect to products listed in Annex I, USTR invites comments 
on whether specific products of current or former EU member States 
should remain on or be removed from the list, and if a product remains 
on the list, whether the current rate of additional duty should be 
increased to as high as 100 percent.
    With respect to products listed in Annexes II and III, USTR invites 
comments on whether specific products of specific current or former EU 
member States should be included on a revised list of products subject 
to additional duties, and the rate of additional duty (as high as 100 
percent) that should be imposed.
    USTR invites interested persons to address:
     Whether maintaining or imposing additional duties on a 
specific product of one or more current or former EU member States 
would be appropriate to enforce U.S. WTO rights or to obtain the 
elimination of the EU's WTO-inconsistent measures, and/or would likely 
result in the implementation of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) 
recommendations in the Large Civil Aircraft dispute or in achieving a 
mutually satisfactory solution.
     Whether maintaining or imposing additional duties on 
specific products of one or more current or former EU member States 
would cause disproportionate economic harm to U.S. interests, including 
small or medium-size businesses and consumers.

D. Procedures for Submission of Comments

    You must submit comments regarding review of the action using the 
electronic portal at https://comments.ustr.gov/s/. As stated above, the 
docket regarding the review of this action will open on June 26, 2020. 
On that date, you will be able to view a docket entitled ``Comments 
Concerning the Enforcement of U.S. WTO Rights in Large Civil Aircraft 
Dispute'' on the portal. A facsimile of the Large Civil Aircraft (LCA) 
comment form is attached as Annex IV to this notice.
    You do not need to establish an account to submit comments. Fields 
with a gray (BCI) notation are for Business Confidential Information 
and the information entered will not be publicly available. Required 
fields are marked `Required' and will have a red asterisk (*). Fields 
with a green (Public)

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notation will be viewable by the public. Please note that the color-
coding of public fields and BCI fields is not visible on the attached 
facsimile, but will be apparent on the actual LCA Form used on the 
portal.
    The first screen of the portal requires you to enter identification 
and contact information. Third party organizations, such as law firms, 
trade associations, or customs brokers, should identify the full legal 
name of the organization they represent, and identify the primary point 
of contact for the submission. The remaining fields of the form are 
optional.
    After entering the identification and contact information, you can 
complete the remainder of questionnaire, or any portion of it by 
clicking `Next.' You can provide narrative comments at the second 
screen of the portal. You can comment on multiple products in a single 
entry, or submit multiple comments. You will be able to navigate 
through each screen of the form by clicking `Next,' with or without 
entering a response to each field on an individual screen or page. 
Additionally, you will be able to upload documents at the end of the 
LCA Form and designate whether USTR should treat the documents as 
business confidential or public information. You will be able to review 
the public version of your submission before it is posted on the public 
docket.

E. Paperwork Reduction Act

    In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 and its implementing regulations (PRA), the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) assigned control number 0350-0015, which 
expires December 31, 2020. As part of this emergency processing request 
(85 FR 31845), over 100 comments were submitted. OMB reviewed the 
comments and USTR made changes to the LCA Form in response to the 
comments that are intended to make the LCA Form easier to navigate and 
complete. The changes include the ability to provide narrative comments 
at the beginning of the form, and the designation of fields as 
``optional'' or ``required.'' You can view the PRA comments here: 
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewDocument?ref_nbr=202005-0350-001.

Joseph Barloon.
General Counsel, Office of the United States Trade Representative.
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[FR Doc. 2020-13824 Filed 6-25-20; 8:45 am]
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