[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 160 (Tuesday, August 18, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50864-50865]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-18011]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Docket Number USTR-2020-0033]


Request for Comments Concerning China's Compliance With World 
Trade Organization (WTO) Commitments

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) invites 
comments to assist the Office of the United States Trade Representative 
(USTR) in the preparation of its annual report to Congress on China's 
compliance with the commitments made in connection with its accession 
to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Due to COVID-19, the TPSC will 
foster public participation via written questions and responses 
relating to the comments received by the TPSC rather than an in-person 
hearing. This notice includes the schedule for submission of comments, 
questions and responses.

DATES: 
    September 16, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for submission of 
comments.
    September 30, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for the TPSC to pose 
questions on comments.
    October 14, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for submission of 
commenters' responses to TPSC questions.

ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made through 
the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov 
(Regulations.gov). The instructions for submitting comments are in 
sections 3 and 4 below. The docket number is USTR-2020-0033. For 
alternatives to online submissions, please contact Yvonne Jamison at 
[email protected] or (202) 395-3475 before transmitting a 
comment and in advance of the relevant deadline.

[[Page 50865]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning 
written submissions, contact Yvonne Jamison at 
[email protected] or (202) 395-3475. Direct all other 
questions to Tsering Dhongthog, Senior Director for China Affairs, at 
(202) 395-3900, or Arthur N. Tsao, Chief Counsel for China Enforcement, 
at (202) 395-3150.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    China became a Member of the WTO on December 11, 2001. In 
accordance with section 421 of the U.S.-China Relations Act of 2000 
(Pub. L. 106-286), USTR is required to submit by December 11 of each 
year, a report to Congress on China's compliance with commitments made 
in connection with its accession to the WTO, including multilateral 
commitments and any bilateral commitments made to the United States. In 
accordance with section 421, and to assist it in preparing this year's 
report, the TPSC is soliciting public comments. You can find last 
year's report on USTR's website at https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/2019_Report_on_China%E2%80%99s_WTO_Compliance.pdf.
    The terms of China's accession to the WTO are contained in the 
Protocol on the Accession of the People's Republic of China (including 
its annexes) (Protocol), the Report of the Working Party on the 
Accession of China (Working Party Report), and the WTO agreements. You 
can find the Protocol and Working Party Report on the WTO website at 
http://docsonline.wto.org (document symbols: WT/L/432, WT/MIN(01)/3, 
WT/MIN(01)/3/Add.1, WT/MIN(01)/3/Add.2).

II. Topics on Which the TPSC Seeks Information

    The TPSC invites written comments on China's compliance with 
commitments made in connection with its accession to the WTO, 
including, but not limited to, commitments in the following areas:
    A. Trading rights.
    B. Import regulation (e.g., tariffs, tariff-rate quotas, quotas, 
import licenses).
    C. Export regulation.
    D. Internal policies affecting trade (e.g., subsidies, standards 
and technical regulations, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, 
government procurement, trade-related investment measures, taxes and 
charges levied on imports and exports).
    E. Intellectual property rights (including intellectual property 
rights enforcement).
    F. Services.
    G. Rule of law issues (e.g., transparency, judicial review, uniform 
administration of laws and regulations) and status of legal reform.
    H. Other WTO commitments.
    In addition, given the United States' view that China should be 
held accountable as a full participant in, and beneficiary of, the 
international trading system, USTR requests that interested persons 
specifically identify unresolved compliance issues that warrant review 
and evaluation by USTR's China Enforcement Task Force.

III. Public Participation

    Due to COVID-19, the TPSC will foster public participation via 
written submissions rather than an in-person hearing on China's 
compliance with the commitments made in connection with its accession 
to the WTO. In accordance with the schedule set out in the Dates 
section above, USTR invites written comments from the public. The TPSC 
will review the comments and may pose written clarifying questions to 
the commenters. The TPSC will post the questions on the public docket, 
other than questions that include properly designated business 
confidential information (BCI). USTR will send questions that include 
properly designated BCI to the relevant commenters by email and will 
not post these questions on the public docket. Written responses to 
questions that contain BCI must follow the procedures in section IV 
below.

IV. Requirements for Submissions

    In order to be assured of consideration, USTR must receive your 
written comments in English by 11:59 p.m. EDT on September 16, 2020. 
USTR strongly encourages commenters to make on-line submissions, using 
Regulations.gov. On the first page, please identify the submission as 
``China's WTO Compliance.''
    To submit comments via Regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR-
2020-0033 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 Regulations.gov, please consult 
the resources provided on the website by clicking on `How to Use 
Regulations.gov' on the bottom of the home page. USTR will not accept 
hand-delivered submissions.
    Regulations.gov 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 submit comments in an attached document. 
If you attach a document, it is sufficient to type `see attached' in 
the `type comment' field. 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.
    Filers submitting comments containing no 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 `BCI.' 
Clearly mark any page containing BCI ``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 `BCI' and P' with the name of the 
person or entity submitting the comments.
    Please do not attach separate cover letters to electronic 
submissions. Instead, 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 
Regulations.gov. You must make any alternative arrangements with Yvonne 
Jamison at [email protected] or (202) 395-3475 before 
submitting a comment and in advance of the relevant deadline.
    USTR will post written submissions in the docket for public 
inspection, except properly designated BCI. You can view written 
submissions on the Regulations.gov website by entering docket number 
USTR-2020-0033 in the search field on the home page. General 
information concerning USTR is available at www.ustr.gov.

Edward Gresser,
Chair of the Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States 
Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2020-18011 Filed 8-17-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F0-P