[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 228 (Wednesday, November 25, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75398-75399]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-26061]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Docket Number USTR-2020-0036]


Notice of Public Hearing in Section 301 Investigation of 
Vietnam's Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to the Import and Use 
of Illegal Timber

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) 
will convene a virtual public hearing and accept rebuttal comments in 
the Section 301 investigation concerning Vietnam's acts, policies, and 
practices related to the import and use of illegally harvested or 
traded timber.

DATES: 
    December 10, 2020, at 11:59 p.m.: To be assured of consideration, 
you must submit requests to appear at the hearing by this date. The 
request to appear must include a summary of the testimony.
    December 28, 2020, at 9:30 a.m.: Hearing will be held virtually.
    January 6, 2021, at 11:59 p.m.: To be assured of consideration, 
post-hearing rebuttal comments must be submitted by this date.

ADDRESSES: You should submit requests to appear at the hearing, hearing 
testimony, and written rebuttal comments through the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov (Regulations.gov). Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments in section III. The docket number 
is USTR-2020-0036. For issues with on-line submissions, contact the 
Section 301 line at (202) 395-5725.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning 
the submission of documents, contact the Section 301 line at (202) 395-
5725. For questions concerning the public hearing, contact Assistant 
General Counsels David Lyons at (202) 395-9446, or Kimberly Reynolds at 
(202) 395-6336.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

[[Page 75399]]

I. Background

    On October 2, 2020 the U.S. Trade Representative initiated an 
investigation pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, of 
whether Vietnam's acts, policies, and practices related to the import 
and use of illegal timber are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden 
or restrict U.S. commerce. See 85 FR 63639. USTR invited interested 
persons to submit written comments by November 12, 2020, regarding the 
issues in the investigation.

II. Hearing and Rebuttal Comments

    USTR will hold a virtual public hearing in this investigation on 
Monday, December 28, 2020. To be assured of consideration, you must 
submit requests to testify at the virtual hearing, and summaries of 
your testimony, by December 10, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. Because the hearing 
will be public, your testimony should not include any confidential 
information.
    USTR will post information regarding access to the virtual public 
hearing at https://ustr.gov/issue-areas/enforcement/section-301-investigations/section-301-vietnam. In addition, USTR will contact 
persons who are testifying at the hearing regarding the procedures for 
participation.
    You may request to testify on the issues covered by the 
investigation. See 85 FR 63639. In particular, USTR invites hearing 
testimony regarding:
     The extent to which illegal timber is imported into 
Vietnam.
     The extent to which Vietnamese producers, including 
producers of wooden furniture, use illegal timber.
     The extent to which products of Vietnam made from illegal 
timber, including wooden furniture, are imported into the United 
States.
     Vietnam's acts, policies, or practices relating to the 
import and use of illegal timber.
     The nature and level of the burden or restriction on U.S. 
commerce caused by Vietnam's import and use of illegal timber.
     The determinations required under section 304 of the Trade 
Act, including what action, if any, should be taken in the 
investigation.
    USTR will offer a further opportunity for public comment in the 
event actions affecting specific products or services are considered in 
the investigation. Accordingly, the upcoming hearing will not involve 
testimony regarding specific products or services that might be 
affected by an action in the investigation.
    USTR will consider rebuttal comments submitted by January 6, 2021. 
Rebuttal comments should be strictly limited to demonstrating errors of 
fact or analysis not pointed out in the written submissions or hearing 
testimony and should be as concise as possible.

III. Submission Procedures

    Requests to appear and summaries of testimony, as well as rebuttal 
comments, must be submitted on Regulations.gov. To make a submission 
via Regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR-2020-0036 in the `search 
for' field 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 by selecting `notice' under `document 
type' in the `filter results by' section on the left side of the screen 
and click on the link entitled `comment now.'
    When submitting a request to appear and a summary of your 
testimony, provide in the `comment' field on the next page the full 
name, address, email address, and telephone number of the person who 
wishes to present the testimony. To submit a written statement or 
summary, Regulations.gov allows users to provide comments by filling in 
a `type comment' field or by attaching a document using the `upload 
file(s)' field. USTR prefers that you provide submissions in an 
attached document. The file name should include the name of the person 
who will be presenting the testimony, or if not testifying, the name of 
the person submitting the statement. The name of the presenter also 
should be clear in the content of the file itself. All submissions must 
be in English and be prepared in (or be compatible with) Microsoft Word 
(.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) formats. Include any data attachments to 
the submission in the same file as the submission itself, and not as 
separate files. For additional information on using Regulations.gov, 
please consult the resources provided on the website by clicking on 
`how to use this site' on the left side of the home page.
    For any rebuttal comments that contain business confidential 
information (BCI), the file name of the business confidential version 
should begin with the characters `BCI.' You must clearly mark any page 
containing BCI by including `BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL' on the top of that 
page and clearly indicating, via brackets, highlighting, or other 
means, the specific information that is BCI. If you request business 
confidential treatment, you must certify in writing that disclosure of 
the information would endanger trade secrets or profitability, and that 
you would not customarily release the information to the public. Filers 
of submissions containing BCI also must submit a public version of 
their comments. 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. If these procedures are not 
sufficient to protect BCI or otherwise protect business interests, 
please contact the Section 301 line at (202) 395-5725 to discuss 
whether alternative arrangements are possible.
    USTR will post submissions in the docket for public inspection, 
except for submissions properly designated BCI. You can view 
submissions on Regulations.gov by entering docket number USTR-2020-0036 
in the search field on the home page.

Joseph Barloon,
General Counsel, Office of the United States Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2020-26061 Filed 11-24-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F0-P