[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 166 (Monday, August 29, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52835-52837]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-18570]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Docket Number USTR-2022-0012]


Request for Written Comments Concerning China's Compliance With 
WTO Commitments

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Request for written comments.

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SUMMARY: The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) invites 
interested persons to submit written comments to assist the Office of 
the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in the preparation of its 
annual report to the Congress on China's compliance with the 
commitments made in connection with its accession to the World Trade 
Organization (WTO). Due to the COVID-19 situation, the TPSC will foster 
public participation via written questions and written responses 
relating to the written 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 28, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for submission of 
written comments.
    October 12, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for the TPSC to pose 
written questions on written comments.
    October 26, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for submission of 
commenters' responses to written questions from the TPSC.

ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made through 
the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
(Regulations.gov) The instructions for submitting written submissions 
are in sections III and IV below. The docket number is USTR-2022-0012. 
For alternatives to online submissions, contact Spencer Smith at 
[email protected] or (202) 395-2974 before transmitting a 
submission and in advance of the relevant deadline.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Spencer Smith at 
[email protected] or (202) 395-2974 for procedural 
questions concerning written submissions. Direct all other questions to 
Alex Martin at (202) 395-3900 or Arthur Tsao 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) (22 U.S.C. 6951), USTR is required to submit, on or 
about 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 both 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/files/Press/Reports/2021USTR%20ReportCongressChinaWTO.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.
    USTR requests small businesses (generally defined by the Small 
Business Administration as firms with fewer than 500 employees) or 
organizations representing small business members that submit comments 
to self-identify as such, so that we may be aware of issues of 
particular interest to small businesses. 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.

III. Public Participation

    Due to the COVID-19 situation, 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 written comments and may pose written clarifying 
questions to the commenters. The TPSC will post the written 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

    Persons submitting written comments must do so in English and must 
identify on the first page of the submission `Comments Regarding 
China's WTO Compliance.' The submission deadline is September 28, 2022 
at 11:59 p.m. EDT. USTR strongly encourages commenters to make online 
submissions, using Regulations.gov. To submit comments via 
Regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR-2022-0012 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'. 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.
    Regulations.gov allows users to submit comments by filling in a 
type comment field, or by attaching a document using the `upload file' 
field. USTR prefers that you provide submissions in an attached 
document and, in such cases, that you write `see attached' in the `type 
comment' field, on the online submission form. 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. At the beginning of the 
submission, include the following text: (1) 2022 China WTO Compliance 
Report; (2) your organization's name; and (3) whether the document is a 
comment or an answer to a TPSC question.
    An interested party requesting that USTR treat information 
contained in a submission as BCI must certify that the information is 
business confidential. For any comments submitted electronically 
containing BCI, the file name of the business confidential version 
should begin with the characters `BCI. You must clearly mark any page 
containing BCI with `BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL' at 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; rather, 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 
Spencer Smith at [email protected] or (202) 395-2974 in 
advance of the relevant deadline.
    USTR will post comments in the docket for public inspection, except 
properly designated BCI. You can view comments at Regulations.gov by 
entering docket number USTR-2022-0012 in the search field on the home 
page. General information concerning

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USTR is available at https://www.ustr.gov.

William Shpiece,
Chair of the Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States 
Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2022-18570 Filed 8-26-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F2-P