Request for Comments on Negotiating Objectives Regarding Modernization of the North American Free Trade Agreement With Canada and Mexico, 23699-23700 [2017-10603]
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 98 / Tuesday, May 23, 2017 / Notices
address the reasonableness of a rail
carrier’s practices. This information
collection brings transparency to the use
of fuel surcharges by Class I carriers and
permits the Board to monitor this
practice. Under 49 CFR 1243.3, the
Board monitors the current fuel
surcharge practices of Class I carriers in
order to provide an overall picture of
the use of fuel surcharges and bring
some transparency to the use of fuel
surcharges by rail carriers. Failure to
collect this information would impede
the Board’s ability to fulfill its statutory
responsibilities. The Board has
authority to collect information about
rail costs and revenues under 49 U.S.C.
11144 and 11145.
Under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501–3521,
a federal agency that conducts or
sponsors a collection of information
must display a currently valid OMB
control number. A collection of
information, which is defined in 44
U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c),
includes agency requirements that
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Dated: May 17, 2017.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2017–10419 Filed 5–22–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915–01–P
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES
TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Request for Comments on Negotiating
Objectives Regarding Modernization of
the North American Free Trade
Agreement With Canada and Mexico
Office of the United States
Trade Representative.
ACTION: Request for comments and
notice of public hearing.
AGENCY:
The United States intends to
commence negotiations with Canada
and Mexico regarding modernization of
the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA). The NAFTA was
negotiated more than 25 years ago, and,
while our economy and U.S. businesses
have changed considerably over that
period, NAFTA has not. The United
States seeks to support higher-paying
jobs in the United States and to grow the
U.S. economy by improving U.S.
opportunities under NAFTA. Our
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
21:15 May 22, 2017
Jkt 241001
specific objectives for this negotiation
will comply with the specific objectives
set forth by Congress in section 102 of
the Bipartisan Congressional Trade
Priorities and Accountability Act of
2015. The Office of the United States
Trade Representative (USTR) is seeking
public comments on matters relevant to
the modernization of NAFTA in order to
inform development of U.S. negotiating
positions.
DATES: If you want to testify at the
hearing, you must provide written
notification and a summary of your
testimony by Monday, June 12, 2017.
Written comments also are due by
Monday, June 12, 2017. A hearing will
be held at 9 a.m. in the Main Hearing
Room of the United States International
Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20436, on Tuesday,
June 27, 2017.
ADDRESSES: You should submit
notifications of intent to testify and
written comments through the Federal
eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments in
part 3 below. For alternatives to on-line
submissions, please contact Yvonne
Jamison, Trade Policy Staff Committee,
at (202) 395–3475.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
procedural questions concerning written
comments or participation in the public
hearing, contact Yvonne Jamison at
(202) 395–3475. Direct all other
questions regarding this notice to Daniel
Watson, Deputy Assistant United States
Trade Representative for North America,
at (202) 395–9587.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background
The United States commenced
bilateral trade negotiations with Canada
more than 30 years ago, resulting in the
U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement,
which entered into force on January 1,
1989. In 1991, bilateral talks began with
Mexico, which Canada joined. The
NAFTA followed, entering into force on
January 1, 1994. Tariffs were eliminated
progressively and all duties and
quantitative restrictions, with the
exception of those on a limited number
of agricultural products traded with
Canada, were eliminated by 2008.
NAFTA also includes chapters covering
rules of origin, customs procedures,
agriculture and sanitary and
phytosanitary measures, government
procurement, investment, trade in
services, protection of intellectual
property rights, and dispute settlement
procedures. For the full NAFTA text,
please see https://www.nafta-secalena.org/Home/Texts-of-the-
PO 00000
Frm 00179
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
23699
Agreement/North-American-Free-TradeAgreement.
On May 18, 2017, following
consultations with relevant
Congressional committees, the U.S.
Trade Representative informed Congress
that the President intends to commence
negotiations with Canada and Mexico
with respect to the NAFTA.
2. Public Comment and Hearing
To assist USTR as it develops its
negotiating objectives and positions for
the agreement, the Trade Policy Staff
Committee (TPSC) invites interested
persons to submit comments and/or oral
testimony at a public hearing on matters
relevant to the modernization of the
NAFTA. In particular, the TPSC invites
comments addressed to:
(a) General and product-specific
negotiating objectives for Canada and
Mexico in the context of a NAFTA
modernization.
(b) Economic costs and benefits to
U.S. producers and consumers of
removal of any remaining tariffs and
removal or reduction of non-tariff
barriers on articles traded with Canada
and Mexico.
(c) Treatment of specific goods
(described by HTSUS numbers),
including comments on—
(1) Product-specific import or export
interests or barriers,
(2) Experience with particular
measures that should be addressed in
negotiations, and
(3) Addressing any remaining tariffs
on articles traded with Canada,
including ways to address export
priorities and import sensitivities
related to Canada and Mexico in the
context of the NAFTA.
(d) Customs and trade facilitation
issues that should be addressed in the
negotiations.
(e) Appropriate modifications to rules
of origin or origin procedures for
NAFTA qualifying goods.
(f) Any unwarranted sanitary and
phytosanitary measures and technical
barriers to trade imposed by Canada and
Mexico that should be addressed in the
negotiations.
(g) Relevant barriers to trade in
services between the United States and
Canada and Mexico that should be
addressed in the negotiations.
(h) Relevant digital trade issues that
should be addressed in the negotiations.
(i) Relevant trade-related intellectual
property rights issues that should be
addressed in the negotiations.
(j) Relevant investment issues that
should be addressed in the negotiations.
(k) Relevant competition-related
matters that should be addressed in the
negotiations.
E:\FR\FM\23MYN1.SGM
23MYN1
23700
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 98 / Tuesday, May 23, 2017 / Notices
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
(l) Relevant government procurement
issues that should be addressed in the
negotiations.
(m) Relevant environmental issues
that should be addressed in the
negotiations.
(n) Relevant labor issues that should
be addressed in the negotiations.
(o) Issues of particular relevance to
small and medium-sized businesses that
should be addressed in the negotiations.
(p) Relevant trade remedy issues that
should be addressed in the negotiations.
(q) Relevant state-owned enterprise
issues that should be addressed in the
negotiations.
USTR must receive written comments
no later than Monday, June 12, 2017.
A hearing will be held on Tuesday,
June 27, 2017 at 9:00 a.m., in the Main
Hearing Room at the U.S. International
Trade Commission, 500 E St. SW.,
Washington, DC 20436. If necessary, the
hearing will continue on the next
business day. Persons wishing to testify
orally at the hearing must provide
written notification of their intention by
Monday, June 12, 2017. The intent to
testify notification must be made in the
‘‘Type Comment’’ field under docket
number USTR–2017–0006 on the
regulations.gov Web site and should
include the name, address and
telephone number of the person
presenting the testimony. You should
attach a summary of the testimony by
using the ‘‘Upload File’’ field. The name
of the file also should include who will
be presenting the testimony. Remarks at
the hearing should be limited to no
more than five minutes to allow for
possible questions from the TPSC.
You should submit all documents in
accordance with the instructions in
section 3 below.
3. Requirements for Submissions
Persons submitting a notification of
intent to testify and/or written
comments must do so in English and
must identify (on the first page of the
submission) ‘‘NAFTA Negotiations.’’
In order to ensure the timely receipt
and consideration of comments, USTR
strongly encourages commenters to
make on-line submissions, using the
www.regulations.gov Web site. To
submit comments via
www.regulations.gov, enter docket
number USTR–2017–0006 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 the
www.regulations.gov Web site, please
consult the resources provided on the
Web site by clicking on ‘‘How to Use
VerDate Sep<11>2014
21:15 May 22, 2017
Jkt 241001
This Site’’ on the left side of the home
page.)
The www.regulations.gov Web site
allows users to provide comments by
filling in a ‘‘Type Comment’’ field, or by
attaching a document using an ‘‘Upload
File’’ field. USTR prefers that comments
be provided in an attached document. If
a document is attached, it is sufficient
to type ‘‘See attached’’ in the ‘‘Type
Comment’’ field. USTR prefers
submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or
Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). If the submission
is in a different application, please
indicate the name of the application in
the ‘‘Type Comment’’ field.
For any comments submitted
electronically containing business
confidential information, the file name
of the business confidential version
should begin with the characters ‘‘BC.’’
Any page containing business
confidential information must be clearly
marked ‘‘BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL’’
on the top of that page. Filers of
submissions containing business
confidential information must also
submit a public version of their
comments. The file name of the public
version should begin with the character
‘‘P.’’ The ‘‘BC’’ and ‘‘P’’ should be
followed by the name of the person or
entity submitting the comments. Filers
submitting comments containing no
business confidential information
should name their file using 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 above, USTR strongly urges
submitters to file comments through
www.regulations.gov. Any alternative
arrangements must be made with
Yvonne Jamison in advance of
transmitting the comments. You can
contact Ms. Jamison at (202) 395–3475.
General information concerning USTR
is available at www.ustr.gov.
Comments will be placed in the
docket and open to public inspection,
except business confidential
information. Comments may be viewed
on the www.regulations.gov Web site by
PO 00000
Frm 00180
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
entering the relevant docket number in
the search field on the home page.
Edward Gresser,
Chair of the Trade Policy Staff Committee,
Office of the United States Trade
Representative.
[FR Doc. 2017–10603 Filed 5–22–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290–F7–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
Notice of Intent To Rule on Request To
Release Airport Property Release at
the Mobile Regional Airport, Mobile,
Alabama
Federal Aviation
Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of intent to rule on land
release request.
AGENCY:
The FAA is considering a
request from the Mobile Airport
Authority to release 5.38± acres of nonaeronautical airport property located at
the Mobile Regional Airport in Mobile,
Alabama, to be sold to the County of
Mobile.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before June 22, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Comments on this notice
may be mailed or delivered in triplicate
to the FAA to the following address:
Jackson Airports District Office, Attn:
Kevin Morgan, Program Manager, 100
West Cross Street, Suite B, Jackson, MS
39208–2307.
In addition, one copy of any
comments submitted to the FAA must
be mailed or delivered to Jennifer F.
Shearer, C.M., Director of Aviation, P.O.
Box 88004, 8400 Airport Blvd., Mobile,
AL 36608–0004.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Kevin Morgan, Program Manager,
Jackson Airports District Office, 100
West Cross Street, Suite B, Jackson, MS
39208–2307, (601) 664–9891. The land
release request may be reviewed in
person at this same location.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FAA
is reviewing a request by Mobile Airport
Authority to release 5.38 acres of
property at the Mobile Regional Airport
under the provisions of Title 49, U.S.C.
Section 47107(h). The property will be
purchased by County of Mobile for
right-of-way acquisition project to
widen Tanner Williams Road. The
property is adjacent to Tanner Williams
Road on the northwest portion of airport
property consisting of seventeen
different partial parcels totaling 5.38
acres. The net proceeds from the sale of
this property will be used for eligible
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\23MYN1.SGM
23MYN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 98 (Tuesday, May 23, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23699-23700]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-10603]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Request for Comments on Negotiating Objectives Regarding
Modernization of the North American Free Trade Agreement With Canada
and Mexico
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Request for comments and notice of public hearing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The United States intends to commence negotiations with Canada
and Mexico regarding modernization of the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA). The NAFTA was negotiated more than 25 years ago,
and, while our economy and U.S. businesses have changed considerably
over that period, NAFTA has not. The United States seeks to support
higher-paying jobs in the United States and to grow the U.S. economy by
improving U.S. opportunities under NAFTA. Our specific objectives for
this negotiation will comply with the specific objectives set forth by
Congress in section 102 of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade
Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015. The Office of the United
States Trade Representative (USTR) is seeking public comments on
matters relevant to the modernization of NAFTA in order to inform
development of U.S. negotiating positions.
DATES: If you want to testify at the hearing, you must provide written
notification and a summary of your testimony by Monday, June 12, 2017.
Written comments also are due by Monday, June 12, 2017. A hearing will
be held at 9 a.m. in the Main Hearing Room of the United States
International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20436,
on Tuesday, June 27, 2017.
ADDRESSES: You should submit notifications of intent to testify and
written comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments in
part 3 below. For alternatives to on-line submissions, please contact
Yvonne Jamison, Trade Policy Staff Committee, at (202) 395-3475.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning
written comments or participation in the public hearing, contact Yvonne
Jamison at (202) 395-3475. Direct all other questions regarding this
notice to Daniel Watson, Deputy Assistant United States Trade
Representative for North America, at (202) 395-9587.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background
The United States commenced bilateral trade negotiations with
Canada more than 30 years ago, resulting in the U.S.-Canada Free Trade
Agreement, which entered into force on January 1, 1989. In 1991,
bilateral talks began with Mexico, which Canada joined. The NAFTA
followed, entering into force on January 1, 1994. Tariffs were
eliminated progressively and all duties and quantitative restrictions,
with the exception of those on a limited number of agricultural
products traded with Canada, were eliminated by 2008. NAFTA also
includes chapters covering rules of origin, customs procedures,
agriculture and sanitary and phytosanitary measures, government
procurement, investment, trade in services, protection of intellectual
property rights, and dispute settlement procedures. For the full NAFTA
text, please see https://www.nafta-sec-alena.org/Home/Texts-of-the-Agreement/North-American-Free-Trade-Agreement.
On May 18, 2017, following consultations with relevant
Congressional committees, the U.S. Trade Representative informed
Congress that the President intends to commence negotiations with
Canada and Mexico with respect to the NAFTA.
2. Public Comment and Hearing
To assist USTR as it develops its negotiating objectives and
positions for the agreement, the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC)
invites interested persons to submit comments and/or oral testimony at
a public hearing on matters relevant to the modernization of the NAFTA.
In particular, the TPSC invites comments addressed to:
(a) General and product-specific negotiating objectives for Canada
and Mexico in the context of a NAFTA modernization.
(b) Economic costs and benefits to U.S. producers and consumers of
removal of any remaining tariffs and removal or reduction of non-tariff
barriers on articles traded with Canada and Mexico.
(c) Treatment of specific goods (described by HTSUS numbers),
including comments on--
(1) Product-specific import or export interests or barriers,
(2) Experience with particular measures that should be addressed in
negotiations, and
(3) Addressing any remaining tariffs on articles traded with
Canada, including ways to address export priorities and import
sensitivities related to Canada and Mexico in the context of the NAFTA.
(d) Customs and trade facilitation issues that should be addressed
in the negotiations.
(e) Appropriate modifications to rules of origin or origin
procedures for NAFTA qualifying goods.
(f) Any unwarranted sanitary and phytosanitary measures and
technical barriers to trade imposed by Canada and Mexico that should be
addressed in the negotiations.
(g) Relevant barriers to trade in services between the United
States and Canada and Mexico that should be addressed in the
negotiations.
(h) Relevant digital trade issues that should be addressed in the
negotiations.
(i) Relevant trade-related intellectual property rights issues that
should be addressed in the negotiations.
(j) Relevant investment issues that should be addressed in the
negotiations.
(k) Relevant competition-related matters that should be addressed
in the negotiations.
[[Page 23700]]
(l) Relevant government procurement issues that should be addressed
in the negotiations.
(m) Relevant environmental issues that should be addressed in the
negotiations.
(n) Relevant labor issues that should be addressed in the
negotiations.
(o) Issues of particular relevance to small and medium-sized
businesses that should be addressed in the negotiations.
(p) Relevant trade remedy issues that should be addressed in the
negotiations.
(q) Relevant state-owned enterprise issues that should be addressed
in the negotiations.
USTR must receive written comments no later than Monday, June 12,
2017.
A hearing will be held on Tuesday, June 27, 2017 at 9:00 a.m., in
the Main Hearing Room at the U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E
St. SW., Washington, DC 20436. If necessary, the hearing will continue
on the next business day. Persons wishing to testify orally at the
hearing must provide written notification of their intention by Monday,
June 12, 2017. The intent to testify notification must be made in the
``Type Comment'' field under docket number USTR-2017-0006 on the
regulations.gov Web site and should include the name, address and
telephone number of the person presenting the testimony. You should
attach a summary of the testimony by using the ``Upload File'' field.
The name of the file also should include who will be presenting the
testimony. Remarks at the hearing should be limited to no more than
five minutes to allow for possible questions from the TPSC.
You should submit all documents in accordance with the instructions
in section 3 below.
3. Requirements for Submissions
Persons submitting a notification of intent to testify and/or
written comments must do so in English and must identify (on the first
page of the submission) ``NAFTA Negotiations.''
In order to ensure the timely receipt and consideration of
comments, USTR strongly encourages commenters to make on-line
submissions, using the www.regulations.gov Web site. To submit comments
via www.regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR-2017-0006 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 the www.regulations.gov Web site, please
consult the resources provided on the Web site by clicking on ``How to
Use This Site'' on the left side of the home page.)
The www.regulations.gov Web site allows users to provide comments
by filling in a ``Type Comment'' field, or by attaching a document
using an ``Upload File'' field. USTR prefers that comments be provided
in an attached document. If a document is attached, it is sufficient to
type ``See attached'' in the ``Type Comment'' field. USTR prefers
submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). If the
submission is in a different application, please indicate the name of
the application in the ``Type Comment'' field.
For any comments submitted electronically containing business
confidential information, the file name of the business confidential
version should begin with the characters ``BC.'' Any page containing
business confidential information must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS
CONFIDENTIAL'' on the top of that page. Filers of submissions
containing business confidential information must also submit a public
version of their comments. The file name of the public version should
begin with the character ``P.'' The ``BC'' and ``P'' should be followed
by the name of the person or entity submitting the comments. Filers
submitting comments containing no business confidential information
should name their file using 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 above, USTR strongly urges submitters to file comments
through www.regulations.gov. Any alternative arrangements must be made
with Yvonne Jamison in advance of transmitting the comments. You can
contact Ms. Jamison at (202) 395-3475. General information concerning
USTR is available at www.ustr.gov.
Comments will be placed in the docket and open to public
inspection, except business confidential information. Comments may be
viewed on the www.regulations.gov Web site by entering the relevant
docket number in the search field on the home page.
Edward Gresser,
Chair of the Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States
Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2017-10603 Filed 5-22-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F7-P