Initiation of a Section 301 Investigation of France's Digital Services Tax, 34042-34044 [2019-15081]

Download as PDF 34042 Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 136 / Tuesday, July 16, 2019 / Notices for copies of the proposed collection instrument and supporting documents, to Wanda Lyles Howell, who may be reached on 202–261–8791 or at lyleswm2@state.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: • Title of Information Collection: Office of Language Services Contractor Application Form. • OMB Control Number: 1405–0191. • Type of Request: Extension of a Currently Approved Collection. • Originating Office: Bureau of Administration, A/OPR/LS. • Form Number: DS–7651. • Respondents: General public applying for translator and/or interpreter contract positions. • Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,000. • Estimated Number of Responses: 1,000. • Average Time per Response: 30 minutes. • Total Estimated Burden Time: 500 annual hours. • Frequency: On occasion. • Obligation to Respond: Required to Obtain or Retain a Benefit. We are soliciting public comments to permit the Department to: • Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is necessary for the proper functions of the Department. • Evaluate the accuracy of our estimate of the time and cost burden for this proposed collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used. • Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected. • Minimize the reporting burden on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Please note that comments submitted in response to this Notice are public record. Before including any detailed personal information, you should be aware that your comments as submitted, including your personal information, will be available for public review. jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with NOTICES Abstract of Proposed Collection The information collected is necessary to ascertain whether respondents are valid interpreting and/ or translating candidates, based on their work history and legal work status in the United States. If candidates successfully become contractors for the U.S. Department of State, Office of Language Services, the information collected is used to initiate security clearance background checks and for processing payment vouchers. Respondents are typically members of VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:33 Jul 15, 2019 Jkt 247001 the public with varying degrees of experience in the fields of interpreting and/or translating. Methodology The Office of Language Services makes the ‘‘Office of Language Services Contractor Application Form’’ available via its internet site. Respondents can submit the form via email. Katherine H. Yemelyanov, Acting Director. [FR Doc. 2019–15042 Filed 7–15–19; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4710–24–P OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE Representative (USTR) Section 301 line at (202) 395–5725. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning the submission of written comments or participating in the public hearing, please contact the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Section 301 line at (202) 395–5725. For all other questions concerning the investigation, please contact the USTR Section 301 line or Kate Hadley, Assistant General Counsel at (202) 395– 4959, Robert Tanner, Director, Services and Investment, (202) 395–6125, or Michael Rogers, Trade Policy Analyst, Europe and the Middle East, (202) 395– 2684. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: [Docket No. USTR–2019–0009] I. The Digital Services Tax Initiation of a Section 301 Investigation of France’s Digital Services Tax On March 6, 2019, the Government of France released a proposal for a 3% levy on revenues that certain companies generate from providing certain digital services to, or aimed at, French users (the Digital Services Tax, or the DST). On June 26, a joint committee of the two houses of the French Parliament agreed to a joint committee DST bill. On July 4, the French National Assembly passed the DST bill. The French Senate is expected to take up the bill on July 11. Under the joint committee bill, the DST applies to revenues generated from certain ‘‘digital interface’’ services (e.g., e-marketplaces for goods and services) and certain internet advertising services. Certain services that would otherwise be covered are excluded, including digital interfaces for the delivery of ‘‘digital content.’’ The tax applies only to companies with annual revenues from the covered services of at least Ö750 million globally and Ö25 million in France. The DST applies to gross revenues from providing the covered services to, or aimed at, French individuals, not to income. Many of the companies likely to be covered are not domiciled in France and have no permanent establishment there. Under current international tax rules, these companies do not pay—or expect to pay—taxes to France on the revenue they earn by providing services to, or aimed at, French individuals. The tax applies retroactively beginning January 1, 2019. Available evidence, including statements by French officials, suggest that France expects the tax to target certain large, U.S.-based tech companies. Office of the United States Trade Representative. ACTION: Notice of initiation of investigation, public hearing, and request for comments. AGENCY: The U.S. Trade Representative (Trade Representative) is initiating an investigation with respect to the Digital Services Tax (DST) under consideration by the Government of France. The Section 301 Committee will hold a public hearing and is seeking public comments in connection with this investigation. DATES: July 10, 2019: The Trade Representative initiated the investigation with respect to the French DST. August 12, 2019 at noon EDT: Deadline for filing requests to appear at the August 19, 2019 public hearing, and for filing written version of your oral testimony. August 19, 2019 at noon EDT: To be assured of consideration, written comments must be submitted by this date. August 19, 2019: The 301 Committee will convene a public hearing at 9:30 a.m. in Rooms 1 and 2, 1724 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20508. August 26, 2019: Due date for filing post-hearing submissions. ADDRESSES: You should submit written comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https:// www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments in section IV and V. The docket number is USTR–2019–0009. For issues with online submissions, please contact the Office of the United States Trade SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00139 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 II. Initiation of Section 301 Investigation Section 302(b)(1)(A) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (Trade Act), E:\FR\FM\16JYN1.SGM 16JYN1 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 136 / Tuesday, July 16, 2019 / Notices authorizes the United States Trade Representative (Trade Representative) to initiate an investigation to determine whether an act, policy, or practice of a foreign country is actionable under section 301 of the Trade Act. Actionable matters under section 301 include, inter alia, acts, polices, and practices of a foreign country that are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce. An act, policy, or practice is unreasonable if the act, policy, or practice, while not necessarily in violation of, or inconsistent with, the international legal rights of the United States, is otherwise unfair and inequitable. Pursuant to section 302(b)(1)(B), USTR has consulted with the appropriate advisory committees. USTR also has consulted with the inter-agency Section 301 Committee. In light of concerns with France’s DST policy, as set out in the joint committee bill, the Trade Representative initiated a Section 301 investigation on July 10, 2019. Pursuant to section 303(a) of the Trade Act, the Trade Representative has requested consultations with the Government of France. Pursuant to section 304 of the Trade Act, the USTR must determine whether the act, policy, or practice under investigation is actionable under Section 301. If that determination is affirmative, the USTR must determine what action to take. The investigation initially will focus on the following concerns with the DST, as reflected in the joint committee bill. (1) Discrimination: Available evidence, including statements by French officials, indicates that the DST will amount to de facto discrimination against U.S. companies. For example, the revenue thresholds have the effect of subjecting to the DST larger companies—which, in the covered sectors, tend to be U.S. companies— while exempting smaller companies, particularly those that operate only in France. (2) Retroactivity: The DST would be a substantively new tax that applies retroactively to January 1, 2019. This feature calls into question the fairness of the DST. Further, since the tax is retroactive, companies covered by the DST may not track the data necessary to calculate their potential liability back to the beginning of 2019. (3) Unreasonable tax policy: The DST appears to diverge from norms reflected in the U.S. tax system and the international tax system in several respects. These apparent departures include: Extraterritoriality; taxing revenue not income; and a purpose of VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:33 Jul 15, 2019 Jkt 247001 penalizing particular technology companies for their commercial success. In addition to these areas of concern with the DST, interested parties are invited to raise other aspects that may warrant a finding that the French DST is actionable under Section 301. III. Request for Public Comments Interested persons are invited to submit written comments or oral testimony on any issue covered by the investigation. In particular, USTR invites comments with respect to: • Concerns with the French digital services tax, as set out in the joint committee bill or as subsequently modified or adopted by the Government of France, including the specific concerns identified above; • Whether the French DST is unreasonable or discriminatory; • The extent to which the French DST burdens or restricts U.S. commerce; • Whether the French DST is inconsistent with France’s obligations under the WTO Agreement or any other international agreement; and • The determinations required under section 304 of the Trade Act, including what action, if any, should be taken. IV. Hearing Participation The Section 301 Committee will convene a public hearing at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, located at 1724 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20508, Rooms 1 and 2, beginning at 9:30 a.m. on August 19, 2019. You must submit requests to appear at the hearing by August 12, 2019. The request to appear should include a written version of the testimony you expect to give. Remarks at the hearing may be no longer than five minutes to allow time for questions from the Section 301 Committee. All submissions must be in English and sent electronically via www.regulations.gov. To submit a request to appear at the hearing via www.regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR–2019–0009. In the ‘‘type comment’’ field, include the name, address, email address, and telephone number of the person presenting the testimony. Attach testimony, and a prehearing submission if provided, by using the ‘‘upload file’’ field. USTR strongly prefers submissions in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). The file name should include the name of the person who will be presenting the testimony. In addition, please submit a request to appear by email to 301DST@ustr.eop.gov. In the subject line of the email, please include the name of the person who will be presenting the testimony, followed by ‘Request to Appear’. Please also include PO 00000 Frm 00140 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 34043 the name, address, email address, and telephone number of the person who will be presenting testimony in the body of the email message. V. Procedures for Written Submissions All submissions must be in English and sent electronically via www.regulations.gov. To submit comments via www.regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR–2019–0009. Find a reference to this notice and click on the link entitled ‘‘comment now!’’ For further information on using the www.regulations.gov website, please consult the resources provided on the website by clicking on ‘‘how to use regulations.gov’’ on the bottom of the www.regulations.gov home page. We will not accept hand-delivered submissions. The www.regulations.gov website 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 strongly prefers submissions in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). If you use an application other than Adobe Acrobat or Word (.doc), please indicate the name of the application in the ‘‘type comment’’ field. File names should reflect 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 comment itself, rather than submitting them as separate files. 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 and the submission should clearly indicate, via brackets, highlighting, or other means, the specific information that is business confidential. If you request business confidential treatment, you must certify in writing that disclosure of the information would endanger trade secrets or profitability, and that the information would not customarily be released to the public. Filers of submissions containing business confidential information also must submit a public version of their E:\FR\FM\16JYN1.SGM 16JYN1 34044 Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 136 / Tuesday, July 16, 2019 / Notices 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 or rebuttal comments. If these procedures are not sufficient to protect business confidential information or otherwise protect business interests, please contact the USTR 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 business confidential information. You can view submissions on the https:// www.regulations.gov website by entering docket number USTR–2019– 0009 in the search field on the home page. Joseph Barloon, General Counsel, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. [FR Doc. 2019–15081 Filed 7–15–19; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3290–F9–P DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION NextGen Advisory Committee (NAC); Notice of Public Meeting Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Transportation. ACTION: Notice of public meeting. AGENCY: This notice announces a meeting of the NextGen Advisory Committee (NAC). DATES: The meeting will be held on July 30, 2019, from 9 to 12:30 p.m. EDT. Requests for accommodations to a disability must be received by July 16, 2019. Requests to speak during the meeting must submit a written copy of their remarks to FAA by 4:00 p.m. on July 16, 2019. Requests to submit written materials to be reviewed during the meeting must be received no later than 4:00 p.m. on July 16, 2019. ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at The MITRE Corporation, MITRE 1 Building Conference Center: 7525 Colshire Drive, McLean, VA 22102. Copies of the meeting minutes will be available on the NAC internet website at https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/ headquarters_offices/ang/nac/. Any committee related request should be sent to the person listed in the following section. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Greg Schwab, NAC Coordinator, U.S. Department of Transportation, at gregory.schwab@faa.gov or 202–267– jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:33 Jul 15, 2019 Jkt 247001 1201. Also, visit the NAC website at https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/ headquarters_offices/ang/nac/. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background The NAC was created under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), in accordance with the provisions of the FACA as amended, Public Law 92–463, 5 U.S.C. App to provide independent advice and recommendations to the FAA and to respond to specific taskings received directly from the FAA. The NAC recommends consensus-driven standards for FAA consideration relating to Air Traffic Management System modernization. II. Agenda At the July 30, 2019, meeting, the agenda will cover the following topics: • Official Statement of Designated Federal Official • NAC Chairman’s Report • FAA Report Æ FAA Reauthorization • NAC Subcommittee Chairman’s Report Æ NAC NextGen Priority Focus Area Updates • Domestic ADS–B Out Equipage Status Update • Recommendations • NAC Chairman Closing Comments A final agenda will be posted on the NAC website at https://www.faa.gov/ about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ ang/nac/ at least one week in advance of the meeting. The meeting will be open to the public on a first come, first served basis, as space is limited. Members of the public who wish to attend in-person are asked to register via email by submitting your full legal name, country of citizenship, and name of your industry association, or applicable affiliation, to NACRegistration@conceptsolutions.com by July 10, 2019. For Foreign National attendees, please also provide your company/organization country. Individuals requesting accessibility accommodations, such as sign language, interpretation, or other ancillary aids, may do so by contacting the person listed under the heading FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by July 10, 2019. Five (5) minutes total time will be allotted during the meeting for all oral comments from members of the public in attendance. To accommodate as many speakers as possible, the time for each commenter may be limited. Individuals Frm 00141 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Dated: July 11, 2019. Tiffany Ottilia McCoy, General Engineer, NextGen Office of Collaboration and Messaging, ANG–M, Office of the Assistant Administrator for NextGen, Federal Aviation Administration. [FR Doc. 2019–15041 Filed 7–15–19; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910–13–P DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [U.S. DOT Docket No. NHTSA–2019–0019] III. Public Participation PO 00000 wishing to reserve speaking time during the meeting must submit a request at the time of registration. If the number of registrants requesting to make statements is greater than can be reasonably accommodated during the meeting, the FAA may conduct a lottery to determine the speakers. Speakers are requested to submit a written copy of their prepared remarks for inclusion in the meeting records and for circulation to NAC members. All prepared remarks submitted on time will be considered as part of the record. Persons who wish to only submit written comments to the NAC may do so. All written comments submitted on time will be reviewed and considered for inclusion as part of the record. Comments received after the due date and time will be distributed to the members but may not be reviewed prior to the meeting. Copies of the meeting minutes will be available on the NAC website at https:// www.faa.gov/about/office_org/ headquarters_offices/ang/nac/. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Request for Comment; Prevalence of Alcohol and Other Drug Use Among Motor Vehicle Crash Victims Admitted to Select Trauma Centers. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Department of Transportation. ACTION: Notice and request for comments on a new information collection. AGENCY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below is being submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden. A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\16JYN1.SGM 16JYN1

Agencies

Office of the United States Trade Representative

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 136 (Tuesday, July 16, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34042-34044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-15081]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Docket No. USTR-2019-0009]


Initiation of a Section 301 Investigation of France's Digital 
Services Tax

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice of initiation of investigation, public hearing, and 
request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Trade Representative (Trade Representative) is 
initiating an investigation with respect to the Digital Services Tax 
(DST) under consideration by the Government of France. The Section 301 
Committee will hold a public hearing and is seeking public comments in 
connection with this investigation.

DATES: 
    July 10, 2019: The Trade Representative initiated the investigation 
with respect to the French DST.
    August 12, 2019 at noon EDT: Deadline for filing requests to appear 
at the August 19, 2019 public hearing, and for filing written version 
of your oral testimony.
    August 19, 2019 at noon EDT: To be assured of consideration, 
written comments must be submitted by this date.
    August 19, 2019: The 301 Committee will convene a public hearing at 
9:30 a.m. in Rooms 1 and 2, 1724 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20508.
    August 26, 2019: Due date for filing post-hearing submissions.

ADDRESSES: You should submit written comments through the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions 
for submitting comments in section IV and V. The docket number is USTR-
2019-0009. For issues with on-line submissions, please contact the 
Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Section 301 
line at (202) 395-5725.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning 
the submission of written comments or participating in the public 
hearing, please contact the Office of the United States Trade 
Representative (USTR) Section 301 line at (202) 395-5725. For all other 
questions concerning the investigation, please contact the USTR Section 
301 line or Kate Hadley, Assistant General Counsel at (202) 395-4959, 
Robert Tanner, Director, Services and Investment, (202) 395-6125, or 
Michael Rogers, Trade Policy Analyst, Europe and the Middle East, (202) 
395-2684.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. The Digital Services Tax

    On March 6, 2019, the Government of France released a proposal for 
a 3% levy on revenues that certain companies generate from providing 
certain digital services to, or aimed at, French users (the Digital 
Services Tax, or the DST). On June 26, a joint committee of the two 
houses of the French Parliament agreed to a joint committee DST bill. 
On July 4, the French National Assembly passed the DST bill. The French 
Senate is expected to take up the bill on July 11.
    Under the joint committee bill, the DST applies to revenues 
generated from certain ``digital interface'' services (e.g., e-
marketplaces for goods and services) and certain internet advertising 
services. Certain services that would otherwise be covered are 
excluded, including digital interfaces for the delivery of ``digital 
content.'' The tax applies only to companies with annual revenues from 
the covered services of at least [euro]750 million globally and 
[euro]25 million in France. The DST applies to gross revenues from 
providing the covered services to, or aimed at, French individuals, not 
to income. Many of the companies likely to be covered are not domiciled 
in France and have no permanent establishment there. Under current 
international tax rules, these companies do not pay--or expect to pay--
taxes to France on the revenue they earn by providing services to, or 
aimed at, French individuals. The tax applies retroactively beginning 
January 1, 2019. Available evidence, including statements by French 
officials, suggest that France expects the tax to target certain large, 
U.S.-based tech companies.

II. Initiation of Section 301 Investigation

    Section 302(b)(1)(A) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (Trade 
Act),

[[Page 34043]]

authorizes the United States Trade Representative (Trade 
Representative) to initiate an investigation to determine whether an 
act, policy, or practice of a foreign country is actionable under 
section 301 of the Trade Act. Actionable matters under section 301 
include, inter alia, acts, polices, and practices of a foreign country 
that are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. 
commerce. An act, policy, or practice is unreasonable if the act, 
policy, or practice, while not necessarily in violation of, or 
inconsistent with, the international legal rights of the United States, 
is otherwise unfair and inequitable.
    Pursuant to section 302(b)(1)(B), USTR has consulted with the 
appropriate advisory committees. USTR also has consulted with the 
inter-agency Section 301 Committee. In light of concerns with France's 
DST policy, as set out in the joint committee bill, the Trade 
Representative initiated a Section 301 investigation on July 10, 2019. 
Pursuant to section 303(a) of the Trade Act, the Trade Representative 
has requested consultations with the Government of France.
    Pursuant to section 304 of the Trade Act, the USTR must determine 
whether the act, policy, or practice under investigation is actionable 
under Section 301. If that determination is affirmative, the USTR must 
determine what action to take.
    The investigation initially will focus on the following concerns 
with the DST, as reflected in the joint committee bill.
    (1) Discrimination: Available evidence, including statements by 
French officials, indicates that the DST will amount to de facto 
discrimination against U.S. companies. For example, the revenue 
thresholds have the effect of subjecting to the DST larger companies--
which, in the covered sectors, tend to be U.S. companies--while 
exempting smaller companies, particularly those that operate only in 
France.
    (2) Retroactivity: The DST would be a substantively new tax that 
applies retroactively to January 1, 2019. This feature calls into 
question the fairness of the DST. Further, since the tax is 
retroactive, companies covered by the DST may not track the data 
necessary to calculate their potential liability back to the beginning 
of 2019.
    (3) Unreasonable tax policy: The DST appears to diverge from norms 
reflected in the U.S. tax system and the international tax system in 
several respects. These apparent departures include: 
Extraterritoriality; taxing revenue not income; and a purpose of 
penalizing particular technology companies for their commercial 
success.
    In addition to these areas of concern with the DST, interested 
parties are invited to raise other aspects that may warrant a finding 
that the French DST is actionable under Section 301.

III. Request for Public Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written comments or oral 
testimony on any issue covered by the investigation. In particular, 
USTR invites comments with respect to:
     Concerns with the French digital services tax, as set out 
in the joint committee bill or as subsequently modified or adopted by 
the Government of France, including the specific concerns identified 
above;
     Whether the French DST is unreasonable or discriminatory;
     The extent to which the French DST burdens or restricts 
U.S. commerce;
     Whether the French DST is inconsistent with France's 
obligations under the WTO Agreement or any other international 
agreement; and
     The determinations required under section 304 of the Trade 
Act, including what action, if any, should be taken.

IV. Hearing Participation

    The Section 301 Committee will convene a public hearing at the 
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, located at 1724 F Street NW, 
Washington, DC 20508, Rooms 1 and 2, beginning at 9:30 a.m. on August 
19, 2019. You must submit requests to appear at the hearing by August 
12, 2019. The request to appear should include a written version of the 
testimony you expect to give. Remarks at the hearing may be no longer 
than five minutes to allow time for questions from the Section 301 
Committee.
    All submissions must be in English and sent electronically via 
www.regulations.gov. To submit a request to appear at the hearing via 
www.regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR-2019-0009. In the ``type 
comment'' field, include the name, address, email address, and 
telephone number of the person presenting the testimony. Attach 
testimony, and a pre-hearing submission if provided, by using the 
``upload file'' field. USTR strongly prefers submissions in Adobe 
Acrobat (.pdf). The file name should include the name of the person who 
will be presenting the testimony. In addition, please submit a request 
to appear by email to [email protected]. In the subject line of the 
email, please include the name of the person who will be presenting the 
testimony, followed by `Request to Appear'. Please also include the 
name, address, email address, and telephone number of the person who 
will be presenting testimony in the body of the email message.

V. Procedures for Written Submissions

    All submissions must be in English and sent electronically via 
www.regulations.gov. To submit comments via www.regulations.gov, enter 
docket number USTR-2019-0009. Find a reference to this notice and click 
on the link entitled ``comment now!'' For further information on using 
the www.regulations.gov website, please consult the resources provided 
on the website by clicking on ``how to use regulations.gov'' on the 
bottom of the www.regulations.gov home page. We will not accept hand-
delivered submissions.
    The www.regulations.gov website 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 strongly prefers 
submissions in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). If you use an application other 
than Adobe Acrobat or Word (.doc), please indicate the name of the 
application in the ``type comment'' field.
    File names should reflect 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 comment itself, rather than 
submitting them as separate files.
    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 and the submission should 
clearly indicate, via brackets, highlighting, or other means, the 
specific information that is business confidential. If you request 
business confidential treatment, you must certify in writing that 
disclosure of the information would endanger trade secrets or 
profitability, and that the information would not customarily be 
released to the public. Filers of submissions containing business 
confidential information also must submit a public version of their

[[Page 34044]]

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 or rebuttal comments. If 
these procedures are not sufficient to protect business confidential 
information or otherwise protect business interests, please contact the 
USTR 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 business confidential information. You can view submissions on 
the https://www.regulations.gov website by entering docket number USTR-
2019-0009 in the search field on the home page.

Joseph Barloon,
General Counsel, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2019-15081 Filed 7-15-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F9-P

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