Notice of the 2020 Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Annual Review and the Deadline for Filing Petitions, 12381-12383 [2020-04220]

Agencies

• Office of the United States Trade Representative

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 41 (Monday, March 2, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12381-12383]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-04220]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Notice of the 2020 Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Annual 
Review and the Deadline for Filing Petitions

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice of available statistics and announcement of the 2020 GSP 
Annual Review.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) 
will consider petitions to modify the GSP status of GSP beneficiary 
developing countries (BDCs) because of country practices; add products 
to GSP eligibility; remove products from GSP eligibility for one or 
more countries; waive competitive need limitations (CNLs); deny de 
minimis waivers for eligible products; or redesignate currently 
excluded products. This review will include separate hearings on 
accepted country practice review and product petitions, which USTR will 
announce in the Federal Register at a later date.

DATES: March 26, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. EST: Deadline for submission of 
petitions to modify the GSP status of GSP BDCs because of country 
practices; add products to GSP eligibility; remove products from GSP 
eligibility for one or more countries; waive CNLs; deny de minimis 
waivers for eligible products; or redesignate currently excluded 
products. USTR will not consider petitions submitted after the 
deadline. USTR will announce the petitions accepted for review, along 
with a schedule for any related public hearings, and the opportunity 
for the public to provide comments at a later date.

ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made through 
the Federal eRulemaking portal: https://www.regulations.gov 
(Regulations.gov). Follow the instructions for submitting petitions in 
section III below. For alternatives to online submissions, please 
contact Claudia Chlebek in advance of the submission deadline at 
[email protected], or 202-395-2974.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Claudia Chlebek at [email protected], 
or 202-395-2974.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The GSP program provides for the duty-free 
treatment of designated articles when imported from designated BDCs. 
The GSP program is authorized by Title V of the Trade Act of 1974, as 
amended (Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. 2461-2467), and is implemented in 
accordance with Executive Order 11888 of November 24, 1975, as modified 
by subsequent Executive Orders and Presidential Proclamations.

I. 2019 Import Statistics Related to CNLs, De Minimis Waivers, and 
Product Redesignations

    USTR has posted the 2019 import statistics relating to CNLs, de 
minimis waivers, and product redesignations on the USTR website at 
https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/IssueAreas/gsp/2020_GSP_Annual_Review-2019_Import_Statistics.pdf. These statistics 
include three lists:
    List I identifies GSP-eligible articles from BDCs that exceeded a 
CNL in 2019 by having been imported into the United States in a 
quantity valued in excess of $190 million, or in a quantity equal to or 
greater than 50 percent of the total U.S. import value for this product 
in 2019. Unless the President grants a waiver in response to a petition 
filed by an interested party, these products automatically will be 
removed from GSP eligibility on November 1, 2020.
    List II identifies GSP-eligible articles from BDCs that are above 
the 50 percent CNL but are eligible for a de minimis waiver since total 
U.S. imports of the product in 2019 were less than $24.5 million. 
Articles eligible for de minimis waivers automatically are considered 
in the GSP annual review process without the filing of a petition. As 
described below, USTR only will accept petitions in opposition to a 
potential de minimis waiver for a particular product.
    List III identifies GSP-eligible articles from certain BDCs that 
currently are not receiving GSP duty-free treatment but may be 
considered for GSP redesignation based on 2019 trade data and 
consideration of certain statutory factors. Note that products 
exceeding the 50 percent CNL may be considered for redesignation if 
there was no U.S. production of a like or directly competitive product 
in the last three years.
    List IV identifies GSP-eligible articles from BDCs that currently 
have a CNL waiver but where imports of the article have exceeded 150 
percent of the CNL or 75 percent of the appraised value of total 
imports of that article. Unless the President grants a continuation of 
the waiver in response to a petition filed by an interested party, 
these products will be removed from GSP eligibility on November 1, 
2020.

II. 2020 GSP Annual Review

A. Country Practice Review Petitions

    An interested party may submit a petition to review the GSP 
eligibility of any BDC with respect to any of the designation criteria 
listed in sections 502(b) and 502(c) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 
2462(b) and (c)). The docket number is USTR-2020-0003.

B. Product Review Petitions

    An interested party may submit the following petitions:
    Product addition petitions: Petitions to designate additional 
articles as eligible for GSP benefits, including designating articles 
as eligible only for countries designated as least-developed 
beneficiary developing countries (LDBDCs), or as beneficiary sub-
Saharan African countries under the African Growth and Opportunity Act 
(AGOA). Petitioners seeking to add products to

[[Page 12382]]

eligibility for GSP benefits should note that, as provided in section 
503(b) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2463(b)), certain articles may not 
be designated as eligible articles under GSP. The docket number is 
USTR-2020-0004.
    Product removal petitions: Petitions to remove, suspend, or limit 
the application of duty-free treatment accorded under GSP with respect 
to any article. The docket number is USTR-2020-0005.
    CNL waiver petitions: Any interested party may submit a petition 
seeking a waiver of the 2020 CNL for individual BDCs with respect to 
specific GSP-eligible articles (these limits, however, do not apply to 
LDBDCs or AGOA beneficiary countries). Interested parties filing CNL 
waiver petitions should indicate whether there was production of a like 
or directly competitive product in the United States during the 
previous three calendar years (that is, 2017 to 2019). The docket 
number is USTR-2020-0006.
    Petitions for denial of de minimis waivers: USTR automatically will 
consider all de minimis waivers. Thus, USTR will only accept petitions 
to deny de minimis waivers for particular products. The docket number 
is USTR-2020-0007.
    Petitions for redesignation: Interested parties may file petitions 
to grant redesignation of products for which import quantities are 
below the dollar value CNL ($190 million for 2019) and below 50 percent 
of total U.S. imports. If a petitioner believes there has been no U.S. 
production of a like or directly competitive product in the past three 
years, USTR also will consider petitions to grant redesignation of 
products for which imports are below the dollar value CNL ($190 million 
for 2019) but that exceed 50 percent of total U.S. imports. The docket 
number is USTR-2020-0008.

III. Requirements for Submissions

A. Docket Numbers

    To submit petitions, use the following docket numbers:
    Country Practice Review Petitions: Docket number USTR-2020-0003.
    Product Addition Petitions: Docket number USTR-2020-0004.
    Product Removal Petitions: Docket number USTR-2020-0005.
    CNL Waiver Petitions: Docket number USTR-2020-0006.
    Petitions for Denial of De Minimis Waivers: Docket number USTR-
2020-0007.
    Petitions for Redesignation: Docket number USTR-2020-0008.

B. General Requirements

    All submissions for the 2020 GSP annual review must conform to the 
GSP regulations set forth at 15 CFR part 2007 (https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=2688e93e7a801d4294d011d7afcc7347&mc=true&node=pt15.3.2007&rgn=div5), except as modified below.
    All submissions must be in English and submitted electronically via 
Regulations.gov using the docket number for the type of petition listed 
in section III.A above. USTR will not accept hand-delivered 
submissions.
    To make a submission via Regulations.gov, enter the corresponding 
docket number for the type of petition 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.' For additional information on 
using the Regulations.gov website, please consult the resources 
provided on the website by clicking on `how to use this site' on the 
left side of the home page.
    The Regulations.gov website 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.
    Submissions should not exceed 30 single-spaced, standard letter-
size pages in 12-point type, including attachments. Include any data 
attachments to the submission in the same file as the submission 
itself, and not as separate files.
    Submissions should follow the following format:
    In the top left corner of the first page, the following information 
should appear:
     2020 GSP Annual Review.
     Petition type (e.g., Petition for continuation of a CNL 
waiver, Country Practice Review Petition, etc.).
     For product petitions: The eight or ten digit Harmonized 
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheading number in which 
the product is classified.
     For country practice petitions: The name of the country.
     If the product petition is for a specific BDC, the name of 
the BDC.
     Name of the entity submitting the petition.
    You should save your petition with a title similar to the bullets 
above, e.g., petition type--the eight or ten digit HTSUS number or 
country name--if needed for product petition, country name--name of 
entity submitting the petition. To meet length constraints, you can use 
acronyms and abbreviations in submission titles.
    You will receive a tracking number confirming that your submission 
was received into Regulations.gov that you should keep for your 
records.
    USTR is not responsible for any delays in a submission due to 
technical difficulties, and is unable provide any technical assistance 
for Regulations.gov. USTR may not consider documents that you do not 
submit in accordance with these instructions.
    If you cannot provide submissions as requested, please contact 
Claudia Chlebek in advance of the submission deadline at 
[email protected] or (202) 395-2974 to arrange for an alternative method 
of transmission.

C. Business Confidential Petitions

    You must clearly designate business confidential information (BCI) 
by marking the submission `BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL' at the top and bottom 
of the cover page and each succeeding page, and indicating, via 
brackets, the specific information that is confidential.
    A submitter requesting that USTR treat information in a submission 
as BCI must certify that the information is business confidential and 
would not customarily be released to the public by the submitter.
    You must include `business confidential' in the `type comment' 
field, and must add `business confidential' to the end of your file 
name for any attachments.
    For any submission containing BCI, you also must attach a separate 
non-confidential version (i.e., not as part of the same submission with 
the BCI version), indicating where confidential information has been 
redacted. USTR will place the non-confidential version in the docket 
and it will be available for public inspection.
    USTR may not accept BCI submissions that do not have the required 
markings, or are not accompanied by a properly marked non-confidential 
version, and may consider the submission to be a public document.

D. Public Viewing of Review Submissions

    Submissions responding to this notice, except for information 
granted BCI status under 15 CFR part 2003.6, will be available for 
public viewing at Regulations.gov upon completion of processing. You 
can view submissions by entering the relevant docket number

[[Page 12383]]

listed in section III.A in the search field at Regulations.gov.

Laura Buffo,
Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for the Generalized System 
of Preferences, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2020-04220 Filed 2-28-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3290-F0-P