Request for Comments To Compile the National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, 55925-55926 [2020-19985]
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 176 / Thursday, September 10, 2020 / Notices
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES
TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
[Docket Number USTR–2020–0034]
Request for Comments To Compile the
National Trade Estimate Report on
Foreign Trade Barriers
Office of the United States
Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The Office of the United
States Trade Representative (USTR),
through the Trade Policy Staff
Committee (TPSC), publishes the
National Trade Estimate Report on
Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE Report)
each year. USTR invites comments to
assist it and the TPSC in identifying
significant barriers to U.S. exports of
goods and services, U.S. foreign direct
investment, and the protection and
enforcement of intellectual property
rights for inclusion in the NTE Report.
USTR also will consider responses to
this notice as part of the annual review
of the operation and effectiveness of all
U.S. trade agreements regarding
telecommunications products and
services that are in force with respect to
the United States.
DATES: The deadline for submission of
comments is October 29, 2020 at
midnight EST.
ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers
electronic submissions made through
the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov (Regulations.gov).
The instructions for submitting
comments are in section IV below. The
docket number is USTR–2020–0034. For
alternatives to on-line submissions,
please contact Yvonne Jamison at
Yvonne_D_Jamison@ustr.eop.gov or
(202) 395–3475 before transmitting a
comment and in advance of the
deadline.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Yvonne Jamison at Yvonne_D_Jamison@
ustr.eop.gov or (202) 395–3475.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
I. Background
Section 181 of the Trade Act of 1974,
as amended (19 U.S.C. 2241), requires
USTR annually to publish the NTE
Report, which sets out an inventory of
the most significant foreign barriers
affecting U.S. exports of goods and
services, including agricultural
commodities, U.S. intellectual property,
U.S. foreign direct investment by U.S.
persons, especially if such investment
has implications for trade in goods or
services, and U.S. electronic commerce.
The inventory facilitates U.S.
negotiations aimed at reducing or
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:38 Sep 09, 2020
Jkt 250001
eliminating these barriers and is a
valuable tool in enforcing U.S. trade
laws and strengthening the rules-based
trading system. You can find the 2020
NTE Report on USTR’s website at
https://www.ustr.gov under the tab
‘Reports and Publications.’ To ensure
compliance with the statutory mandate
for the NTE Report and the
Administration’s commitment to focus
on the most significant foreign trade
barriers, USTR will take comments in
response to this notice into account in
deciding which restrictions to include
in the NTE Report.
II. Topics on Which the TPSC Seeks
Information
To assist USTR in preparing the NTE
Report, commenters should submit
information related to one or more of
the following categories of foreign trade
barriers:
1. Import policies. Examples include
tariffs and other import charges,
quantitative restrictions, import
licensing, pre-shipment inspection,
customs barriers and shortcomings in
trade facilitation or in valuation
practices, and other market access
barriers.
2. Technical barriers to trade.
Examples include unnecessarily trade
restrictive or discriminatory standards,
conformity assessment procedures,
labeling, or technical regulations,
including unnecessary or discriminatory
technical regulations or standards for
telecommunications products.
3. Sanitary and phytosanitary
measures. Examples include trade
restrictions implemented through
unwarranted measures not based on
scientific evidence.
4. Subsidies, especially export
subsidies and local content subsidies.
Examples of export subsidies include all
subsidies contingent upon export of
performance and agricultural export
subsidies that displace U.S. exports in
third country markets. Examples of local
content subsidies include subsidies
contingent on the purchase or use of
domestic rather than imported goods.
5. Government procurement
restrictions. Examples include ‘buy
national policies’ and closed bidding.
6. Intellectual property protection.
Examples include inadequate patent,
copyright, and trademark regimes and
inadequate enforcement of intellectual
property rights.
7. Services barriers. Examples include
prohibitions or restrictions on foreign
participation in the market,
discriminatory licensing requirements
or regulatory standards, local-presence
requirements, and unreasonable
PO 00000
Frm 00114
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
55925
restrictions on the types of services that
providers may offer.
8. Barriers to digital trade and
electronic commerce. Examples include
barriers to cross-border data flows,
including data localization
requirements, discriminatory practices
affecting trade in digital products,
restrictions on the provision of internetenabled services, and other restrictive
technology requirements.
9. Investment barriers. Examples
include limitations on foreign equity
participation and on access to foreign
government-funded research and
development programs, local content
requirements, technology transfer and
export performance requirements, and
restrictions on repatriation of earnings,
capital, fees, and royalties.
10. Competition. Examples include
government-tolerated anticompetitive
conduct of state-owned or private firms
that restrict the sale or purchase of U.S.
goods or services in the foreign
country’s markets, or abuse of
competition laws to inhibit trade.
11. Other barriers. Examples include
barriers that encompass more than one
category, such as bribery and
corruption, or that affect a single sector.
Commenters should submit
information related to one or more of
the following export markets to be
covered in the report: Algeria, Angola,
the Arab League, Argentina, Australia,
Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil,
Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Canada,
Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cote
d’Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Ecuador,
Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, the
European Union, Ghana, Guatemala,
Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia,
Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Korea,
Kuwait, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico,
Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua,
Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan,
Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the
Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi
Arabia, Singapore, South Africa,
Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia,
Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates,
United Kingdom (UK),1 Uruguay, and
Vietnam.
In addition, section 1377 of the
Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness
Act of 1988 (19 U.S.C. 3106) (section
1377) requires USTR annually to review
1 Note: The UK formally left the European Union
(EU) on January 31, 2020. However, under the terms
of its Withdrawal Agreement, it remains subject to
the EU trade policy regime, including the EU
Customs Union and Single Market, until January 1,
2021. During this time, the UK is developing its
own domestic trade policy regime. USTR welcomes
comments on existing trade barriers in the UK
market (as a result of its relationship with the EU)
or concerns regarding potential new trade barriers
as the UK leaves the EU trade policy regime in
2021.
E:\FR\FM\10SEN1.SGM
10SEN1
55926
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 176 / Thursday, September 10, 2020 / Notices
the operation and effectiveness of U.S.
telecommunications trade agreements
that are in force with respect to the
United States. The purpose of the
review is to determine whether any
foreign government that is a party to one
of those agreements is failing to comply
with that government’s obligations or is
otherwise denying, within the context of
a relevant agreement, ‘‘mutually
advantageous market opportunities’’ to
U.S. telecommunication products or
services suppliers. USTR will consider
responses to this notice in the review
called for in section 1377.
Commenters should place particular
emphasis on any practices that may
violate U.S. trade agreements. USTR
also is interested in receiving new or
updated information pertinent to the
barriers covered in the 2020 NTE Report
as well as information on new barriers.
If USTR does not include in the 2021
NTE Report information that it receives
pursuant to this notice, it will maintain
the information for potential use in
future discussions or negotiations with
trading partners.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
III. Estimate of Increase in Exports
Each comment should include an
estimate of the potential increase in U.S.
exports that would result from removing
any foreign trade barrier the comment
identifies, as well as a description of the
methodology the commenter used to
derive the estimate. Commenters should
express estimates within the following
value ranges: Less than $10 million, $10
million to $25 million, $25 million to
$100 million, $100 million to $500
million, and over $500 million. These
estimates will help USTR conduct
comparative analyses of a barrier’s effect
over a range of industries.
IV. Requirements for Submissions
Comments must be in English and
must identify on the first page of the
submission ‘Comments Regarding
Foreign Trade Barriers to U.S. Exports
for 2021 Reporting.’ Commenters
providing information on foreign trade
barriers in more than one country
should, whenever possible, provide a
separate submission for each country.
The submission deadline is Thursday,
October 29, 2020, at midnight EST.
USTR strongly encourages commenters
to make on-line submissions, using
Regulations.gov. To submit comments
via Regulations.gov, enter docket
number USTR–2020–0034 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
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:38 Sep 09, 2020
Jkt 250001
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 an ‘upload file’ field.
USTR prefers that you provide
comments in an attached document. If
you attach a document, please identify
the name of the country to which the
submission pertains in the ‘type
comment’ field, e.g., see attached
comments with respect to (name of
country). 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.
Filers submitting comments
containing that do not include business
confidential information (BCI) should
name their file using the name of the
person or entity submitting the
comments. For any comments submitted
electronically that contain BCI, the file
name of the business confidential
version should begin with the characters
‘BCI.’ Clearly mark any page containing
BCI with ‘BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL’
on 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 comments through
Regulations.gov. You must make any
alternative arrangements with Yvonne
Jamison at Yvonne_D_Jamison@
ustr.eop.gov or (202) 395–3475 before
transmitting a comment and in advance
of the deadline.
USTR will post comments in the
docket for public inspection, except
properly designated BCI. You can view
comments on Regulations.gov by
entering docket number USTR–2020–
0034 in the search field on the home
page. General information concerning
PO 00000
Frm 00115
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
USTR is available at https://
www.ustr.gov.
Edward Gresser,
Chair of the Trade Policy Staff Committee,
Office of the United States Trade
Representative.
[FR Doc. 2020–19985 Filed 9–9–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290–F0–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
Adoption of Environmental
Assessment for Long Range
Discrimination Radar Performance
Testing, Clear Air Force Station,
Alaska, and Finding of No Significant
Impact and Record of Decision for
Temporary Flight Restrictions.
Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), Department of
Transportation.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
AGENCY:
This notice announces the
availability of the FAA’s Adoption of
Missile Defense Agency Environmental
Assessment for Long Range
Discrimination Radar (LRDR)
Performance Testing, Clear Air Force
Station (CAFS), Alaska, and Finding of
No Significant Impact and Record of
Decision for Temporary Flight
Restrictions in the Vicinity of CAFS for
LRDR Performance Testing. This
document sets forth: (1) The FAA’s
adoption of the Missile Defense
Agency’s (MDA) Environmental
Assessment for Long Range
Discrimination Radar (LRDR)
Performance Testing, Clear Air Force
Station (CAFS), Alaska; (2) the FAA’s
finding that no significant
environmental effects would result from
two proposed temporary flight
restrictions (TFRs) the FAA would issue
to protect aviation from high-intensity
radiated fields generated during the
LRDR performance testing; and (3) the
FAA’s decision to approve the TFRs.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Paula Miller, Airspace Policy and
Regulations Group, Office of Airspace
Services, Federal Aviation
Administration, 800 Independence
Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591;
telephone: (202) 267–7378.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
Background
MDA prepared a Final Environmental
Assessment (FEA) for performance
testing of a LRDR at CAFS, Alaska. The
FEA includes analysis of the potential
environmental effects of two TFRs that
E:\FR\FM\10SEN1.SGM
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 176 (Thursday, September 10, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55925-55926]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-19985]
[[Page 55925]]
=======================================================================
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
[Docket Number USTR-2020-0034]
Request for Comments To Compile the National Trade Estimate
Report on Foreign Trade Barriers
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR),
through the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC), publishes the National
Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE Report) each year.
USTR invites comments to assist it and the TPSC in identifying
significant barriers to U.S. exports of goods and services, U.S.
foreign direct investment, and the protection and enforcement of
intellectual property rights for inclusion in the NTE Report. USTR also
will consider responses to this notice as part of the annual review of
the operation and effectiveness of all U.S. trade agreements regarding
telecommunications products and services that are in force with respect
to the United States.
DATES: The deadline for submission of comments is October 29, 2020 at
midnight EST.
ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made through
the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov
(Regulations.gov). The instructions for submitting comments are in
section IV below. The docket number is USTR-2020-0034. For alternatives
to on-line submissions, please contact Yvonne Jamison at
[email protected] or (202) 395-3475 before transmitting a
comment and in advance of the deadline.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yvonne Jamison at
[email protected] or (202) 395-3475.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Section 181 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2241),
requires USTR annually to publish the NTE Report, which sets out an
inventory of the most significant foreign barriers affecting U.S.
exports of goods and services, including agricultural commodities, U.S.
intellectual property, U.S. foreign direct investment by U.S. persons,
especially if such investment has implications for trade in goods or
services, and U.S. electronic commerce. The inventory facilitates U.S.
negotiations aimed at reducing or eliminating these barriers and is a
valuable tool in enforcing U.S. trade laws and strengthening the rules-
based trading system. You can find the 2020 NTE Report on USTR's
website at https://www.ustr.gov under the tab `Reports and
Publications.' To ensure compliance with the statutory mandate for the
NTE Report and the Administration's commitment to focus on the most
significant foreign trade barriers, USTR will take comments in response
to this notice into account in deciding which restrictions to include
in the NTE Report.
II. Topics on Which the TPSC Seeks Information
To assist USTR in preparing the NTE Report, commenters should
submit information related to one or more of the following categories
of foreign trade barriers:
1. Import policies. Examples include tariffs and other import
charges, quantitative restrictions, import licensing, pre-shipment
inspection, customs barriers and shortcomings in trade facilitation or
in valuation practices, and other market access barriers.
2. Technical barriers to trade. Examples include unnecessarily
trade restrictive or discriminatory standards, conformity assessment
procedures, labeling, or technical regulations, including unnecessary
or discriminatory technical regulations or standards for
telecommunications products.
3. Sanitary and phytosanitary measures. Examples include trade
restrictions implemented through unwarranted measures not based on
scientific evidence.
4. Subsidies, especially export subsidies and local content
subsidies. Examples of export subsidies include all subsidies
contingent upon export of performance and agricultural export subsidies
that displace U.S. exports in third country markets. Examples of local
content subsidies include subsidies contingent on the purchase or use
of domestic rather than imported goods.
5. Government procurement restrictions. Examples include `buy
national policies' and closed bidding.
6. Intellectual property protection. Examples include inadequate
patent, copyright, and trademark regimes and inadequate enforcement of
intellectual property rights.
7. Services barriers. Examples include prohibitions or restrictions
on foreign participation in the market, discriminatory licensing
requirements or regulatory standards, local-presence requirements, and
unreasonable restrictions on the types of services that providers may
offer.
8. Barriers to digital trade and electronic commerce. Examples
include barriers to cross-border data flows, including data
localization requirements, discriminatory practices affecting trade in
digital products, restrictions on the provision of internet-enabled
services, and other restrictive technology requirements.
9. Investment barriers. Examples include limitations on foreign
equity participation and on access to foreign government-funded
research and development programs, local content requirements,
technology transfer and export performance requirements, and
restrictions on repatriation of earnings, capital, fees, and royalties.
10. Competition. Examples include government-tolerated
anticompetitive conduct of state-owned or private firms that restrict
the sale or purchase of U.S. goods or services in the foreign country's
markets, or abuse of competition laws to inhibit trade.
11. Other barriers. Examples include barriers that encompass more
than one category, such as bribery and corruption, or that affect a
single sector.
Commenters should submit information related to one or more of the
following export markets to be covered in the report: Algeria, Angola,
the Arab League, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia,
Brazil, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa
Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador,
Ethiopia, the European Union, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong,
India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Kuwait, Laos,
Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway,
Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Qatar, Russia,
Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand,
Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (UK),\1\
Uruguay, and Vietnam.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Note: The UK formally left the European Union (EU) on
January 31, 2020. However, under the terms of its Withdrawal
Agreement, it remains subject to the EU trade policy regime,
including the EU Customs Union and Single Market, until January 1,
2021. During this time, the UK is developing its own domestic trade
policy regime. USTR welcomes comments on existing trade barriers in
the UK market (as a result of its relationship with the EU) or
concerns regarding potential new trade barriers as the UK leaves the
EU trade policy regime in 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In addition, section 1377 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness
Act of 1988 (19 U.S.C. 3106) (section 1377) requires USTR annually to
review
[[Page 55926]]
the operation and effectiveness of U.S. telecommunications trade
agreements that are in force with respect to the United States. The
purpose of the review is to determine whether any foreign government
that is a party to one of those agreements is failing to comply with
that government's obligations or is otherwise denying, within the
context of a relevant agreement, ``mutually advantageous market
opportunities'' to U.S. telecommunication products or services
suppliers. USTR will consider responses to this notice in the review
called for in section 1377.
Commenters should place particular emphasis on any practices that
may violate U.S. trade agreements. USTR also is interested in receiving
new or updated information pertinent to the barriers covered in the
2020 NTE Report as well as information on new barriers. If USTR does
not include in the 2021 NTE Report information that it receives
pursuant to this notice, it will maintain the information for potential
use in future discussions or negotiations with trading partners.
III. Estimate of Increase in Exports
Each comment should include an estimate of the potential increase
in U.S. exports that would result from removing any foreign trade
barrier the comment identifies, as well as a description of the
methodology the commenter used to derive the estimate. Commenters
should express estimates within the following value ranges: Less than
$10 million, $10 million to $25 million, $25 million to $100 million,
$100 million to $500 million, and over $500 million. These estimates
will help USTR conduct comparative analyses of a barrier's effect over
a range of industries.
IV. Requirements for Submissions
Comments must be in English and must identify on the first page of
the submission `Comments Regarding Foreign Trade Barriers to U.S.
Exports for 2021 Reporting.' Commenters providing information on
foreign trade barriers in more than one country should, whenever
possible, provide a separate submission for each country.
The submission deadline is Thursday, October 29, 2020, at midnight
EST. USTR strongly encourages commenters to make on-line submissions,
using Regulations.gov. To submit comments via Regulations.gov, enter
docket number USTR-2020-0034 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
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 an `upload file'
field. USTR prefers that you provide comments in an attached document.
If you attach a document, please identify the name of the country to
which the submission pertains in the `type comment' field, e.g., see
attached comments with respect to (name of country). 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.
Filers submitting comments containing that do not include business
confidential information (BCI) should name their file using the name of
the person or entity submitting the comments. For any comments
submitted electronically that contain BCI, the file name of the
business confidential version should begin with the characters `BCI.'
Clearly mark any page containing BCI with `BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL' on
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 comments through
Regulations.gov. You must make any alternative arrangements with Yvonne
Jamison at [email protected] or (202) 395-3475 before
transmitting a comment and in advance of the deadline.
USTR will post comments in the docket for public inspection, except
properly designated BCI. You can view comments on Regulations.gov by
entering docket number USTR-2020-0034 in the search field on the home
page. General information concerning USTR is available at https://www.ustr.gov.
Edward Gresser,
Chair of the Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States
Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2020-19985 Filed 9-9-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F0-P