Trade Representative, Office of United States 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (``USTR'') is providing notice that on November 27, 2008, Brazil requested consultations with the United States under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (``WTO Agreement'') concerning the antidumping duty administrative review on certain orange juice from Brazil (Department of Commerce Case No. A-351-840) and various U.S. laws, regulations, administrative procedures, practices, and methodologies. That request may be found at www.wto.org contained in a document designated as WT/DS382/1. USTR invites written comments from the public concerning the issues raised in this dispute.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative published a document in the Federal Register of December 5, 2008 concerning the determination of the trade surplus in certain sugar and syrup goods and sugar containing products of Chile, Morocco, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. The document contained incorrect data.

Pursuant to section 1377 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (19 U.S.C. 3106) (``section 1377''), the Office of the United States Trade Representative (``USTR'') is reviewing and requests comments on: The operation, effectiveness, and implementation of and compliance with the following agreements regarding telecommunications products and services of the United States: the World Trade Organization (``WTO'') General Agreement on Trade in Services; the North American Free Trade Agreement (``NAFTA''); U.S. free trade agreements (``FTAs'') with Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Morocco, and Singapore; the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (``CAFTA-DR''); and any other FTA or telecommunications trade agreement coming into force on or before January 1, 2009. The USTR will conclude the review by March 31, 2009.

The Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Small and Minority Business (ITAC-11) will hold a meeting on Monday, December 8, 2008, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The meeting will be closed to the public from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and opened to the public from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (``USTR'') is providing notice that on September 19, 2008, the People's Republic of China (``China'') requested consultations with the United States under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (``WTO Agreement'') concerning final anti-dumping and countervailing duty determinations and orders by the Department of Commerce on imports of the following products from China: Circular Welded Carbon Quality Steel Pipe (Investigations A-570-910 and C-570- 911); Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires (Investigations A-570- 912 and C-570-913); Light-Walled Rectangular Pipe and Tube (Investigations A-570-914 and C-570-915); and Laminated Woven Sacks (Investigations A-570-916 and C-570-917). That request may be found at www.wto.org contained in a document designated as WT/DS379/1. USTR invites written comments from the public concerning the issues raised in this dispute.

The interagency section 301 Committee is soliciting written comments on possible modifications to the action taken by the United States Trade Representative (``Trade Representative'') in connection with the World Trade Organization (``WTO'') authorization in the EC- Beef Hormones dispute to the United States to suspend concessions and related obligations with respect to the European Communities (``EC''). The EC-Beef Hormones dispute concerned the EC's ban on the import of U.S. meat and meat products produced from animals treated with any of six hormones for growth promotion purposes. Annex I to this notice contains a list of EC products with respect to which the United States is currently imposing increased rates of duty (100 percent ad valorem) pursuant to the WTO's authorization. Annex II to this notice contains a list of potential alternative products under consideration for the imposition of increased duties. Comments are requested with respect to (i) whether products listed in Annex I should be removed from the list or remain on the list (and if a product remains on the list, whether the currently applied rate of duty should be increased), (ii) whether products listed in Annex II should be included on a revised list and be subjected to increased rates of duty, and (iii) the products of which member States of the EC should be subjected to increased rates of duty.

This notice is to inform the public of the availability of eight-month 2008 import statistics and to announce that the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) will not be publishing a ``warning list'' of products that may exceed statutory competitive need limitations (CNLs), pertinent to the 2008 GSP Annual Review. Each interested party is responsible for conducting its own review of 2008 import data with regard to the possible application of GSP CNLs and submitting a petition to waive the CNLs if necessary. This information can be found on the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) Web site (https://dataweb.usitc.gov). The deadline for submission of petitions requesting CNL waivers for consideration in the 2008 GSP Annual Review is 5 p.m., Thursday, November 13, 2008. The list of petitions for CNL waivers accepted for review will be announced in the Federal Register at a later date.

This notice announces the initiation of a review to consider designating the Republic of Kosovo as a beneficiary developing country (BDC) for purposes of the GSP program, and solicits public comments on whether Kosovo meets certain eligibility criteria for designation as a BDC. Comments are due by Friday, October 17, 2008, and must be submitted in accordance with the requirements set out below.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is providing notice of country-by-country allocations of the FY 2009 in- quota quantity of the tariff-rate quota for imported raw cane sugar, refined and specialty sugar, and sugar-containing products.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) received petitions in connection with the 2008 GSP Annual Review to modify the list of products that are eligible for duty-free treatment under the GSP program and to modify the GSP status of certain GSP beneficiary developing countries because of country practices. This notice announces the product petitions, other than those requesting competitive need limitation (CNL) waivers, and country practice petitions accepted in previous GSP annual reviews that continue to be under review in the 2008 GSP Annual Review, and sets forth the schedule for comment and public hearings on these petitions, for requesting participation in the hearings, and for submitting pre-hearing and post- hearing briefs. The list of accepted petitions is available at: https:// www.ustr.gov/Trade_Development/Preference_Programs/GSP/Sectio n_ Index.html. [2008 Annual review].

The Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Small and Minority Business (ITAC-11) will hold a meeting on Monday, September 15, 2008, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The meeting will be closed to the public from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and opened to the public from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative published a document in the Federal Register of August 24, 2007 concerning Fiscal Year 2008 Tariff-Rate Quota allocations of raw cane sugar, refined and specialty sugar, and sugar-containing products. The document contained incorrect data.

The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will convene a public hearing and seek public comment to assist the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in the preparation of its annual report to the Congress on China's compliance with the commitments made in connection with its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. 2242), requires the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to identify trading partners that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property protection. (Section 182 is commonly referred to as the ``Special 301'' provisions of the Trade Act.) In addition, the USTR is required to determine which of these trading partners should be identified as Priority Foreign Countries. Acts, policies or practices that are the basis of a trading partner's identification as a Priority Foreign Country are normally the subject of an investigation under the Section 301 provisions of the Trade Act. On April 25, 2008, USTR announced the results of the 2008 Special 301 Review and stated that an Out-of-Cycle Review of Taiwan would be conducted this year. Pursuant to this Out-of-Cycle Review, USTR requests written submissions from the public concerning acts, policies, and practices regarding the adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property protection and enforcement in Taiwan.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is issuing a final rule to update its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regulations. USTR last made changes to its FOIA regulations in 1975. Since that time the information relating to USTR has changed and there have been several changes to the FOIA, which needed to be reflected in the regulations.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (``USTR'') is providing notice that pursuant to a request of Japan, the Dispute Settlement Body (``DSB'') of the World Trade Organization (``WTO'') has established a compliance panel under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (``WTO Agreement'') concerning the dispute United StatesMeasures Relating to Zeroing and Sunset Reviews; Recourse to Article 21.5 of the DSU by Japan. That request may be found at https://www.wto.org contained in a document designated as WT/DS322/27. USTR invites written comments from the public concerning the issues raised in this dispute.

The Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Small and Minority Business (ITAC-11) will hold a meeting on Monday, June 9, 2008, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The meeting will be closed to the public from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and opened to the public from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Pursuant to section 533 of the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982, as amended (49 U.S.C. 50104), the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has determined not to include any countries on the list of countries that deny fair market opportunities for U.S. products, suppliers, or bidders in foreign government-funded airport construction projects.

This notice announces the re-initiation of a review to consider designating the Republic of Azerbaijan as a beneficiary developing country (BDC) for purposes of the GSP program, and solicits public comment relating to the designation. Comments are due by Wednesday April 30, 2008, in accordance with the requirements for submissions, explained below.

On January 18, 2008, a public notice was published in the Federal Register on pages 3495-3496 requesting public comments by February 15, 2008, on whether each beneficiary country exporting certain hand-loomed carpets is taking steps to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, including the use of bonded child labor, in the production of certain carpets imported under the U.S. GSP program. The GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee has decided to extend the deadline to March 14, 2008, for receipt of public comments for this review.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) seeks to negotiate an anti-counterfeiting trade agreement to strengthen international cooperation, enforcement practices, and participants' legal frameworks to address counterfeiting and piracy. USTR requests written comments from the public concerning specific matters that should be the focus of such an agreement.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) received petitions in connection with the 2007 GSP Annual Review to waive the competitive need limitations (CNLs) on imports of certain products that are eligible for duty-free treatment under the GSP program. This notice announces those petitions that are accepted for further review. This notice also sets forth the schedule for comment and public hearings on these petitions, for requesting participation in the hearings, and submitting pre-hearing and post-hearing briefs, and for commenting on the USITC report on probable economic effects. The list of accepted petitions to waive CNLs is available at: https:// www.ustr.gov/Trade Development/Preference Programs/GSP/GSP 2007 Annual Review/Section Index.html [2007 GSP Review, List of CNL Waiver Petitions Accepted in the 2007 GSP Annual Review]

The 2004 Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act (H.R. 1047) (the ``2004 Act''), as approved by Congress, authorized the President to designate seven tariff lines relating to carpets (5702.51.20 (now 5702.50.20), 5702.91.30, 5702.92.00 (now 5702.92.10), 5702.99.10 (now 5702.99.05), 5703.10.00 (now 5703.10.20), 5703.20.10, and 5703.30.00 (now 5703.30.20)) as eligible for duty-free treatment under the GSP program. These tariff lines cover certain hand-loomed or hand-hooked carpets and other textile floor coverings made of wool, cotton, fine animal hair, or man-made textile materials. Pursuant to the authorization in the 2004 Act, the President designated these seven tariff lines as eligible for duty-free treatment under the GSP program. The GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is conducting a triennial review of whether each beneficiary country is taking steps to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, including the use of bonded child labor, in the production of such carpets imported under the U.S. GSP program. If sufficient steps are not underway, the TPSC will recommend to the President changes in GSP coverage that would eliminate from duty-free treatment under the GSP program those carpets found to be made with the worst forms of child labor.