Office of the United States Trade Representative October 11, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is seeking comments from the public on whether Cura[ccedil]ao, Sint Maarten, and the Turks and Caicos Islands should be designated as eligible to receive benefits under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) as amended by the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) (19 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) and whether Aruba, the Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Vincent and the Grenadines (``St. Vincent'') should be designated as eligible to receive benefits under CBTPA. Although Congress identified the Turks and Caicos Islands as potentially eligible for benefits in 1983, the Turks and Caicos Islands did not request beneficiary status until July 2012. Similarly, although the Congress identified the Bahamas, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Vincent for benefits under CBERA in 1983 and CBTPA in 2000, these countries did not request benefits under CBTPA until 2012. Aruba was designated as a beneficiary country of CBERA benefits effective as of January 1, 1986 upon becoming independent of the Netherlands Antilles in 1986, and requested CBTPA benefits in October 2012. As a result of the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in October of 2010, Cura[ccedil]ao and Sint Maarten became successor political entities of the Netherlands Antilles and eligible to receive benefits as such. Cura[ccedil]ao and Sint Maarten requested the receipt of CBERA and CBTPA benefits in, respectively, July and June of 2012.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (``USTR'') is providing notice that on September 18, 2012, the United States requested the establishment of a dispute settlement panel under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (``WTO Agreement'') with the People's Republic of China (``China'') concerning China's anti-dumping and countervailing duties on certain automobiles from the United States. That request may be found at www.wto.org in a document designated as WT/DS440/2. USTR invites written comments from the public concerning the issues raised in this dispute.