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

This notice announces the initiation of a review to consider designation of the Republic of South Sudan (``South Sudan'') as a beneficiary developing country under the GSP program, including whether South Sudan should also be designated as a Least Developed Beneficiary Country, and solicits comments from the public relating to whether South Sudan meets the criteria for both designations. The deadline for submitting comments is 5 p.m. EST, November 29, 2011.

This notice announces that the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is prepared to receive petitions 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. The deadline for submission of country practice petitions for the 2011 Annual Review is 5 p.m., December 5, 2011. The deadline for submission of product petitions, other than those requesting competitive need limitation (CNL) waivers, is 5 p.m., December 5, 2011. The deadline for submission of petitions requesting CNL waivers is 5 p.m., Friday, December 16, 2011. Decisions on which of the petitions that are submitted are accepted for review will be announced in the Federal Register at later dates.

Chapter 19 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (``NAFTA'') provides for the establishment of a roster of individuals to serve on binational panels convened to review final determinations in antidumping or countervailing duty (``AD/CVD'') proceedings and amendments to AD/CVD statutes of a NAFTA Party. The United States annually renews its selections for the Chapter 19 roster. Applications are invited from eligible individuals wishing to be included on the roster for the period April 1, 2012, through March 31, 2013.

The Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Small and Minority Business (ITAC-11) will hold a meeting on Wednesday, October 12, 2011, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The meeting will be opened to the public from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.

In 2010 the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) began publishing the notorious market list as an ``Out of Cycle Review'' separately from the annual Special 301 report. This review of Notorious Markets (``Notorious Markets List'') results in the publication of examples of Internet and physical markets that have been the subject of enforcement action or that may merit further investigation for possible intellectual property infringements. The Notorious Markets List does not represent a finding of violation of law, but rather is a summary of information that serves to highlight the problem of marketplaces that deal in infringing goods and which help sustain global piracy and counterfeiting. USTR is hereby requesting written submissions from the public identifying potential Internet and physical notorious markets that exist outside the United States and that may be included in the 2011 Notorious Markets List.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act Implementation Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (the ``Subcommittee'') is requesting written public comments for the annual review of the eligibility of sub-Saharan African countries to receive the benefits of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (the AGOA). The Subcommittee will consider these comments in developing recommendations on AGOA country eligibility for calendar year 2012 for the President. Comments received related to the child labor criteria may also be considered by the Secretary of Labor in the preparation of the Department of Labor's report on child labor as required under section 412(c) of the Trade and Development Act of 2000. This notice identifies the eligibility criteria that must be considered under the AGOA, and lists those sub- Saharan African countries that are currently eligible for the benefits of the AGOA and those that were ineligible for such benefits in 2011.

In his May 19, 2011, speech on recent developments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the President called for a Trade and Investment Partnership Initiative to explore ways to further strengthen economic ties both between the United States and MENA countries and among the MENA countries themselves. Over the coming months, the United States, partnering where possible with the European Union and other key countries and entities, will launch a series of initiatives to facilitate more robust trade within the region and promote greater MENA integration with U.S. and other markets. To ensure that a wide range of priorities and concerns are addressed, U.S. Government officials will continue to reach out to business, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia and other stakeholders in order to elicit ideas for shaping future economic engagement with this critical region. As part of this process, the U.S. Government welcomes written input from members of the public on ideas for deepening economic ties with and among MENA countries.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act Implementation Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (the ``Subcommittee'') is requesting written public comments for the interim review of the eligibility of Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Niger to receive the benefits of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The Subcommittee will consider these comments in developing recommendations on AGOA country eligibility for the President. Comments received related to the child labor criteria may also be considered by the Secretary of Labor for the preparation of the Department of Labor's report on child labor as required under section 412(c) of the Trade and Development Act of 2000. This notice identifies the eligibility criteria that must be considered under the AGOA. Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Niger are currently ineligible for AGOA benefits.

Pursuant to section 181 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2241), the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is required to publish annually the National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE). With this notice, the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is requesting interested persons to submit comments to assist it in identifying significant barriers to U.S. exports of goods, services, and U.S. foreign direct investment for inclusion in the NTE. Once again, the TPSC is requesting that comments on standards- related measures and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures that create barriers to U.S. exports be submitted separately from other NTE comments. This will assist USTR in updating two reports issued in 2011 in conjunction with the release of the NTE highlighting SPS and standards-related measures that may be inconsistent with international trade agreements to which the United States is a party or that otherwise act as significant barriers to U.S. exports. These reports were published as the 2011 Report on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (2011 SPS Report) and the 2011 Report on Technical Barriers to Trade (2011 TBT Report) respectively. The TPSC invites written comments from the public on issues that USTR should examine in preparing the NTE and the reports on SPS and standards-related measures.

The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is seeking the views of interested parties on the operation of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA), as amended by the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) (19 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.). Section 212(f) of the CBERA, as amended, requires the President to submit a report to Congress regarding the operation of the CBERA and CBTPA (together commonly referred to as the Caribbean Basin Initiative, or CBI) on or before December 31, 2001, and every two years thereafter. The TPSC invites written comments concerning the operation of the CBI, including comments on the performance of each CBERA and CBTPA beneficiary country, as the case may be, under the criteria described in sections 212(b), 212(c), and 213(b)(5)(B) of the CBERA, as amended. This information will be used in the preparation of a report to the U.S. Congress on the operation of the program.

On May 24, 2011, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) received a petition pursuant to section 302 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (``Trade Act''), requesting that the United States Trade Representative (``Trade Representative'') initiate an investigation under sections 301-309 of the Trade Act (``Section 301'') with respect to alleged conduct of the Government of Israel during the negotiation in the 1980s of the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement (U.S.-Israel FTA). In accordance with the advice of the interagency Section 301 Committee, the Trade Representative has determined not to initiate an investigation in response to the petition.

In July 1999, pursuant to authority under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the Trade Act), and as authorized by the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United States Trade Representative (Trade Representative) imposed additional duties on certain products of member states of the European Union (EU) as a result of the EU's failure to comply with the recommendations and rulings of the DSB in the EC-Beef Hormones dispute. In January 2009, the Trade Representative announced a determination to modify the list of products subject to additional duties by removing some products from the list of products subject to additional duties, and by adding replacement products. The January modification had an initial effective date of March 23, 2009. The Trade Representative subsequently delayed the additional duties on the replacement products in order to promote negotiations with the EU. The removal of products was not delayed. As a result, as of March 23, 2009, the additional duties applied only to a reduced list of products, consisting of those products covered in the original 1999 list that had not been subject to replacement. On May 13, 2009, the United States and the EU announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in the EC-Beef Hormones dispute. The MOU provides for the EU to make phased increases in market access by adopting a tariff-rate quota (TRQ) for certain beef products, in return for the United States making phased reductions in the additional duties. Under the first phase of the MOU, in August 2009 the EU opened up a TRQ in the amount of 20,000 metric tons, and the Trade Representative terminated the additional duties on the replacement products. (Those additional duties had been announced in January 2009 but had never entered into force.) The Trade Representative's action left in place a reduced list of products subject to additional duties. The MOU provides for the possibility of the United States and the EU to enter into a second phase starting in August 2012, in which the EU would increase the TRQ to 45,000 metric tons, and the United States would lift the remaining additional duties. As a result of a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Trade Representative has determined to terminate the remaining additional duties in advance of the August 2012 start date of the possible second phase of the MOU. The United States continues to have an authorization from the WTO DSB, and the right under the MOU, to suspend concessions on EU products. At this time, however, the MOU is operating successfully by providing increased market access to U.S. beef producers. In light of the currently successful implementation of the MOU, the fact that all additional duties would have to be removed in August 2012 under a possible second phase of the MOU, and to encourage continued cooperation under the MOU, the Trade Representative has determined not to take steps at this time to exercise U.S. rights to impose additional duties on EU products in connection with the EC-Beef Hormones dispute. The Trade Representative will continue to monitor EU implementation of the MOU and other developments affecting market access for U.S. beef products. If EU implementation and other developments do not proceed as contemplated, the Trade Representative will consider additional actions under Section 301 of the Trade Act.

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 list any countries as denying fair market opportunities for U.S. products, suppliers, or bidders in foreign government-funded airport construction projects.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (``USTR'') is providing notice that on February 28, 2011, the People's Republic of China requested consultations with the United States under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (``WTO Agreement'') concerning antidumping measures regarding certain frozen warmwater shrimp from China. That request may be found at http:/ /www.wto.org contained in a document designated as WT/DS422/1. USTR invites written comments from the public concerning the issues raised in this dispute.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (``USTR'') is providing notice that on February 11, 2011, 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 countervailing and anti-dumping duties on Grain Oriented Flat-rolled Electrical Steel (``GOES'') from the United States. That request may be found at https://www.wto.org, in a document designated as WT/DS414/2. USTR invites written comments from the public concerning the issues raised in this dispute.

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has determined that the Republic of Liberia has adopted an effective visa system and related procedures to prevent unlawful transshipment and the use of counterfeit documents in connection with shipment of textile and apparel articles and has implemented and follows, or making substantial progress toward implementing and following, the customs procedures required by the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Therefore, imports of eligible products from the Republic of Liberia qualify for the textile and apparel benefits provided under the AGOA.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (``USTR'') is providing notice that on December 22, 2010, in accordance with the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (``WTO Agreement''), the United States requested consultations regarding certain subsidies provided by the People's Republic of China (China) on wind power equipment. The consultation request addresses a measure of China entitled the ``Provisional Measures on Administration of Special Fund for Industrialization of Wind Power Equipment'' (``Wind Power Equipment Fund''). The Wind Power Equipment Fund provides grants that appear to be contingent on the use of domestic over imported wind power equipment, and thus appears to be a prohibited subsidy that is inconsistent with China's obligations under Article 3 of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (``SCM Agreement''). In addition, as it appears that China has neither made available a translation of the measure into a WTO official language nor notified it to the WTO, China appears to have failed to comply with its transparency obligations under the WTO Agreement. USTR invites written comments from the public concerning the issues raised in this dispute.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has concluded negotiations on a proposed agreement to strengthen international cooperation, enforcement practices and legal frameworks for addressing counterfeiting and piracy. USTR is requesting written comments from the public on the final text of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in connection with consideration of U.S. signature of the agreement. The deadline for submission of written comments is, 5 p.m., Tuesday, February 15, 2011.

Pursuant to section 1377 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (19 U.S.C. 3106) (`Section 1377'), 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, Oman, Peru, and Singapore; and the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (``CAFTA-DR''). The USTR will conclude the review by March 31, 2011.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) received petitions in connection with the 2010 GSP Annual Review to modify the list of products that are eligible for duty-free treatment under the GSP program (``2010 GSP Annual Product Review''). This notice announces the petitions accepted for review and sets the date of the public hearing and schedule for submitting comments on the petitions, requests to participate in the public hearing, pre-hearing and post- hearing briefs, and comments on the U.S. International Trade Commission's (USITC) report on probable economic effects. The petitions accepted for review are listed below. More information on these petitions can be found at: https://www.ustr.gov/node/6058 and at https:// www.regulations.gov, Docket Number USTR-2010-0017.

The United States intends to commence negotiations with Malaysia as part of the ongoing negotiations of a TPP trade agreement. Including Malaysia in the TPP negotiations furthers the objective of achieving a high-standard, broad-based Asia-Pacific regional agreement. USTR is seeking public comments on all elements related to Malaysia's participation in the TPP negotiations in order to develop U.S. negotiating positions.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (``USTR'') is providing notice that pursuant to a request by Mexico under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (``WTO Agreement''), the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization (``WTO'') has referred a matter concerning the dispute United StatesFinal Antidumping Measures on Stainless Steel from Mexico to a panel. The request may be found at https://www.wto.org in document WT/DS344/20. USTR invites written comments from the public concerning the issues raised in this dispute.

Pursuant to Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. 2242) the United States Trade Representative (USTR) issues an annual review of the global state of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and enforcement, conducted by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), commonly referred to as the ``Special 301 Report''. Included in this report is the ``Notorious Markets'' list, which is a compilation of examples of Internet and physical markets that have been the subject of enforcement action or that may merit further investigation for possible intellectual property infringements. The list does not represent a finding of violation of law, but rather is a summary of information USTR reviewed during the Special 301 process that serves to highlight the problem of marketplaces that deal in infringing goods and help sustain global piracy and counterfeiting. In an effort to increase public awareness and guide related trade enforcement actions, USTR plans to begin publishing the notorious market list separately from the annual Special 301 report in which it has previously been included. USTR is hereby requesting written submissions from the public identifying potential Internet and physical notorious markets that exist outside the United States. Deadline for interested parties to submit written comments: November 5, 2010.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (``USTR'') is providing notice that on September 15, 2010, the United States requested consultations with the People's Republic of China (``China'') under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (``WTO Agreement'') concerning issues relating to countervailing and antidumping duties imposed by China on imports from the United States of grain oriented flat-rolled electrical steel. That request may be found at https://www.wto.org contained in a document designated as WT/DS414/1. USTR invites written comments from the public concerning the issues raised in this dispute.

A notice was published in the Federal Register dated September 7, 2010, Volume 75, No. 172, Page 54416, announcing a meeting of the Industry Trade Advisory Committee Chairs (ITACs), scheduled for September 17, 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. The meeting was to be closed to the public from 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. and open to the public from 11 a.m. to 12 noon. However, the meeting has been postponed. The new time and additional details will be provided in a later Federal Register announcement.