81 FR 11638 - Request for Comments and Notice of Public Hearing Concerning Policy Recommendations on the Global Steel Industry Situation and Impact on U.S. Steel Industry and Market

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 43 (March 4, 2016)

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), jointly with the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) and with the participation of other U.S. Government agencies, will seek public comment and convene a public hearing on the global steel industry situation and its impact on the U.S. steel industry and market.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 43 (Friday, March 4, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11638-11639]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-04857]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Request for Comments and Notice of Public Hearing Concerning 
Policy Recommendations on the Global Steel Industry Situation and 
Impact on U.S. Steel Industry and Market

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Request for comments; notice of hearing.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), 
jointly with the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) and with the 
participation of other U.S. Government agencies, will seek public 
comment and convene a public hearing on the global steel industry 
situation and its impact on the U.S. steel industry and market.

DATES: Written comments are due by 11:59 p.m., March 29, 2016. Persons 
wishing to testify orally at the hearing must provide written 
notification of their intention, as well as a summary of their 
testimony, by 11:59 p.m., March 29, 2016. The hearing will be held on 
April 12, 2016, beginning at 9:30 a.m. in the Main Hearing Room, 500 E 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20436, in the facilities of the U.S. 
International Trade Commission.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and notifications of intent to testify 
should be submitted electronically via the Internet at 
www.regulations.gov. If you are unable to provide submissions at 
www.regulations.gov, please contact Iris Mayfield at (202) 395-5656, to 
arrange for an alternative method of transmission.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning 
written comments, please contact Iris Mayfield at (202) 395-5656. All 
other questions regarding this notice should be directed to Fred 
Fischer, Director for Industry Affairs, at (202) 395-6114.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background

    The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 
Steel Committee has recently noted mounting challenges in the global 
steel sector. According to the OECD Secretariat, global crude 
steelmaking capacity more than doubled from 2000 to 2014, with global 
capacity growth led by an unprecedented expansion in capacity by China. 
Global steelmaking capacity is projected by the OECD to grow even 
further in the 2015 to 2017 period, to 2,323 million metric tons (MMT), 
approximately 700 MMT in excess of global steel demand in 2015.
    At the same time, global demand for steel is weakening. In October 
2015, the World Steel Association (worldsteel), the global steel 
producers' industry association, lowered its forecasts for world steel 
demand, estimating that demand decreased by 1.7 percent in 2015. Global 
production also decreased by 2.8 percent in 2015 over 2014 levels. 
Despite significant production and demand decreases, world steel 
exports have increased by more than 4 percent between January-July 2015 
relative to the same period in 2014, according to the OECD.
    Changes in the economy in China, the world's largest consumer, 
producer and exporter of steel, are having impacts globally. Demand for 
steel in China is estimated by worldsteel to have contracted by 5 
percent in 2015 over 2014 levels, more than previously anticipated, 
while steel production decreased by only 2.2 percent and exports 
increased by 26 percent in 2015 over 2014 levels. Steel production by 
the European Union, India, South Korea and Brazil is also affecting the 
global market and entering the United States. Many countries have 
responded to sharp increases of steel imports from China and other 
countries by taking a variety of trade remedy measures.
    At the 79th meeting of the OECD Steel Committee in December 2015, 
the United States and the governments of other major steel producing 
countries noted that ``demand weakness coupled with further increases 
in steelmaking capacity over the next few years--in an environment of 
already low steel prices, unsustainably weak profitability, and 
mounting debt--suggests that adjustment pressures are likely to grow 
significantly in the short to medium term.'' The OECD Steel Committee 
called for immediate action to address the excess capacity challenge 
and its impact in the steel sector.
    The U.S. Government is interested in obtaining stakeholder views on 
the global steel industry situation and its impact on the U.S. steel 
industry and market, as well as other U.S. industry sectors that may 
have concerns about the impact of excess capacity on their particular 
market. USTR and Commerce note that there are a number of on-going 
antidumping and countervailing duty investigations and administrative 
reviews on steel imports in progress. These proceedings are not the 
subject of this Public Comment and Hearing request. Commenters should 
note that Commerce will not place the information responsive to this 
request for public information in the record of its antidumping or 
countervailing duty proceedings and will not consider such information 
in its proceedings.

2. Public Comment and Hearing

    USTR and Commerce invite written comments and/or oral testimony of 
interested persons on issues including, but not limited to, the 
following: (a) Status and causes of the excess capacity situation in 
the global steel industry, including other factors that impact the 
global steel market (e.g., contracting markets and softening worldwide 
demand, weak raw material prices, and government support and policies 
that encourage capacity expansion as well as exports); (b) countries 
and policies of concern; (c) status of the U.S. steel

[[Page 11639]]

market, steel manufacturing supply chain and demand trends; (d) impacts 
of foreign trade barriers, unfair trade practices, subsidies and other 
policies on U.S. imports and exports of steel; (e) the current and 
potential future impact of excess global steelmaking capacity on U.S. 
steel producing companies, U.S. workers, suppliers to the U.S. steel 
industry (e.g., iron ore, ferrous scrap, and other raw materials), U.S. 
steel consuming manufacturers, and States, localities and communities; 
(f) U.S. steel industry responses and adjustment to the impact of the 
global market situation on their business and overall competitiveness, 
including trade remedy and other U.S. enforcement actions, industry 
cost savings efforts and participation in U.S. export markets; (g) 
other sectors in which excess capacity impacts their particular 
industry in the United States and may merit further consideration; and 
(h) views on whether further enforcement tools or approaches, or 
legislative action are needed. Written comments must be received no 
later than 11:59 p.m., March 29, 2016.
    A hearing will be held on April 12, 2016, in the Main Hearing Room, 
500 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20436, in the facilities of the U.S. 
International Trade Commission. Persons wishing to testify at the 
hearing must provide written notification of their intention by 11:59 
p.m., March 29, 2016. The intent to testify notification must be made 
in the ``Type Comment'' field under docket number USTR-2016-0001 on the 
www.regulations.gov Web site and should include the name, address and 
telephone number of the person presenting the testimony. A summary of 
the testimony should be attached by using the ``Upload File'' field. 
The name of the file should also include who will be presenting the 
testimony. Remarks at the hearing should be limited to no more than 
five minutes to allow for possible questions from the government 
representatives.

3. Requirements for Submissions

    Persons submitting a notification of intent to testify and/or 
written comments must do so in English and must identify (on the first 
page of the submission) ``Global Steel Industry Situation.'' In order 
to be assured of consideration, comments should be submitted by 11:59 
p.m., March 29, 2016.
    In order to ensure the timely receipt and consideration of 
comments, USTR and Commerce strongly encourage commenters to make on-
line submissions, using the www.regulations.gov Web site. To submit 
comments via www.regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR-2016-0001 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 the www.regulations.gov Web 
site, please consult the resources provided on the Web site by clicking 
on ``How to Use Regulations.gov'' on the bottom of the home page).
    The www.regulations.gov Web site allows users to provide comments 
by filling in a ``Type Comment'' field, or by attaching a document 
using an ``Upload File'' field. Submitters are requested to limit 
comments to 10 double-spaced pages and to include an executive summary 
of no more than two double-spaced pages, providing supporting 
information in appendices. USTR and Commerce prefer that comments be 
provided in an attached document. If a document is attached, it is 
sufficient to type ``See attached'' in the ``Type Comment'' field. USTR 
prefers submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). 
If the submission is in an application other than those two, please 
indicate the name of the application in the ``Type Comment'' field.
    For any comments submitted electronically containing business 
confidential information, the file name of the business confidential 
version should begin with the characters ``BC''. The submission must be 
marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top and bottom of the cover 
page and each succeeding page, and the submission should indicate, via 
brackets, the specific information that is confidential. Additionally, 
``Business Confidential'' must be included in the ``Type Comment'' 
field. For any submission containing business confidential information, 
a non-confidential version must be submitted separately (i.e., not as 
part of the same submission with the confidential version), indicating 
where confidential information has been redacted. The file name of the 
public version should begin with the character ``P''. The ``BC'' and 
``P'' should be followed by the name of the person or entity submitting 
the comments or reply comments. Filers submitting comments containing 
no business confidential information should name their file using 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 and Commerce strongly urge submitters to file 
comments through www.regulations.gov, if at all possible. Any 
alternative arrangements must be made with Iris Mayfield in advance of 
transmitting a comment. Ms. Mayfield should be contacted at (202) 395-
5656. General information concerning USTR is available at www.ustr.gov. 
General information concerning Commerce is available at 
www.commerce.gov. Comments will be placed in the docket and open to 
public inspection, except business confidential information. Comments 
may be viewed on the www.regulations.gov Web site by entering the 
relevant docket number in the search field on the home page.

Jim Sanford,
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Small Business, Market Access 
and Industrial Competitiveness.
[FR Doc. 2016-04857 Filed 3-3-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3290-F6-P