82 FR 18110 - Public Comments and Hearing Regarding Administration Report on Significant Trade Deficits

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 72 (April 17, 2017)

Pursuant to Executive Order 13786 of March 31 2017, the Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative (USTR), in consultation with the Secretaries of State, the Treasury, Defense, Agriculture, and Homeland Security and the heads of any other executive departments or agencies with relevant expertise, as determined by the Secretary of Commerce and the USTR, shall prepare and submit to the President an Omnibus Report on Significant Trade Deficits. The Executive Order can be found here: https:// www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/03/31/presidential-executive- order-regarding-omnibus-report-significant-trade. The Department of Commerce (Commerce) and USTR will hold a public hearing and seek written comments to assist in the analysis for the assessment called for in Executive Order 13786. The trading partners with which the United States had a significant trade deficit in goods in 2016 (in alphabetical order) were Canada, China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 72 (Monday, April 17, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18110-18111]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-07827]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration


Public Comments and Hearing Regarding Administration Report on 
Significant Trade Deficits

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative, International 
Trade Administration, United States Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public hearing and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Executive Order 13786 of March 31 2017, the 
Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative 
(USTR), in consultation with the Secretaries of State, the Treasury, 
Defense, Agriculture, and Homeland Security and the heads of any other 
executive departments or agencies with relevant expertise, as 
determined by the Secretary of Commerce and the USTR, shall prepare and 
submit to the President an Omnibus Report on Significant Trade 
Deficits. The Executive Order can be found here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/03/31/presidential-executive-order-regarding-omnibus-report-significant-trade.
    The Department of Commerce (Commerce) and USTR will hold a public 
hearing and seek written comments to assist in the analysis for the 
assessment called for in Executive Order 13786. The trading partners 
with which the United States had a significant trade deficit in goods 
in 2016 (in alphabetical order) were Canada, China, the European Union, 
India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Switzerland, Taiwan, 
Thailand, and Vietnam.

DATES: The schedule and deadlines are as follows:
    Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT): 
Deadline for interested persons to submit written comments. Also, this 
is the deadline for requests to appear at the hearing, which must 
include a summary of your testimony.
    Thursday, May 18, 2017: A public hearing at the U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC, beginning at 
9:30 a.m. EDT.

ADDRESSES: All written comments, requests to appear at the hearing, 
hearing summaries, and rebuttal comments must be in English and 
submitted electronically via the Internet at www.regulations.gov docket 
number DOC 2017-0003. For alternatives to on-line submissions please 
contact Patrick Kirwan, Director of the Trade Promotion Coordinating 
Committee Secretariat, U.S. Department of Commerce, at (202) 482-5455 
or [email protected]. The public is strongly encouraged to file 
submissions electronically rather than by facsimile or mail. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments in section C below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning 
written comments or participating in the public hearing, contact 
Patrick Kirwan at (202) 482-5455 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Topics on Which Commerce and USTR Seek Information

    To assist Commerce and USTR in preparing the Report, commenters 
should submit information related to one or more of the assessments 
called for in the Executive Order:
    For each identified trading partner with which the United States 
had a significant trade deficit in goods in 2016, the Report shall:
    (a) Assess the major causes of the trade deficit including, as 
applicable, differential tariffs, non-tariff barriers, injurious 
dumping, injurious government subsidization, intellectual property 
theft, forced technology transfer, denial of worker rights and labor 
standards, and any other form of discrimination against the commerce of 
the United States or other factors contributing to the deficit;
    (b) assess whether the trading partner is, directly or indirectly, 
imposing unequal burdens on, or unfairly discriminating in fact 
against, the commerce of the United States by law, regulation, or 
practice and thereby placing the commerce of the United States at an 
unfair disadvantage;
    (c) assess the effects of the trade relationship on the production 
capacity and strength of the manufacturing and defense industrial bases 
of the United States;
    (d) assess the effects of the trade relationship on employment and 
wage growth in the United States; and
    (e) identify imports and trade practices that may be impairing the 
national security of the United States.
    Commenters may also address the following questions which are 
relevant for the assessment:
    (a) Which bilateral trade deficits are structural or cyclical 
rather than mercantilist-driven?
    (b) To what extent are non-market economies operating within a 
market-based system create trade imbalances?
    (c) To what extent does chronic industrial overcapacity resulting 
from government subsidies affect the U.S. trade deficit?
    (d) Have free trade agreements contributed to bilateral trade 
deficits and how?
    (e) To what extent have weak enforcement and dispute resolution 
mechanisms inadequately addressed trade issues that result in trade 
deficits?
    (f) Are there any other factors related to trade deficits that the 
report should consider?
    With regard to manufacturing and the defense industrial base (with 
specific focus on electronics, aerospace, avionics, materials, 
machinery, and equipment), comments may address how the following 
requirements or practices of trading partners have affected 
opportunities for increased U.S. exports, profitability, and 
employment:
    (a) Mandated coproduction and licensed production;
    (b) mandated subcontracting; counter trade;
    (c) required technology transfer;
    (d) required collaborative research and development;
    (e) mandated joint ventures and intellectual property transfer; and
    (f) required capital investments.

B. Public Comment and Hearing

    Commerce and USTR seek public comments with respect to the above 
stated issues and questions. To be assured of consideration, you must 
submit written comments by 11:59 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 10, 2017 in 
accordance with the instructions in section C below.
    Commerce and USTR will also convene a public hearing at the U.S. 
Department of Commerce beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 18, 
2017. Persons wishing to appear at the hearing must provide written 
notification of their intention and a summary of the proposed testimony 
by 11:59 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 10, 2017 in accordance with the 
instructions in section C below.
    Indicate in the ``Type Comment'' field if you are submitting a 
request to appear at the hearing, and 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 file name should include who will be presenting the testimony. 
Remarks at the hearing should be limited to no more than five minutes 
to

[[Page 18111]]

allow for possible questions from the panel.

C. Requirements for Submissions

    Persons submitting a notification of intent to testify or written 
comments must do so in English and must identify (on the reference line 
of the first page of the submission) ``Comments Regarding Causes of 
Significant Trade Deficits for 2016.'' In addition, if the submission 
covers the causes of significant trade deficits in more than one 
country, commenters should, whenever possible, provide a separate 
submission for each country. If identifying specific sectors, 
commenters should identify the relevant Harmonized System (HS) 
category(ies) for that sector. To ensure the timely receipt and 
consideration of comments, Commerce and USTR strongly encourage 
commenters to make on-line submissions, using the http://www.regulations.gov Web site.
    All submissions must be in English and must be submitted 
electronically via www.regulations.gov, using docket number DOC-2017-
0003. Hand-delivered submissions will not be accepted.
    To submit comments via www.regulations.gov enter docket number DOC 
2017-0003 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 This Site'' on the left side 
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. Commerce and USTR prefer that comments 
be provided in an attached document. If a document is attached, please 
identify the name of the country to which the submission pertains in 
the ``Type Comment'' field. For example: ``See attached comments with 
respect to (name of country)''. Commerce and USTR prefer 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''. Any page containing business confidential must be 
clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' on the top of that page. 
Filers of submissions containing business confidential information must 
also submit a public version of their comments. 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 part of the submission itself rather than in separate 
files.
    As noted, Commerce and USTR strongly urge submitters to file 
comments through www.regulations.gov if at all possible. Any 
alternative arrangements must be made with Patrick Kirwan in advance of 
transmitting a comment. Patrick Kirwan can be reached at (202) 482-5455 
or [email protected]. General information concerning Commerce is 
available at www.commerce.gov and USTR at www.ustr.gov.
    Comments will be placed in the docket and open to public 
inspection, except confidential business 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.

    Dated: April 13, 2017.
Patrick Kirwan,
Director, Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee Secretariat, U.S. 
Department of Commerce.
[FR Doc. 2017-07827 Filed 4-14-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-25-P