82 FR 36069 - Request for Comments To Compile the National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 147 (August 2, 2017)

Section 181 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, requires the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) annually to publish the National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE). The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is asking interested persons to submit written comments to assist the TPSC in identifying significant barriers to U.S. exports of goods, services, and U.S. foreign direct investment for inclusion in the NTE. Section 1377 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (Section 1377) requires USTR annually to review the operation and effectiveness of all U.S. trade agreements regarding telecommunications products and services that are in force with respect to the United States. USTR will consider written comments in response to this notice regarding the trade barriers pertinent to the conduct of the review called for in Section 1377.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 147 (Wednesday, August 2, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36069-36070]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-16195]



[[Page 36069]]

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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Docket Number USTR-2017-0013]


Request for Comments To Compile the National Trade Estimate 
Report on Foreign Trade Barriers

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Section 181 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, requires the 
Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) annually to 
publish the National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers 
(NTE). The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is asking interested 
persons to submit written comments to assist the TPSC in identifying 
significant barriers to U.S. exports of goods, services, and U.S. 
foreign direct investment for inclusion in the NTE.
    Section 1377 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 
(Section 1377) requires USTR annually to review the operation and 
effectiveness of all U.S. trade agreements regarding telecommunications 
products and services that are in force with respect to the United 
States. USTR will consider written comments in response to this notice 
regarding the trade barriers pertinent to the conduct of the review 
called for in Section 1377.

DATES: We must receive all written comments no later than 11:59 p.m., 
October 25, 2017.

ADDRESSES: We strongly prefer electronic submissions made through the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments in section 4 below. The docket 
number is USTR-2017-0013. For alternatives to on-line submissions, 
please contact Yvonne Jamison, Trade Policy Staff Committee, at (202) 
395-3475.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Direct questions to Yvonne Jamison at 
(202) 395-3475.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Background

    The NTE sets out an inventory of the most important foreign 
barriers affecting U.S. exports of goods and services, U.S. foreign 
direct investment, and protection of intellectual property rights. The 
inventory facilitates U.S. negotiations aimed at reducing or 
eliminating these barriers. The report also provides a valuable tool in 
enforcing U.S. trade laws and strengthening the rules-based trading 
system. You can find the 2017 NTE Report on USTR's Web site at http://www.ustr.gov under the tab ``Reports''. To ensure compliance with the 
NTE's statutory mandate and the Trump Administration's commitment to 
focus on the most significant foreign trade barriers, USTR will be 
guided by the existence of active private sector interest in deciding 
which restrictions to include in the NTE.

2. Topics on Which the TPSC Seeks Information

    To assist USTR in preparing the NTE, commenters should submit 
information related to one or more of the following categories of 
foreign trade barriers:
    1. Import policies (e.g., tariffs and other import charges, 
quantitative restrictions, import licensing, and customs barriers).
    2. Government procurement restrictions (e.g., ``buy national 
policies'' and closed bidding).
    3. Export subsidies (e.g., export financing on preferential terms, 
subsidies provided to equipment manufacturers contingent on export and 
agricultural export subsidies that displace U.S. exports in third 
country markets).
    4. Lack of intellectual property protection (e.g., inadequate 
patent, copyright, and trademark regimes).
    5. Services barriers (e.g., limits on the range of financial 
services offered by foreign financial institutions, regulation of 
international data flows, restrictions on the use of data processing, 
quotas on imports of foreign films, unnecessary or discriminatory 
technical regulations or standards for telecommunications services, and 
barriers to the provision of services by professionals).
    6. Investment barriers (e.g., limitations on foreign equity 
participation and on access to foreign government-funded R&D consortia, 
local content, technology transfer and export performance requirements, 
and restrictions on repatriation of earnings, capital, fees, and 
royalties).
    7. Government-tolerated anticompetitive conduct of state-owned or 
private firms that restrict the sale or purchase of U.S. goods or 
services in the foreign country's markets.
    8. Trade restrictions affecting electronic commerce (e.g., tariff 
and non-tariff measures, burdensome and discriminatory regulations and 
standards, and discriminatory taxation).
    9. Trade restrictions implemented through unwarranted sanitary and 
phytosanitary measures, including unwarranted measures justified for 
purposes of protecting food safety, and animal and plant life or 
health.
    10. Trade restrictions implemented through unwarranted standards, 
conformity assessment procedures, or technical regulations (Technical 
Barriers to Trade) that may have as their objective protecting national 
security requirements, preventing deceptive practices, or protecting 
human health or safety, animal or plant life or health, or the 
environment, but that can be formulated or implemented in ways that 
create significant barriers to trade (including unnecessary or 
discriminatory technical regulations or standards for 
telecommunications products).
    11. Other barriers (e.g., barriers that encompass more than one 
category, such as bribery and corruption, or that affect a single 
sector).
    In addition, Section 1377 (19 U.S.C. 3106) requires USTR annually 
to review the operation and effectiveness of all U.S. trade agreements 
regarding telecommunications products and services that are in force 
with respect to the United States. The purpose of the review is to 
determine whether any act, policy, or practice of a country that has 
entered into a trade agreement or other telecommunications trade 
agreement with the United States is inconsistent with the terms of such 
agreement or otherwise denies U.S. firms, within the context of the 
terms of such agreements, mutually advantageous market opportunities 
for telecommunications products and services.
    We invite commenters to identify those barriers covered in 
submissions that may operate as ``localization barriers to trade.'' 
Localization barriers are measures designed to protect, favor, or 
stimulate domestic industries, services providers, and/or intellectual 
property at the expense of goods, services, or intellectual property 
from other countries, including the provision of subsidies linked to 
local production. For more information on localization barriers, please 
go to http://www.ustr.gov/trade-topics/localization-barriers.
    Commenters should place particular emphasis on any practices that 
may violate U.S. trade agreements. The TPSC also is interested in 
receiving new or updated information pertinent to the barriers covered 
in the 2017 NTE as well as information on new barriers. If USTR does 
not include in the NTE information that it receives pursuant to this 
notice, it will maintain the information for potential use in future 
discussions or negotiations with trading partners.

3. Estimate of Increase in Exports

    Each comment should include an estimate of the potential increase 
in U.S.

[[Page 36070]]

exports that would result from removing any foreign trade barrier the 
comment identifies, as well as a description of the methodology the 
commenter used to derive the estimate. Commenters should express 
estimates within the following value ranges: Less than $5 million; $5 
to $25 million; $25 million to $50 million; $50 million to $100 
million; $100 million to $500 million; or over $500 million. These 
estimates will help USTR conduct comparative analyses of a barrier's 
effect over a range of industries.

4. Requirements for Submissions

    In order to be assured of consideration, we must receive your 
written comments in English by 11:59 p.m. on October 25, 2017. USTR 
strongly encourages commenters to make on-line submissions, using the 
www.regulations.gov Web site. On the first page of the submission, 
please identify it as ``Comments Regarding Foreign Trade Barriers to 
U.S. Exports for 2018 Reporting.'' Commenters providing information on 
foreign trade barriers in more than one country should, whenever 
possible, provide a separate submission for each country.
    To submit comments via www.regulations.gov, enter docket number 
USTR-2017-0013 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. We will not accept hand-delivered submissions.
    The www.regulations.gov Web site allows users to submit comments by 
filling in a ``Type Comment'' field or by attaching a document using an 
``Upload File'' field. USTR prefers that you submit comments in an 
attached document. If you attach a document, 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).'' USTR prefers submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe 
Acrobat (.pdf). If you use 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 information must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS 
CONFIDENTIAL'' on the top of that page. Filers of submissions 
containing business confidential information also must submit a public 
version of their comments that we will place in the docket for public 
inspection. 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. 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 strongly urges submitters to file comments through 
www.regulations.gov. You must make any alternative arrangements with 
Yvonne Jamison in advance of transmitting a comment. You can contact 
Ms. Jamison at (202) 395-3475. General information concerning USTR is 
available at www.ustr.gov.
    We will post comments in the docket for public inspection, except 
business confidential information. You can view comments on the 
www.regulations.gov Web site by entering the relevant docket number in 
the search field on the home page.

Edward Gresser,
Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative.
[FR Doc. 2017-16195 Filed 8-1-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3290-F7-P