82 FR 49469 - Request for Comments and Public Hearing About the Administration's Action Following a Determination of Import Injury With Regard to Certain Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 205 (October 25, 2017)

The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) has determined that certain crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) cells (whether or not partially or fully assembled into other products) are being imported into the United States in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious injury, or the threat thereof, to the domestic industry producing an article that is like or directly competitive with the imported articles. The Commissioners who voted in the affirmative are now conducting a process to recommend a safeguard measure for the President to apply. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), on behalf of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC), is announcing a process so that, once the ITC makes its recommendation, domestic producers, importers, exporters, and other interested parties may submit their views and evidence on the appropriateness of the recommended safeguard measure and whether it would be in the public interest. USTR also invites interested parties to participate in a public hearing regarding this matter.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 25, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49469-49470]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-23098]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Docket Number USTR-2017-0020]


Request for Comments and Public Hearing About the 
Administration's Action Following a Determination of Import Injury With 
Regard to Certain Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Request for comments and notice of public hearing.

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SUMMARY: The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) has 
determined that certain crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) cells 
(whether or not partially or fully assembled into other products) are 
being imported into the United States in such increased quantities as 
to be a substantial cause of serious injury, or the threat thereof, to 
the domestic industry producing an article that is like or directly 
competitive with the imported articles. The Commissioners who voted in 
the affirmative are now conducting a process to recommend a safeguard 
measure for the President to apply. The Office of the United States 
Trade Representative (USTR), on behalf of the Trade Policy Staff 
Committee (TPSC), is announcing a process so that, once the ITC makes 
its recommendation, domestic producers, importers, exporters, and other 
interested parties may submit their views and evidence on the 
appropriateness of the recommended safeguard measure and whether it 
would be in the public interest. USTR also invites interested parties 
to participate in a public hearing regarding this matter.

DATES: 
    November 20, 2017 at midnight EST: Deadline for submission of 
written comments.
    November 29, 2017 at midnight EST: Deadline for submission of 
written responses to the initial round of comments.
    December 6, 2017 at 9:30 a.m. EST: The TPSC will hold a public 
hearing in Rooms 1 and 2, 1724 F Street NW., Washington DC.

ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made through 
the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments in section III below. The docket 
number is USTR-2017-0020. For alternatives to on-line submissions, 
please contact Yvonne Jamison, Trade Policy Staff Committee at (202) 
395-9666.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victor Mroczka, Office of WTO and 
Multilateral Affairs, at [email protected] or (202) 395-
9450, or Dax Terrill, Office of the General Counsel, at 
[email protected] or (202) 395-4739.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. The ITC Investigation and Section 201

    On June 1, 2017, the ITC instituted Investigation No. TA-201-75 
under section 202 of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2252), as a result of a 
petition properly filed on May 17, 2017, by Suniva, Inc., a domestic 
producer of CSPV cells and CSPV modules. The ITC would determine if 
CSPV cells (whether or not partially or fully assembled into other 
products) were being imported into the United States in such increased 
quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious injury, or the 
threat thereof, to the domestic industry producing an article that is 
like or directly competitive with the imported articles. The ITC notice 
of institution (82 FR 25332) identifies the scope of the products 
covered by this investigation. On May 25, 2017, another domestic 
producer of CSPV cells, SolarWorld Americas, Inc., joined the 
investigation as a petitioner seeking import relief.
    On September 22, 2017, after receiving submissions from interested 
parties and holding a public hearing that provided an opportunity to 
present opposing views and supporting evidence, the ITC determined that 
the increased importation of CSPV cells is a substantial cause of 
serious injury, or threat thereof, to the domestic industry. You can 
find the ITC determination and additional information about the 
investigation, including the administrative record consisting of briefs 
and other submissions, in the Electronic Document Information System 
(EDIS) on the ITC Web site at www.usitc.gov.
    In light of the affirmative finding on injury, the ITC held a 
public hearing on October 3, 2017, regarding remedies and interested 
parties had the opportunity to file submissions on this issue. On 
November 13, 2017, after the remedy hearing and consideration of the 
submissions, the ITC will submit to the President a report with its 
recommendation on action(s) to address the serious injury, or threat 
thereof, to the domestic industry and to facilitate the efforts of the 
domestic industry to make a positive adjustment to import competition.

II. Proposed Measure and Opportunity To Comment

    Section 201 of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2251) authorizes the 
President, in the event of an affirmative determination by the ITC, to 
take all appropriate and feasible action within his power that he 
determines will facilitate efforts by the domestic industry to make a 
positive adjustment to import competition and provide greater economic 
and social benefits than costs. The statute provides for the President 
to take action within 60 days after receiving the ITC report, subject 
to any decision the President makes to request additional information 
from the ITC. In accordance with section 203(a)(1)(C) of the Trade Act 
(19 U.S.C. 2253(a)(1)(C)), the TPSC will make a recommendation to the 
President. This recommendation will take into account the ITC 
recommendation, the extent to which the domestic industry will benefit 
from adjustment assistance, the efforts of the domestic industry to 
make positive adjustments, and other relevant considerations.
    The potential action the President may take to provide a remedy in 
the form of a safeguard measure includes:
     Imposition, or increase, of a duty on the imported 
articles in question.
     Use of a tariff-rate quota.
     Modification or imposition of any quantitative restriction 
on the importation of the articles into the United States.
     A proposal to negotiate and carry out an agreement with 
foreign countries to limit the exportation from foreign countries and 
importation into the United States.

[[Page 49470]]

     Procedures for the granting of import licenses.
     Other negotiations to identify the underlying cause of the 
increased imports to alleviate the injury or threat thereof.
     Legislative proposals that would facilitate a positive 
adjustment.
     Other action consistent with the President's authority.
     Any combination of these actions.
    USTR offers these potential remedies for further consideration by 
domestic producers, importers, exporters, and other interested parties, 
and invites views and evidence on whether a proposed remedy is 
appropriate and in the public interest. In commenting on the action to 
take, we request that you address:
    1. The appropriateness of any other proposed action and how it 
would be in the public interest;
    2. the short- and long-term effects the proposed action is likely 
to have on the domestic CSPV industry, other domestic industries, and 
downstream consumers; and
    3. the short- and long-term effects that not taking the proposed 
action is likely to have on the domestic CSPV industry, its workers, 
and on other domestic industries and communities.
    The TPSC will convene a public hearing on December 6, 2017, at 9:30 
a.m. EST in Rooms 1 and 2, 1724 F Street NW., Washington DC. We will 
provide information about the format and schedule for the hearing to 
interested parties. Requests to testify must include the following 
information: (1) Name, address, telephone number, email address, and 
firm or affiliation of the individual wishing to testify, and (2) a 
brief summary of the proposed oral presentation.

III. Submission Instructions

    USTR seeks public comments with respect to the issues described in 
Section II. To be assured of consideration, you must submit written 
comments by midnight EST on November 20, 2017, and any written 
responses to those comments by midnight EST on November 29, 2017. All 
comments must be in English and must identify on the reference line of 
the first page of the submission ``Potential Action: CSPV Cells.''
    We 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-2017-0020 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 www.regulations.gov, please consult the resources 
provided on the Web site by clicking ``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 provide comments 
by filling in a ``Type Comment'' field, or by attaching a document 
using an ``Upload File'' field. We prefer that you provide comments as 
an attached document in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) 
format. If the submission is in another file format, please indicate 
the name of the software application in the ``Type Comment'' field. 
File names should reflect 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 comment itself, rather than submitting them as 
separate files.
    For any comments submitted electronically that contain 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 and the submission should 
clearly indicate, via brackets, highlighting, or other means, the 
specific information that is business confidential. A filer requesting 
business confidential treatment must certify that the information is 
business confidential and would not customarily be released to the 
public by the submitter.
    Filers of submissions containing business confidential information 
also must submit a public version of their comments. The file name of 
the public version should begin with the character ``P''. Follow the 
``BC'' and ``P'' with 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.
    As noted, we strongly urge submitters to file comments through 
www.regulations.gov. You must make arrangements for any alternative 
method of submission with Yvonne Jamison at (202) 395-9666 in advance 
of transmitting a comment. You can find general information about USTR 
at www.ustr.gov.
    We will post comments in the docket for public inspection, except 
business confidential information. You can view comments on 
www.regulations.gov by entering the relevant docket number in the 
search field on the home page.

Edward Gresser,
Chair of the Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States 
Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2017-23098 Filed 10-24-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3290-F8-P