82_FR_55573 82 FR 55350 - Subsidy Programs Provided by Countries Exporting Softwood Lumber and Softwood Lumber Products to the United States; Request for Comment

82 FR 55350 - Subsidy Programs Provided by Countries Exporting Softwood Lumber and Softwood Lumber Products to the United States; Request for Comment

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 223 (November 21, 2017)

Page Range55350-55351
FR Document2017-25283

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) seeks public comment on any subsidies, including stumpage subsidies, provided by certain countries exporting softwood lumber or softwood lumber products to the United States during the period January 1, 2017, through June 30, 2017.

Federal Register, Volume 82 Issue 223 (Tuesday, November 21, 2017)
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 223 (Tuesday, November 21, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55350-55351]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-25283]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration


Subsidy Programs Provided by Countries Exporting Softwood Lumber 
and Softwood Lumber Products to the United States; Request for Comment

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) seeks public comment on 
any subsidies, including stumpage subsidies, provided by certain 
countries exporting softwood lumber or softwood lumber products to the 
United States during the period January 1, 2017, through June 30, 2017.

[[Page 55351]]


DATES: Comments must be submitted by December 21, 2017.

ADDRESSES: See the Submission of Comments section below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Terpstra or Brendan Quinn, 
Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3965 or (202) 482-5848, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On June 18, 2008, section 805 of Title VIII of the Tariff Act of 
1930 (the Softwood Lumber Act of 2008) was enacted into law. Under this 
provision, the Secretary of Commerce is mandated to submit to the 
appropriate Congressional committees a report every 180 days on any 
subsidy provided by countries exporting softwood lumber or softwood 
lumber products to the United States, including stumpage subsidies.
    Commerce submitted its last subsidy report on June 20, 2017. As 
part of its newest report, Commerce intends to include a list of 
subsidy programs identified with sufficient clarity by the public in 
response to this notice.\1\
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    \1\ On November 1, 2017, the Department issued its final 
determination in the countervailing duty investigation involving 
Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada. See Certain Softwood 
Lumber Products From Canada: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty 
Determination, and Final Negative Determination of Critical 
Circumstances, 82 FR 51814 (November 8, 2017).
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Request for Comments

    Given the large number of countries that export softwood lumber and 
softwood lumber products to the United States, we are soliciting public 
comment only on subsidies provided by countries the exports of which 
accounted for at least one percent of total U.S. imports of softwood 
lumber by quantity, as classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule code 
4407.1001 (which accounts for the vast majority of imports), during the 
period January 1, 2017, through June 30, 2017. Official U.S. import 
data published by the United States International Trade Commission 
Tariff and Trade DataWeb indicate that three countires, Canada, Germany 
and Chile exported softwood lumber to the United States during that 
time period in amounts sufficient to account for at least one percent 
of U.S. imports of softwood lumber products. We intend to rely on 
similar previous six-month periods to identify the countries subject to 
future reports on softwood lumber subsidies. For example, we will rely 
on U.S. imports of softwood lumber and softwood lumber products during 
the period July 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017, to select the 
countries subject to the next report.
    Under U.S. trade law, a subsidy exists where an authority: (i) 
Provides a financial contribution; (ii) provides any form of income or 
price support within the meaning of Article XVI of the GATT 1994; or 
(iii) makes a payment to a funding mechanism to provide a financial 
contribution to a person, or entrusts or directs a private entity to 
make a financial contribution, if providing the contribution would 
normally be vested in the government and the practice does not differ 
in substance from practices normally followed by governments, and a 
benefit is thereby conferred.\2\
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    \2\ See section 771(5)(B) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.
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    Parties should include in their comments: (1) The country which 
provided the subsidy; (2) the name of the subsidy program; (3) a brief 
description (at least 3-4 sentences) of the subsidy program; and (4) 
the government body or authority that provided the subsidy.

Submission of Comments

    Persons wishing to comment should file comments by the date 
specified above. Comments should only include publicly available 
information. Commerce will not accept comments accompanied by a request 
that a part or all of the material be treated confidentially due to 
business proprietary concerns or for any other reason. Any such 
comments or materials will be returned to the submitter and will not be 
considered in Commerce's report. Comments must be filed in electronic 
Portable Document Format (PDF) submitted on CD-ROM or by email to the 
email address of the EC Webmaster, below.
    The comments received will be made available to the public in PDF 
on the Enforcement and Compliance Web site at the following address: 
http://enforcement.trade.gov/sla2008/sla-index.html. Any questions 
concerning file formatting, access on the Internet, or other electronic 
filing issues should be addressed to Moustapha Sylla, Enforcement and 
Compliance Webmaster, at (202) 482-8104, email address: 
[email protected].
    All comments and submissions in response to this Request for 
Comment should be received by Commerce no later than 5 p.m. Eastern 
Standard Time on the above-referenced deadline date.

    Dated: November 17, 2017.
Gary Taverman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of 
theAssistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2017-25283 Filed 11-20-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P



                                                    55350                      Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 223 / Tuesday, November 21, 2017 / Notices

                                                    administrative review for shipments of                  DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE                                remedy determination being challenged
                                                    the subject merchandise from the PRC                                                                          and issue a binding Panel Decision.
                                                    entered, or withdrawn from warehouse,                   International Trade Administration                    There are established NAFTA Rules of
                                                    for consumption on or after the                                                                               Procedure for Article 1904 Binational
                                                    publication date, as provided by section                North American Free Trade Agreement                   Panel Reviews, which were adopted by
                                                    751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) For                        (NAFTA), Article 1904 Binational Panel                the three governments for panels
                                                    previously investigated or reviewed PRC                 Review: Notice of Request for Panel                   requested pursuant to Article 1904(2) of
                                                    and non-PRC exporters not listed above                  Review                                                NAFTA which requires Requests for
                                                    that received a separate rate in a prior                AGENCY:  United States Section, NAFTA                 Panel Review to be published in
                                                    segment of this proceeding, the cash                    Secretariat, International Trade                      accordance with Rule 35. For the
                                                    deposit rate will continue to be the                    Administration, Department of                         complete Rules, please see https://
                                                    existing exporter-specific rate; (2) for all            Commerce.                                             www.nafta-sec-alena.org/Home/Texts-
                                                    PRC exporters of subject merchandise                    ACTION: Notice of NAFTA Request for                   of-the-Agreement/Rules-of-Procedure/
                                                    that have not been found to be entitled                 Panel Review in the matter of Certain                 Article-1904.
                                                    to a separate rate, the cash deposit rate               Softwood Lumber Products From                            The Rules provide that:
                                                    will be that for the PRC-wide entity,                   Canada: Final Affirmative                                (a) A Party or interested person may
                                                    112.64 per cent; and (3) for all non-PRC                Countervailing Duty Determination                     challenge the final determination in
                                                    exporters of subject merchandise which                  (Secretariat File Number: USA–CDA–                    whole or in part by filing a Complaint
                                                    have not received their own rate, the                   2017–1904–02).                                        in accordance with Rule 39 within 30
                                                    cash deposit rate will be the rate                                                                            days after the filing of the first Request
                                                    applicable to the PRC exporter that                     SUMMARY:    A Request for Panel Review                for Panel Review (the deadline for filing
                                                    supplied that non-PRC exporter. These                   was filed on behalf of the Government                 a Complaint is December 14, 2017);
                                                    deposit requirements, when imposed,                     of Canada, the Government of Alberta,                    (b) A Party, investigating authority or
                                                    shall remain in effect until further                    the Government of British Columbia, the               interested person that does not file a
                                                    notice.                                                 Government of Manitoba, the                           Complaint but that intends to appear in
                                                                                                            Government of New Brunswick, the                      support of any reviewable portion of the
                                                    Notification to Importers                               Government of Ontario, the Government                 final determination may participate in
                                                                                                            of Québec, the Government of                         the panel review by filing a Notice of
                                                      This notice also serves as a                          Saskatchewan, Alberta Softwood
                                                    preliminary reminder to importers of                                                                          Appearance in accordance with Rule 40
                                                                                                            Lumber Trade Council (‘‘ASLTC’’),                     within 45 days after the filing of the first
                                                    their responsibility under 19 CFR                       British Columbia Lumber Trade Council
                                                    351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate                                                                           Request for Panel Review (the deadline
                                                                                                            (‘‘BCLTC’’), Conseil de l’Industrie                   for filing a Notice of Appearance is
                                                    regarding the reimbursement of                          forestiere du Québec (‘‘CIFQ’’), Ontario
                                                    antidumping duties prior to liquidation                                                                       December 29, 2017); and
                                                                                                            Forest Industries Association (‘‘OFIA’’),                (c) The panel review shall be limited
                                                    of the relevant entries during this                     New Brunswick Lumber Producers
                                                    review period. Failure to comply with                                                                         to the allegations of error of fact or law,
                                                                                                            (‘‘NBLP’’), Canfor Corporation                        including challenges to the jurisdiction
                                                    this requirement could result in the                    (‘‘Canfor’’), J.D. Irving, Limited (‘‘JDI’’),
                                                    Department’s presumption that                                                                                 of the investigating authority, that are
                                                                                                            Resolute FP Canada Inc. (‘‘Resolute’’),               set out in the Complaints filed in the
                                                    reimbursement of antidumping duties                     Tolko Marketing and Sales Ltd. and                    panel review and to the procedural and
                                                    occurred and the subsequent assessment                  Tolko Industries Ltd. (‘‘Tolko’’), and                substantive defenses raised in the panel
                                                    of double antidumping duties.                           West Fraser Mills Ltd. (‘‘West Fraser’’)              review.
                                                      We are issuing and publishing these                   with the United States Section of the
                                                                                                                                                                    Dated: November 15, 2017.
                                                    results in accordance with sections                     NAFTA Secretariat on November 14,
                                                                                                            2017, pursuant to NAFTA Article 1904.                 Paul E. Morris,
                                                    751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19
                                                    CFR 351.213.                                            Panel Review was requested of the                     U.S. Secretary, NAFTA Secretariat.
                                                                                                            Department of Commerce’s final                        [FR Doc. 2017–25123 Filed 11–20–17; 8:45 am]
                                                      Dated: November 15, 2017.
                                                                                                            countervailing duty determination                     BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P
                                                    Gary Taverman,                                          regarding Certain Softwood Lumber
                                                    Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping              Products from Canada. The final
                                                    and Countervailing Duty Operations,                     determination was published in the                    DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
                                                    performing the non-exclusive functions and
                                                                                                            Federal Register on November 8, 2017
                                                    duties of the Assistant Secretary for                                                                         International Trade Administration
                                                    Enforcement and Compliance.                             (82 FR 51814). The NAFTA Secretariat
                                                                                                            has assigned case number USA–CDA–                     Subsidy Programs Provided by
                                                    Appendix                                                2017–1904–02 to this request.                         Countries Exporting Softwood Lumber
                                                                                                            FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul                 and Softwood Lumber Products to the
                                                    List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary             E. Morris, United States Secretary,
                                                    Decision Memorandum                                                                                           United States; Request for Comment
                                                                                                            NAFTA Secretariat, Room 2061, 1401
                                                    1. Summary                                              Constitution Avenue NW., Washington,                  AGENCY:  Enforcement and Compliance,
                                                    2. Background                                           DC 20230, (202) 482–5438.                             International Trade Administration,
                                                    3. Scope of the Order                                                                                         Department of Commerce.
asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with NOTICES




                                                                                                            SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Chapter
                                                    4. Discussion of the Methodology                        19 of Article 1904 of NAFTA provides                  SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce
                                                       a. Preliminary Determination of No                   a dispute settlement mechanism                        (Commerce) seeks public comment on
                                                          Shipments                                         involving trade remedy determinations                 any subsidies, including stumpage
                                                       b. NME Country Status                                issued by the Government of the United                subsidies, provided by certain countries
                                                       c. Separate Rates                                    States, the Government of Canada, and                 exporting softwood lumber or softwood
                                                    5. Recommendation                                       the Government of Mexico. Following a                 lumber products to the United States
                                                    [FR Doc. 2017–25174 Filed 11–20–17; 8:45 am]            Request for Panel Review, a Binational                during the period January 1, 2017,
                                                    BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P                                  Panel is composed to review the trade                 through June 30, 2017.


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                                                                               Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 223 / Tuesday, November 21, 2017 / Notices                                                   55351

                                                    DATES:  Comments must be submitted by                   of softwood lumber and softwood                         Dated: November 17, 2017.
                                                    December 21, 2017.                                      lumber products during the period July                Gary Taverman,
                                                    ADDRESSES: See the Submission of                        1, 2017 through December 31, 2017, to                 Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping
                                                    Comments section below.                                 select the countries subject to the next              and Countervailing Duty Operations
                                                    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:                        report.                                               performing the non-exclusive functions and
                                                                                                               Under U.S. trade law, a subsidy exists             duties of theAssistant Secretary for
                                                    James Terpstra or Brendan Quinn,
                                                                                                            where an authority: (i) Provides a                    Enforcement and Compliance.
                                                    Office III, Enforcement and Compliance,
                                                                                                            financial contribution; (ii) provides any             [FR Doc. 2017–25283 Filed 11–20–17; 8:45 am]
                                                    International Trade Administration,
                                                    U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401                       form of income or price support within                BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P

                                                    Constitution Avenue NW., Washington,                    the meaning of Article XVI of the GATT
                                                    DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482–3965 or                  1994; or (iii) makes a payment to a
                                                    (202) 482–5848, respectively.                           funding mechanism to provide a                        DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
                                                    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:                              financial contribution to a person, or
                                                                                                                                                                  International Trade Administration
                                                                                                            entrusts or directs a private entity to
                                                    Background                                              make a financial contribution, if                     [A–580–894]
                                                      On June 18, 2008, section 805 of Title                providing the contribution would
                                                    VIII of the Tariff Act of 1930 (the                     normally be vested in the government                  Certain Tapered Roller Bearings From
                                                    Softwood Lumber Act of 2008) was                        and the practice does not differ in                   the Republic of Korea: Postponement
                                                    enacted into law. Under this provision,                 substance from practices normally                     of Preliminary Determination in the
                                                    the Secretary of Commerce is mandated                   followed by governments, and a benefit                Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation
                                                    to submit to the appropriate                            is thereby conferred.2                                AGENCY:  Enforcement and Compliance,
                                                    Congressional committees a report every                    Parties should include in their                    International Trade Administration,
                                                    180 days on any subsidy provided by                     comments: (1) The country which                       U.S. Department of Commerce.
                                                    countries exporting softwood lumber or                  provided the subsidy; (2) the name of                 DATES: Applicable November 21, 2017.
                                                    softwood lumber products to the United                  the subsidy program; (3) a brief
                                                    States, including stumpage subsidies.                                                                         FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
                                                                                                            description (at least 3–4 sentences) of
                                                      Commerce submitted its last subsidy                   the subsidy program; and (4) the                      Blaine Wiltse at 202–482–6345, or
                                                    report on June 20, 2017. As part of its                 government body or authority that                     Manuel Rey at 202–482–5518, AD/CVD
                                                    newest report, Commerce intends to                      provided the subsidy.                                 Operations, Office II, Enforcement and
                                                    include a list of subsidy programs                                                                            Compliance, International Trade
                                                    identified with sufficient clarity by the               Submission of Comments                                Administration, U.S. Department of
                                                    public in response to this notice.1                        Persons wishing to comment should                  Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
                                                                                                            file comments by the date specified                   NW., Washington, DC 20230.
                                                    Request for Comments
                                                                                                            above. Comments should only include                   SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
                                                      Given the large number of countries
                                                                                                            publicly available information.                       Background
                                                    that export softwood lumber and
                                                                                                            Commerce will not accept comments
                                                    softwood lumber products to the United                                                                          On July 18, 2017, the Department of
                                                                                                            accompanied by a request that a part or
                                                    States, we are soliciting public comment                                                                      Commerce (the Department) initiated a
                                                                                                            all of the material be treated
                                                    only on subsidies provided by countries                                                                       less-than-fair value (LTFV) investigation
                                                                                                            confidentially due to business
                                                    the exports of which accounted for at                                                                         of imports of certain tapered roller
                                                                                                            proprietary concerns or for any other
                                                    least one percent of total U.S. imports of                                                                    bearings from the Republic of Korea.1
                                                                                                            reason. Any such comments or materials
                                                    softwood lumber by quantity, as                                                                               Currently, the preliminary
                                                                                                            will be returned to the submitter and
                                                    classified under Harmonized Tariff                                                                            determination is due no later than
                                                                                                            will not be considered in Commerce’s
                                                    Schedule code 4407.1001 (which                                                                                December 5, 2017.
                                                                                                            report. Comments must be filed in
                                                    accounts for the vast majority of
                                                                                                            electronic Portable Document Format                   Postponement of the Preliminary
                                                    imports), during the period January 1,
                                                                                                            (PDF) submitted on CD–ROM or by                       Determination
                                                    2017, through June 30, 2017. Official
                                                                                                            email to the email address of the EC
                                                    U.S. import data published by the                                                                                Section 733(b)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act
                                                                                                            Webmaster, below.
                                                    United States International Trade                                                                             of 1930, as amended (the Act), requires
                                                    Commission Tariff and Trade DataWeb                        The comments received will be made                 the Department to issue the preliminary
                                                    indicate that three countires, Canada,                  available to the public in PDF on the                 determination in a LTFV investigation
                                                    Germany and Chile exported softwood                     Enforcement and Compliance Web site                   within 140 days after the date on which
                                                    lumber to the United States during that                 at the following address: http://                     the Department initiated the
                                                    time period in amounts sufficient to                    enforcement.trade.gov/sla2008/sla-                    investigation. However, section
                                                    account for at least one percent of U.S.                index.html. Any questions concerning                  733(c)(1) of the Act permits the
                                                    imports of softwood lumber products.                    file formatting, access on the Internet, or           Department to postpone the preliminary
                                                    We intend to rely on similar previous                   other electronic filing issues should be              determination until no later than 190
                                                    six-month periods to identify the                       addressed to Moustapha Sylla,                         days after the date on which the
                                                    countries subject to future reports on                  Enforcement and Compliance                            Department initiated the investigation
                                                    softwood lumber subsidies. For                          Webmaster, at (202) 482–8104, email                   if: (A) The petitioner makes a timely
asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with NOTICES




                                                    example, we will rely on U.S. imports                   address: webmaster_support@trade.gov.                 request for a postponement; or (B) the
                                                                                                               All comments and submissions in                    Department concludes that the parties
                                                       1 On November 1, 2017, the Department issued its     response to this Request for Comment                  concerned are cooperating, that the
                                                    final determination in the countervailing duty          should be received by Commerce no                     investigation is extraordinarily
                                                    investigation involving Certain Softwood Lumber         later than 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time               complicated, and that additional time is
                                                    Products from Canada. See Certain Softwood              on the above-referenced deadline date.
                                                    Lumber Products From Canada: Final Affirmative
                                                    Countervailing Duty Determination, and Final                                                                    1 See Certain Tapered Roller Bearings from the

                                                    Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances,         2 Seesection 771(5)(B) of the Tariff Act of 1930,   Republic of Korea: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-
                                                    82 FR 51814 (November 8, 2017).                         as amended.                                           Value Investigation, 82 FR 34477 (July 25, 2017).



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Document Created: 2017-11-21 00:43:11
Document Modified: 2017-11-21 00:43:11
CategoryRegulatory Information
CollectionFederal Register
sudoc ClassAE 2.7:
GS 4.107:
AE 2.106:
PublisherOffice of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
SectionNotices
DatesComments must be submitted by December 21, 2017.
ContactJames Terpstra or Brendan Quinn, Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3965 or (202) 482-5848, respectively.
FR Citation82 FR 55350 

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