SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. The USITC Investigation and Section 201

On December 1, 2025, following receipt of a petition for import relief, as initially submitted on September 15, 2025, and as supplemented on September 23, 2025, and November 17, 2025, and deemed to be properly filed on November 17, 2025, the USITC instituted investigation No. TA-201-79 pursuant to section 202 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2252) to determine whether QSP are being imported into the United States in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious injury, or threat thereof, to the domestic industry producing an article like or directly competitive with the imported article. The USITC notice of institution (90 FR 55165) identifies the scope of the products covered by this investigation.

On April 1, 2026, after receiving submissions from interested parties and holding a public hearing on serious injury on February 24, 2026, the USITC determined that the increased importation of QSP is a substantial cause of serious injury, or threat thereof, to the domestic industry. In line with domestic legal requirements, the USITC also found that neither QSP imports from Canada, nor QSP imports from Mexico, account for a substantial share of total imports or contribute importantly to the serious injury caused by imports. Finally, the USITC found that imports of QSP from every other free trade agreement partner country, when considered individually, are not a substantial cause of serious injury or threat thereof. The USITC determination and additional information about the investigation, including the administrative record consisting of briefs and other submissions, can be found in the Electronic Document Information System (EDIS) on the USITC website at www.usitc.gov.

The USITC is now conducting the remedy phase of the investigation. By May 18, 2026, after the remedy hearing and consideration of submissions, the USITC will submit to the President a report with its injury determination, remedy recommendations, certain additional findings, and the basis for them. A public report concerning the investigation will be available on the USITC website at www.usitc.gov after the USITC submits its findings and recommendations to the President.

II. Proposed Measure and Opportunity To Comment

Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2251) authorizes the President, in the event of an affirmative serious injury determination by the USITC, 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 USITC report, subject to any decision the President makes to request additional information from the USITC. The USITC is scheduled to transmit its report to the President by May 18, 2026. In accordance with section 203(a)(1)(C) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2253(a)(1)(C)), the TPSC will make a recommendation to the President on what action the President should take. This recommendation will take into account the USITC recommendation and report, the extent to which workers and firms in the domestic industry will benefit from adjustment assistance, the efforts of the domestic industry to make positive adjustments, and other relevant considerations. The potential actions the President may take to provide a remedy in the form of a safeguard measure include:

• 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;
• 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; or
• any combination of these actions.

USTR offers these potential remedies for further consideration by domestic producers, importers, exporters, and other interested parties, and invites ( printed page 28097) 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 QSP industry, its workers, and on other domestic industries and communities.

3. The short- and long-term effects that not taking the proposed action is likely to have on the domestic QSP industry, its workers, and on other domestic industries and communities.

III. Hearing Participation

The TPSC will convene a public hearing on June 16, 2026, in Rooms 1 and 2, 1724 F Street NW, Washington, DC. USTR will provide information about the format and schedule for the hearing to interested parties. Requests to appear at the hearing and 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. Follow the instructions for submitting requests to appear at the hearing in Section IV below.

IV. 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, requests to appear at the hearing, and summaries of testimony by 11:59 p.m. EST on June 1, 2026, and any written responses to those comments by 11:59 p.m. EST on June 8, 2026. The request to appear at the hearing must include a summary of testimony and may be accompanied by a prehearing submission. All comments must be in English and must identify on the reference line of the first page of the submission “Potential Action: Quartz Surface Products.” USTR invites small businesses (generally defined by the Small Business Administration as firms with fewer than 500 employees) or organizations representing small business members that submit comments to self-identify as such in their written comments and requests to appear at the hearing, so that we may be aware of issues of particular interest to small businesses.

USTR strongly encourages commenters to make online submissions, using Regulations.gov. To submit comments via Regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR-2026-0232 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 Regulations.gov, please consult the resources provided on the website by clicking “How to Use Regulations.gov” on the bottom of the home page. USTR will not accept hand-delivered submissions.

The Regulations.gov website allows users to provide comments by filling in a “Type Comment” field, or by attaching a document using an “Upload File” field. USTR prefers 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. 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 (BCI), the file name of the business confidential version should begin with the characters “BCI”. 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 “BCI” and “P” with the name of the person or entity submitting the comments. Filers submitting comments containing no BCI should name their file using the name of the person or entity submitting the comments.

As noted, USTR strongly urge submitters to file comments through Regulations.gov. You must make arrangements for any alternative method of submission with Matthew P. Jaffe at Matthew_P_Jaffe@ustr.eop.gov far in advance of the relevant deadline and before transmitting a comment.

You can find general information about USTR at www.ustr.gov.

USTR will post comments in the docket for public inspection, except properly designated BCI. You can view comments on Regulations.gov by entering the docket number in the search field on the home page.

91 FR 28096