[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 211 (Friday, October 31, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59014-59015]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-28914]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Request for Public Comment With Respect to the Annual National
Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 303 of the Trade and Tariff Act of 1984,
as amended, USTR is required to publish annually the National Trade
Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE). With this notice, the
Trade Policy Staff
[[Page 59015]]
Committee (TPSC) is requesting interested parties to assist it in
identifying significant barriers to U.S. exports of goods, services and
overseas direct investment for inclusion in the NTE. Particularly
important are impediments materially affecting the actual and potential
financial performance of an industry sector. The TPSC invites written
comments that provide views relevant to the issues to be examined in
preparing the NTE.
DATES: Public comments are due not later than December 5, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, Trade Policy Staff
Committee, Office of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th
Street, NW., Room 501, Washington, DC 20508.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Gregory Gerdes, Office of the General Counsel, Office of the United
States Trade Representative, (202) 395-9493.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The information submitted should relate to
one or more of the following nine categories of foreign trade barriers:
(1) Import policies (e.g., tariffs and other import charges,
quantitative restrictions, import licensing, and customs barriers);
(2) Standards, testing, labeling, and certification (including
unnecessarily restrictive application of phytosanitary standards,
refusal to accept U.S. manufacturers' self-certification of conformance
to foreign product standards, and environmental restrictions);
(3) Government procurement (e.g., ``buy national'' policies and
closed bidding);
(4) Export subsidies (e.g., export financing on preferential terms
and agricultural export subsidies that displace U.S. exports in third
country markets);
(5) Lack of intellectual property protection (e.g., inadequate
patent, copyright, and trademark regimes);
(6) 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, and barriers to the provision of
services by professionals (e.g., lawyers, doctors, accountants,
engineers, nurses, etc.));
(7) 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);
(8) Anticompetitive practices with trade effects tolerated by
foreign governments (including anticompetitive activities of both
state-owned and private firms that apply to services or to goods and
that restrict the sale of U.S. products to any firm, not just to
foreign firms that perpetuate the practices; and
(9) Other barriers (e.g., barriers that encompass more than one
category, e.g., bribery and corruption, or that affect a single
sector).
As in the case of last year's NTE, we are asking that particular
emphasis be placed on any practices that may violate U.S. trade
agreements. We are also interested in receiving any new or updated
information pertinent to the barriers covered in last year's report as
well as new information. Please note that the information not used in
the NTE will be maintained for use in future negotiations.
It is MOST IMPORTANT that your submission contain estimates of the
potential increase in exports that would result from the removal of the
barrier, as well as a clear discussion of the method(s) by which the
estimates were computed. Estimates should fall 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. Such assessments enhance USTR's ability to
conduct meaningful comparative analyses of a barrier's effect over a
range of industries.
Please note that interested parties discussing barriers in more
than one country should provide a separate submission (i.e., one that
is self-contained) for each country.
Written Comments
All written comments should be addressed to: Gloria Blue, Executive
Secretary, Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States
Trade Representative, 600 17th Street N.W., Room 501, Washington, D.C.
20508.
All submissions must be in English and should conform to the
information requirements of 15 CFR 2003.
A party must provide ten copies of its submission which must be
received at USTR no later than December 5, 1997. If the submission
contains business confidential information, ten copies of a non-
confidential version must also be submitted. A justification as to why
the information contained in the submission should be treated
confidentially must be included in the submission. In addition, any
submissions containing business confidential information must be
clearly marked ``Confidential'' at the top and bottom of the cover page
(or letter) and of each succeeding page of the submission. The version
that does not contain confidential information should also be clearly
marked, at the top and bottom of each page, ``public version'' or
``non-confidential.''
Written comments submitted in connection with this request, except
for information granted ``business confidential'' status pursuant to 15
CFR 2003.6, will be available for public inspection shortly after the
filing deadline. Inspection is by appointment only with the staff of
the USTR Public Reading Room and can be arranged by calling (202) 395-
6186.
Frederick L. Montgomery.
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 97-28914 Filed 10-30-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-M
