[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 211 (Tuesday, November 2, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59223-59224]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-28649]
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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.
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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 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 3, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, Trade Policy Staff
Committee, Office of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th
Street NW, Room 122, Washington, DC 20508.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gloria Blue, Office of Policy
[[Page 59224]]
Coordination, Office of the United States Trade Representative, (202)
395-3475.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: :Last year's report may be found on USTR's
Internet Home Page (www.ustr.gov) under the section on Reports. This
year we adding one other country, Romania, to the report, but are not
making any change in the list of barrier categories. Finally, in order
to ensure compliance with the statutory mandate for reporting foreign
trade barriers that are significant, we will focus particularly on
those restrictions where there has been active private sector interest.
The information submitted should relate to one or more of the
following ten 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);
(9) Trade restrictions affecting electronic commerce (e.g., tariff
and non-tariff measures, burdensome and discriminatory regulations and
standards, and discriminatory taxation; and
(10) Other barriers (i.e., 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 NW, Room
122, Washington, DC 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 3, 1999.
If the submission contains business confidential information, ten
copies of a 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 ``nonconfidential.''
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 Brenda Webb
(202) 395-6186. The Reading Room is open to the public from 9:30 a.m.
to 12 noon, and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Frederick L. Montgomery,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 99-28649 Filed 11-1-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-M
