2017-12648. WTO Agricultural Quantity-Based Safeguard Trigger Levels

AGENCY:

Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

ACTION:

Notice of product coverage and trigger levels for safeguard measures provided for in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture.

SUMMARY:

This notice lists the updated quantity-based trigger levels for products which may be subject to additional import duties under the safeguard provisions of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture. This notice also includes the relevant period applicable for the trigger levels on each of the listed products.

DATES:

June 19, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Souleymane Diaby, Import Policies and Export Reporting Division, Office of Trade Programs, Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Stop 1020, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250-1020; by telephone [phone]; or by fax [phone]; or by email to [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Article 5 of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture provides that additional import duties may be imposed on imports of products subject to tariffication as a result of the Uruguay Round, if certain conditions are met. The agreement permits additional duties to be charged if the price of an individual shipment of imported products falls below the average price for similar goods imported during the years 1986-88 by a specified percentage. It also permits additional duties to be imposed if the volume of imports of an article exceeds the average of the most recent 3 years for which data are available by 5, 10, or 25 percent, depending on the article. These additional duties may not be imposed on quantities for which minimum or current access commitments were made during the Uruguay Round negotiations, and only one type of safeguard, price or quantity, may be applied at any given time to an article.

Section 405 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act requires that the President cause to be published in the Federal Register information regarding the price and quantity safeguards, including the quantity trigger levels, which must be updated annually based upon import levels during the most recent 3 years. The President delegated this duty to the Secretary of Agriculture in Presidential Proclamation No. 6763, dated December 23, 1994, 60 FR 1005 (Jan. 4, 1995). The Secretary of Agriculture further delegated this duty, which lies with the Administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service (7 CFR 2.43(a)(2)). The Annex to this notice contains the updated quantity trigger levels.

Additional information on the products subject to safeguards and the additional duties which may apply can be found in subchapter IV of Chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (2017) and in the Secretary of Agriculture's Notice of Uruguay Round Agricultural Safeguard Trigger Levels, published in the Federal Register at 60 FR 427 (Jan. 4, 1995).

Notice: As provided in Section 405 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, consistent with Article 5 of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, the safeguard quantity trigger levels previously notified are superseded by the levels indicated in the Annex to this notice. The definitions of these products were provided in the Notice of Safeguard Action published in the Federal Register, at 60 FR 427 (Jan. 4, 1995).

Issued at Washington, DC, on May 31, 2017.

Holly Higgins

Acting Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service.

Annex

Product	Quantity-based safeguard trigger
	Trigger level	Units	Period
Beef	331,166	MT	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Mutton	3,335	MT	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Cream	1,426,324	Liters	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Evaporated or Condensed Milk	2,228,725	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Nonfat Dry Milk	564,347	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Dried Whole Milk	4,493,172	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Dried Cream	8,319	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Dried Whey/Buttermilk	19,366	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Butter	22,242,567	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Butter Oil and Butter Substitutes	9,693,967	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Dairy Mixtures	26,136,023	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Blue Cheese	5,161,480	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Cheddar Cheese	15,484,227	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
American-Type Cheese	919,786	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Edam/Gouda Cheese	8,779,770	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Italian-Type Cheese	21,756,722	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Swiss Cheese with Eye Formation	30,109,746	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Gruyere Process Cheese	3,850,662	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
NSPF Cheese	58,444,719	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Lowfat Cheese	281,375	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Peanuts	13,106	MT	April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017.
	14,577	MT	April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018.
Peanut Butter/Paste	4,148	MT	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Raw Cane Sugar	617,282	MT	October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017.
	723,461	MT	October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018.
Refined Sugar and Syrups	355,264	MT	October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017.
	444,126	MT	October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018.
Blended Syrups	106	MT	October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017.
	233	MT	October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018.
Articles Over 65% Sugar	415	MT	October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017.
	451	MT	October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018.
Articles Over 10% Sugar	18,930	MT	October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017.
	15,540	MT	October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018.
Sweetened Cocoa Powder	72	MT	October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017.
	81	MT	October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018.
Chocolate Crumb	12,507,343	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Lowfat Chocolate Crumb	462,186	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Infant Formula Containing Oligosaccharides	618,873	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Mixes and Doughs	234	MT	October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017.
	234	MT	October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018.
Mixed Condiments and Seasonings	894	MT	October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017.
	692	MT	October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018.
Ice Cream	3,206,913	Liters	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Animal Feed Containing Milk	1,010,198	Kilograms	January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
Short Staple Cotton	1,363,307	Kilograms	September 20, 2016 to September 19, 2017.
	3,376,608	Kilograms	September 20, 2017 to September 19, 2018.
Harsh or Rough Cotton	13	Kilograms	August 1, 2016 to July 31, 2017.
	13	Kilograms	August 1, 2017 to July 31, 2018.
Medium Staple Cotton	0	Kilograms	August 1, 2016 to July 31, 2017.
	0	Kilograms	August 1, 2017 to July 31, 2018.
Extra Long Staple Cotton	1,270,096	Kilograms	August 1, 2016 to July 31, 2017.
	1,219,841	Kilograms	August 1, 2017 to July 31, 2018.
Cotton Waste	925,273	Kilograms	September 20, 2016 to September 19, 2017.
	1,232,012	Kilograms	September 20, 2017 to September 19, 2018.
Cotton, Processed, Not Spun	51	Kilograms	September 11, 2016 to September 10, 2017.
	23,004	Kilograms	September 11, 2017 to September 10, 2018.