2018-14312. 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:

July 3, 2018.

ADDRESSES:

Safeguard Staff, 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Souleymane Diaby, [phone], [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 when the volume of imports of that product exceeds the sum of (1) a base trigger level multiplied by the average of the last three years of available import data and (2) the change in yearly consumption in the most recent year for which data are available (provided that the final trigger level is not less than 105 percent of the three-year import average). The base trigger level is set at 105, 110, or 125 percent of the three-year import average, depending on the percentage of domestic consumption that is represented by imports. 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, which are set at 125 percent of the most recent 3-year average level of imports for each commodity, consistent with the provisions of Article 5.

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 (2018) 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, this 18th day of June 2018.

Ken Isley,

Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service.

Product	Quantity-based safeguard trigger
	Trigger level	Unit	Period
Beef	298,248	MT	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Mutton	5,103	MT	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Cream	1,323,021	Liters	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Evaporated or Condensed Milk	3,867,417	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Nonfat Dry Milk	1,267,208	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Dried Whole Milk	12,116,875	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Dried Cream	10,167	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Dried Whey/Buttermilk	245,833	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Butter 1	29,959,300	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Butteroil	8,183,833	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Chocolate Crumb	10,487,292	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Lowfat Chocolate Crumb	163,000	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Animal Feed Containing Milk	1,154,583	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Ice Cream	5,925,091	Liters	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Dairy Mixtures	18,623,423	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Infant Formula Containing Oligosaccharides	3,909,000	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Blue Cheese	4,179,292	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Cheddar Cheese	11,799,917	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
American-Type Cheese	1,121,250	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Edam/Gouda Cheese	8,804,167	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Italian-Type Cheese	21,480,750	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Swiss Cheese with Eye Formation	29,604,667	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Gruyere Process Cheese	3,801,292	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
NSPF Cheese	52,789,750	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Lowfat Cheese	443,875	Kilograms	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Peanut Butter/Paste	4,314	MT	Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018.
Peanuts 1	14,577 40,078	MT MT	April 1, 2017-Mar 31, 2018. April 1, 2018-Mar 31, 2019.
Raw Cane Sugar 1	723,461 574,933	MT MT	Oct 1, 2017-Sept 30, 2018. Oct 1, 2018-Sept 30, 2019.
Refined Sugars and Syrups 1	444,126 396,386	MT MT	Oct 1, 2017-Sept 30, 2018. Oct 1, 2018-Sept 30, 2019.
Articles over 65% Sugar	451 405	MT MT	Oct 1, 2017-Sept 30, 2018. Oct 1, 2018-Sept 30, 2019.
Articles over 10% Sugar	15,540 8,028	MT MT	Oct 1, 2017-Sept 30, 2018. Oct 1, 2018-Sept 30, 2019.
Blended Syrups	233 362	MT MT	Oct 1, 2017-Sept 30, 2018. Oct 1, 2018-Sept 30, 2019.
Sweetened Cocoa Powder	81 111	MT MT	Oct 1, 2017-Sept 30, 2018. Oct 1, 2018-Sept 30, 2019.
Mixes and Doughs	234 243	MT MT	Oct 1, 2017-Sept 30, 2018. Oct 1, 2018-Sept 30, 2019.
Mixed Condiments and Seasonings	692 473	MT MT	Oct 1, 2017-Sept 30, 2018. Oct 1, 2018-Sept 30, 2019.
Short Staple Cotton 2	3,376,608 2,592,880	Kilograms Kilograms	Sep 20, 2017-Sep 19, 2018. Sep 20, 2018-Sep 19, 2019.
Harsh or Rough Cotton	13 32,958	Kilograms Kilograms	Aug 1, 2017-July 31, 2018. Aug 1, 2018-July 31, 2019.
Medium Staple Cotton	0 8,333	Kilograms Kilograms	Aug 1, 2017-July 31, 2018. Aug 1, 2018-July 31, 2019.
Extra Long Staple Cotton	1,219,841 722,750	Kilograms Kilograms	Aug 1, 2017-July 31, 2018. Aug 1, 2018-July 31, 2019.
Cotton Waste 2	1,232,012 1,019,017	Kilograms Kilograms	Sep 20, 2017-Sep 19, 2018. Sep 20, 2018-Sep 19, 2019.
Cotton, Processed, Not Spun 2	23,004 198,226	Kilograms Kilograms	Sep 11, 2017-Sep 10, 2018. Sep 11, 2018-Sep 10, 2019.
1 Includes change in U.S. consumption.
2 12-month period from October to September.