[Federal Register: August 21, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 161)]
[Notices]
[Page 46611-46613]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21au07-49]
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COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS
Solicitation of Public Comments Regarding Possible Safeguard
Action on Imports from Honduras of Cotton, Wool, and Man-Made Fiber
Socks
August 16, 2007.
AGENCY: The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (the
Committee)
ACTION: Solicitation of public comments regarding possible safeguard
action on imports from Honduras of cotton, wool, and man-made fiber
socks (merged Category 332/432 and 632 part).
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SUMMARY: The Committee has decided, on its own initiative, to consider
whether imports of Honduran cotton, wool, and man-made fiber socks
(merged Category 332/432 and 632 part) are being imported into the
United States in such increased quantities, in absolute terms or
relative to the domestic market for such socks, and under such
conditions as to cause serious damage, or actual threat thereof, to the
U.S. industry producing such socks. The Committee is soliciting public
comments to assist it in considering this issue and in determining
whether safeguard action is appropriate. Comments must be submitted by
September 20, 2007 to the Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of
Textile Agreements, Room 3001A, United States Department of Commerce,
14th and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20230.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sergio Botero, Office of Textiles and
Apparel, U.S. Department of Commerce, (202) 482-4058.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Authority: Authority: Title III, Subtitle B, Section 321 through
Section 328 of the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States
Free Trade Agreement (``CAFTA-DR'' or the ``Agreement'')
Implementation Act; Article 3.23 of the Dominican Republic-Central
America-United States Free Trade Agreement.
BACKGROUND:
The CAFTA-DR textile and apparel safeguard applies when, as a
result of the elimination of a customs duty under the Agreement, a
textile or apparel article of the Dominican Republic, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, or Nicaragua (``CAFTA-DR country''), is being
imported into the United States in such increased quantities, in
absolute terms or relative to the domestic market for that article, and
under such conditions as to cause serious damage,
[[Page 46612]]
or actual threat thereof, to a domestic industry producing an article
that is like, or directly competitive with, the imported article. In
making this determination, the Committee: (1) shall examine the effect
of increased imports on the domestic industry as reflected in such
relevant economic factors as output, productivity, utilization of
capacity, inventories, market share, exports, wages, employment,
domestic prices, profits, and investment, none of which is necessarily
decisive; and (2) shall not consider changes in technology or consumer
preference as factors supporting a determination of serious damage or
actual threat thereof. If a determination is affirmative, the Committee
will provide written notice of its decision to the specified CAFTA-DR
country and will consult with said party upon its request.
Consultations with the specified CAFTA-DR country will begin without
delay and shall be completed within 60 days of the date of the receipt
of the request for consultations. The Committee shall make a
determination on whether to apply a safeguard measure within 30 days of
completion of the consultations.
If the Committee makes a determination to apply a safeguard
measure, the Committee may provide import tariff relief to the domestic
industry to the extent necessary to remedy or prevent the serious
damage or actual threat thereof and to facilitate adjustment by the
domestic industry to import competition. Such relief would consist of
an increase in the rate of duty on the article to a level that does not
exceed the lesser of the applied U.S. normal trade relations (NTR)/
most- favored-nation (MFN) duty rate for the article or the applied
U.S. NTR (MFN) duty rate in effect on the day before the Agreement
entered into force. The import tariff relief is effective beginning on
the date that the Committee's affirmative determination is published in
the Federal Register. The maximum period of import tariff relief shall
be three years. However, if the initial period for import relief is
less than three years, the Committee may extend the period of import
tariff relief to the maximum three-year period if the Committee
determines that the continuation is necessary to remedy or prevent
serious damage or actual threat thereof by the domestic industry to
import competition, and that the domestic industry is, in fact, making
a positive adjustment to import competition. Import tariff relief may
not be imposed for an aggregate period greater than three years.
Under Article 3.23.6 of the Agreement, if the United States
provides relief to a domestic industry under the textile and apparel
safeguard, it must provide the country whose good is subject to the
measure ``mutually agreed trade liberalizing compensation in the form
of concessions having substantially equivalent trade effects or
equivalent to the value of the additional customs duties expected to
result from the textile safeguard measure.'' Such concessions shall be
limited to textile and apparel articles, unless the United States and
the specified CAFTA-DR country agree otherwise. If the United States
and the CAFTA-DR country are unable to agree on trade liberalizing
compensation, that country may increase customs duties on any U.S.
articles to achieve substantially equivalent trade effects. The
obligation to provide compensation terminates upon termination of the
safeguard relief.
In accordance with section 4 of its procedures for considering
action under the CAFTA-DR textile and apparel safeguard, (71 FR 25157,
April 28, 2006), the Committee has decided, on its own initiative, to
consider whether imports of Honduran cotton, wool, and man-made fiber
socks are being imported into the United States in such increased
quantities, in absolute terms or relative to the domestic market for
cotton, wool, and man-made fiber socks, and under such conditions as to
cause serious damage, or actual threat thereof, to the U.S. industry
producing these products.
The Committee is soliciting public comments on this matter, in
particular with regard to whether imports of Honduran cotton, wool, and
man-made fiber socks are causing serious damage, or actual threat
thereof, to a domestic industry. It invites the public to provide
information and analysis to assist the Committee in considering whether
serious damage, or actual threat thereof, exists, and, if so, the role
of imports of Honduran articles in causing that serious damage, or
actual threat thereof. Such information may include the following:
recent and historical data regarding the U.S. market for cotton, wool,
and man-made fiber socks (including imports and U.S. production data);
and a description of how, if at all, imports of Honduran cotton, wool,
and man-made fiber socks will affect the domestic industry, as
reflected in such relevant economic factors as changes in productivity,
utilization of capacity, inventories, exports, wages, employment,
domestic prices, profits, and investment, and any other information,
relating to the existence of actual threat of serious damage. Any
member of the public who provides information to the Committee should
also indicate the sources from which information provided was obtained.
In providing comments, the public may wish to consider the
following data:
U.S. Imports of Cotton, Wool, and Man-Made Fiber Socks, Merged Category 332/432 and 632 part \1\ (Dozen pairs).
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Period Imports from the World Imports from Honduras Honduras' Share of Imports (%)
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2005 219,195,035 10,946,828 5.0
2006 233,245,477 15,216,853 6.5
Year-to-date June 2006 111,395,689 7,421,253 6.7
Year-to-date June 2007 120,235,661 12,256,786 10.2
Year-ending June 2006 221,028,674 13,183,488 6.0
Year-ending June 2007 242,085,449 20,052,386 8.3
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\1\ The relevant product of Honduran origin is imports from Honduras in Category 332/432 and 632 part, which consists of twenty-three Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTS) sub-headings: 6115.10.3000, 6115.10.4000, 6115.10.5500, 6115.91.0000, 6115.92.6000, 6115.92.9000, 6115.93.6010,
6115.93.6020, 6115.93.9010, 6115.93.9020, 6115.94.0000, 6115.95.6000, 6115.95.9000, 6115.96.6010, 6115.96.6020, 6115.96.9010, 6115.96.9020,
6115.99.1410, 6115.99.1420, 6115.99.1810, 6115.99.1820, 6115.99.1910 and 6115.99.1920.
[[Page 46613]]
U.S. Production, Imports, Market and Domestic Market Share of Cotton, Wool, and Man-Made Fiber Socks, Merged Category 332/432 and 632 part (Dozen Pairs)
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Period Production World Imports Market Domestic Market Share (%)
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2005 133,631,000 219,195,035 352,826,035 37.9
2006 116,003,000 233,245,477 349,248,477 33.2
Year-to-date March 2006 29,084,000 50,450,041 79,534,041 36.6
Year-to-date March 2007 23,458,000 57,017,494 80,475,494 29.1
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Comments must be in English, and must be received no later than
September 20, 2007. Comments must be submitted in writing and
electronic mail.
(1)An electronic mail (``email'') version of the comments must be
either in PDF, Word, or Word-Perfect format, and sent to
cafta-dr-safeguard@ita.doc.gov. Comments must have a bolded heading stating
``Public Version'', and all business confidential information must be
deleted and substituted with asterisks. No business confidential
information should be submitted in the ``email'' version of the
document.
(2)The original signed comments must be mailed to the Chairman,
Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements, Room H3001A,
U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th and Constitution Avenue N.W.,
Washington, DC 20230. Any business confidential information upon which
an interested person wishes to rely must be included in the original
signed comments only. Brackets must be placed around all business
confidential information. Comments containing business confidential
information must have a bolded heading stating ``Confidential
Version.'' Attachments considered business confidential information
must have a heading stating ``Business Confidential Information''. The
Committee will protect from disclosure any business confidential
information that is marked ``business confidential'' to the full extent
permitted by law. Except for the inclusion of business confidential
information, the two versions of comments should be identical.
(3) All comments submitted via ``email'' will be made available for
public inspection at Import Administration's Central Records Unit, Room
B-099, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on business days.
In addition, the ``email'' version of the comments will be posted for
public review on the Office of Textile and Apparel (``OTEXA''), CAFTA-
DR Free Trade Agreement website at http://otexa.ita.doc.gov/tradeagree2007.htm
If a comment alleges that there is no serious damage, or actual
threat thereof, or that the reduction or elimination of the duty did
not result in an increase in imports so as to cause serious damage, or
actual threat thereof, the Committee will closely review any supporting
information and documentation, such as information about domestic
production or prices of like or directly competitive products. While we
are taking comments from the public, particular consideration will be
given to comments representing the views of actual producers in the
United States of a like or directly competitive product.
Any interested party may submit information to rebut, clarify, or
correct public comments submitted by any other interested party at any
time prior to the close of the public comment period. If public
comments are submitted less than 10 days before, or on, the applicable
deadline for submission of such public comments, an interested party
may submit information to rebut, clarify, or correct the public
comments no later than 10 days after the applicable deadline for
submission of public comments. Rebuttal comments must meet the
requirements outlined in (1) through (2) of this Notice.
The Committee will make a determination within 60 calendar days of
the close of the comment period as to whether the United States will
request consultations with Honduras. If the Committee is unable to make
a determination within 60 calendar days, it will cause to be published
a notice in the Federal Register, including the date by which it will
make a determination. If the Committee makes a negative determination,
it will cause this determination and the reasons therefore to be
published in the Federal Register. If the Committee makes an
affirmative determination that, as a result of the reduction or
elimination of a duty, Honduran cotton, wool, and man-made fiber socks,
merged Category 332/432 and 632 part are being imported into the United
States in such increased quantities, in absolute terms or relative to
the domestic market for that article, and under such conditions as to
cause serious damage, or actual threat thereof, to the U.S. industry
producing cotton, wool, and man-made fiber socks, the United States
will promptly notify Honduras in accordance with CAFTA-DR and will
enter into consultations upon request.
R. Matthew Priest,
Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.
[FR Doc. E7-16450 Filed 8-20-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S