[Federal Register: December 21, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 244)]
[Notices]
[Page 76514]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21de04-88]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Trade Policy Staff Committee; Request for Public Comment on
Review of Employment Impact of United States-United Arab Emirates Free
Trade Agreement Negotiations
AGENCIES: Office of the United States Trade Representative; Department
of Labor.
ACTION: Request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) gives notice that the
Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the
Department of Labor (Labor) are initiating a review of the impact of a
proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the United States and the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) on U.S. employment, including labor markets.
This notice seeks written public comment on potentially significant
sectoral or regional employment impacts (both positive and negative) in
the United States as well as other likely labor market impacts of the
FTA.
DATES: USTR and Labor will accept any comments received during the
course of the negotiations of the FTA. However, comments should be
received by noon, February 16, 2005, to be assured of timely
consideration.
ADDRESSES: Submissions by electronic mail: FR0512@ustr.eop.gov.
Submissions by facsimile: Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, Trade
Policy Staff Committee, at (202) 395-6143.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning
public comments, contact Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, TPSC, Office
of the USTR, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508, telephone (202)
395-3475. Substantive questions concerning the employment impact review
should be addressed to Jorge Perez-Lopez, Director, Office of
International Economic Affairs, Bureau of International Labor Affairs,
U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC
20210, telephone (202) 693-4883; or William Clatanoff, Assistant U.S.
Trade Representative for Labor, telephone (202) 395-6120.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background Information
In accordance with section 2104 of the Trade Act of 2002 (Trade
Act) (19 U.S.C. 3804), on November 15, 2003, the USTR notified the
Congress of the President's intent to initiate FTA negotiations with
the UAE. Pursuant to the requirements of the Trade Act of 1974, the
USTR requested the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to provide
advice on probable economic effects no later than February 28, 2005. In
addition, USTR published a notice in the Federal Register soliciting
views from the public on the negotiations in general, and the TPSC will
hold a public hearing on January 12, 2005. The United States intends to
begin negotiations with the UAE in March 2005.
2. Employment Impact Review
Section 2102(c)(5) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 3802(c)(5)) directs
the President to review the impact of future trade agreements on U.S.
employment, including labor markets, modeled after Executive Order
13141 to the extent appropriate in establishing procedures and
criteria, report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate on such
review, and make that report available to the public. USTR and Labor
will conduct the employment reviews through the TPSC.
The employment impact review will be based on the following
elements, which are modeled to the extent appropriate after those in EO
13141. The review will be: (1) Written; (2) initiated through a notice
in the Federal Register soliciting public comment and information on
the employment impact of the FTA in the United States; (3) made
available to the public in draft form for public comment, to the extent
practicable; and (4) made available to the public in final form.
Comments may be submitted on potentially significant sectoral or
regional employment impacts (both positive and negative) in the United
States as well as other likely labor market impacts of the FTA. Persons
submitting comments should provide as much detail as possible in
support of their submissions.
3. Requirements for Submissions
In order to ensure prompt and full consideration of response, the
TPSC strongly urges and prefers electronic (e-mail) submissions in
response to this notice. In the event that an e-mail submission is
impossible, submissions should be made by facsimile.
Persons making submissions by e-mail should use the following
subject line: ``U.S.-UAE FTA Employment Impact Review.'' Documents
should be submitted as WordPerfect, MSWord, or text (.TXT) files.
Spreadsheets submitted as supporting documentation are acceptable as
Quattro Pro or Excel files. If any document submitted electronically
contains business confidential information, the file name of the
business confidential version should begin with the characters ``ABC-
,'' and the file name of the public version should begin with the
character ``P-.'' The ``P-'' or ``BC-'' should be followed by the name
of the submitter. Persons who make submissions by e-mail should not
provide separate cover letters; information that might appear in a
cover letter should be included in the submission itself. To the extent
possible, any attachments to the submission should be included in the
same file as the submission itself, and not as separate files.
Written comments will be placed in a file open to public inspection
pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.5, except confidential business information
exempt from public inspection in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6.
Confidential business information submitted in accordance with 15 CFR
2003.6 must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top of
each page, including any cover letter or cover page, and must be
accompanied by a non-confidential summary of the confidential
information. All public documents and non-confidential summaries shall
be available for public inspection in the USTR Reading Room in Room 3
of the Annex of the Office of the USTR, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington,
DC 20508. An appointment to review the file may be made by calling
(202) 395-6186. The USTR Reading Room is generally open to the public
from 10 a.m-12 noon and 1-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Appointments
must be scheduled at least 48 hours in advance.
Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 04-27819 Filed 12-20-04; 8:45 am]