[Federal Register: March 3, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 42)]
[Notices]
[Page 10998-10999]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03mr06-99]
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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 a Proposed Free Trade Agreement Between
the United States and Korea
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
Republic of Korea (Korea) 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 negotiation of the FTA. However, comments should be
received by noon, March 31, 2006 to be assured of timely consideration
in the preparation of the report.
ADDRESSES: Submissions by electronic mail: FR0611@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 Greg Schoepfle, Acting 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) 693-4887; or Lewis Karesh, Assistant U.S. Trade
Representative for Labor, Office of the United States Trade
Representative, 600 17th St., NW., Washington, DC 20508, 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 February 2, 2006, the United States Trade
Representative notified the Congress of the President's intent to
initiate FTA negotiations with Korea. On February 2, 2006, the United
States Trade Representative also requested the U. S. International
Trade Commission (ITC) to provide advice on probable economic effects
of an FTA. 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 March 14, 2006. The United
[[Page 10999]]
States intends to begin negotiations with Korea in May 2006.
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
United States 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 responses, 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: ``Employment Impact Review for a Free Trade Agreement
between the United States and Korea.'' 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 ``BC-,'' 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. E6-2993 Filed 3-2-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W6-P