[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 213 (Monday, November 4, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65970-65971]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-26368]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
Subsidy Programs Provided by Countries Exporting Softwood Lumber
and Softwood Lumber Products to the United States; Request for Comment
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, formerly Import Administration,
International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Department) seeks public comment
on any subsidies, including stumpage subsidies, provided by certain
countries exporting softwood lumber or softwood lumber products to the
United States during the period January 1, 2013 through June 30, 2013.
DATES: Comments must be submitted within thirty days after publication
of this notice.
ADDRESSES: See the Submission of Comments section below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Terpstra, Office III,
Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S.
Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW.,
Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3965.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On June 18, 2008, section 805 of Title VIII of the Tariff Act of
1930 (the Softwood Lumber Act of 2008) was enacted into law. Under this
provision, the Secretary of Commerce is mandated to submit to the
appropriate Congressional committees a report every 180 days on any
subsidy provided by countries exporting softwood lumber or softwood
lumber products to the United States, including stumpage subsidies.
The Department submitted its last subsidy report on June 19, 2013.
As part of its newest report, the Department intends to include a list
of subsidy programs identified with sufficient clarity by the public in
response to this notice.
Request for Comments
Given the large number of countries that export softwood lumber and
softwood lumber products to the United States, we are soliciting public
comment only on subsidies provided by countries whose exports accounted
for at least one percent of total U.S. imports of softwood lumber by
quantity, as classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule code 4407.1001
(which accounts for the vast majority of imports), during the period
January 1, 2013 through June 30, 2013. Official U.S. import data
published by the United States International Trade Commission Tariff
and Trade DataWeb indicate that only one country, Canada, exported
softwood lumber to the United States during that time period in amounts
sufficient to account for at least one percent of U.S. imports of
softwood lumber products. We intend to rely on similar previous six-
month periods to identify the countries subject to future reports on
softwood lumber subsidies. For example, we will rely on U.S. imports of
softwood lumber and softwood lumber products during the period July 1,
2013 through December 31, 2013, to select the countries subject to the
next report.
Under U.S. trade law, a subsidy exists where a government
authority: (i) Provides a financial contribution; (ii) provides any
form of income or price support within the meaning of Article XVI of
the GATT 1994; or (iii) makes a payment to a funding mechanism to
provide a financial contribution to a person, or entrusts or directs a
private entity to make a financial contribution, if providing the
contribution would normally be vested in the government and the
practice does not differ in substance from practices normally followed
by governments, and a benefit is thereby conferred.\1\
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\1\ See section 771(5)(B) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.
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Parties should include in their comments: (1) The country which
provided the subsidy; (2) the name of the subsidy program; (3) a brief
description (at least 3-4 sentences) of the subsidy program; and (4)
the government body or authority that provided the subsidy.
Submission of Comments
Persons wishing to comment should file comments by the date
specified above. Comments should only include publicly available
information. The Department will not accept comments accompanied by a
request that a part or all of the material be treated confidentially
due to business proprietary concerns or for any other reason. The
Department will return such comments or materials to the persons
submitting the comments and will not include them in its report on
softwood lumber subsidies. The Department requests submission of
comments filed in electronic Portable Document Format (PDF) submitted
on CD-ROM or by email to the email address of the EC Webmaster, below.
The comments received will be made available to the public in PDF
on the Enforcement and Compliance Web site at the following address:
http://
[[Page 65971]]
enforcement.trade.gov/public-comments.html. Any questions concerning
file formatting, access on the Internet, or other electronic filing
issues should be addressed to Laura Merchant, Enforcement and
Compliance Webmaster, at (202) 482-0367, email address:
mailto:[email protected].
All comments and submissions in response to this Request for
Comment should be received by the Department no later than 5 p.m. on
the above-referenced deadline date.
Dated: October 29, 2013.
Christian Marsh,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Operations.
[FR Doc. 2013-26368 Filed 11-1-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P