[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 182 (Friday, September 19, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49207-49208]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-24868]
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COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS
Request for Public Comments on Bilateral Consultations with the
Government of Thailand
September 15, 1997.
AGENCY: Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA).
ACTION: Notice.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ross Arnold, International Trade
Specialist, Office of Textiles and Apparel, U.S. Department of
Commerce, (202) 482-4212. For information on categories for which
consultations have been requested, call (202) 482-3740.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Authority: Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended;
section 204 of the Agricultural Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C.
1854); Uruguay Round Agreements Act.
On August 28, 1997, under the terms of Article 6 of the Uruguay
Round Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) and the Uruguay Round
Agreements Act, the Government of the United States requested
consultations with the Government of Thailand with respect to yarn, 85%
or more by weight artificial staple fiber, Category 603, produced or
manufactured in Thailand.
The purpose of this notice is to advise the public that, if no
solution is agreed upon in consultations with the Government of
Thailand, the Government of the United States reserves its right to
establish a twelve-month limit of not less than 1,664,653 kilograms for
the entry and withdrawal from warehouse for consumption of yarn of 85%
or more artificial staple fiber in Category 603, produced or
manufactured in Thailand.
A summary statement of serious damage, the actual threat of serious
damage or the exacerbation of serious damage concerning Category 603
follows this notice.
Anyone wishing to comment or provide data or information regarding
the treatment of Category 603 or to comment on domestic production or
availability of products included in Category 603 is invited to submit
10 copies of such comments or information to Troy H. Cribb, Chairman,
Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements, U.S. Department
of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230; ATTN: Helen L. LeGrande. The
comments received will be considered in the context of the
consultations with the Government of Thailand.
Because the exact timing of the consultations is not yet certain,
comments should be submitted promptly. Comments or information
submitted in response to this notice will be available for public
inspection in the Office of Textiles and Apparel, room H3100, U.S.
Department of Commerce, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,
DC.
Further comments may be invited regarding particular comments or
information received from the public which the Committee for the
Implementation of Textile Agreements considers appropriate for further
consideration.
The solicitation of comments regarding any aspect of the
implementation of an agreement is not a waiver in any respect of the
exemption contained in 5 U.S.C.553(a)(1) relating to matters which
constitute ``a foreign affairs function of the United States.''
The United States remains committed to finding a solution
concerning Category 603. Should such a solution be reached in
consultations with the Government of Thailand, further notice will be
published in the Federal Register.
A description of the textile and apparel categories in terms of HTS
numbers is available in the CORRELATION: Textile and Apparel Categories
with the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (see Federal
Register notice 61 FR 66263, published on December 17, 1996).
Troy H. Cribb,
Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.
Summary of Statement in Support of Request for Consultations Under
Article 6 of the ATC--Thailand
Category 603--Yarn, 85 Percent or more by Weight Artificial Staple
Fiber
August 1997
The USG has determined that the increase in imports of yarn for
sale, 85 percent or more by weight artificial staple fiber, Category
603, has caused serious damage, or actual threat thereof, to the
industry in the United States producing like and/or directly
competitive yarn for sale.
Imports of the subject yarn from all sources increased by 15.9
percent in 1996 over 1995, a net increase of nearly 2.0 million
kilograms. Domestic orders fell by 19.5 percent and domestic production
declined 7.7 percent in 1996 as inventories increased by 17.4 percent.
Increasing low-valued imports forced domestic spinners to cut their
prices and margins to remain price competitive. Mills cut prices in
1996 and continued to lose orders to imports with unfilled orders
dropping 19.5 percent in 1996 below the 1995 level. During the first
quarter of 1997 domestic industry orders fell 26.3 percent, as
inventories increased 22.3 percent and production fell 20 percent from
the same period last year.
Capacity utilization declined as production fell, causing severe
margin pressure as fixed costs had to be allocated over fewer sales,
which cut gross margins. Compounded with the pressure to lower prices,
mills' profitability evaporated. Seventy-eight percent of the companies
reported declining profitability in 1996 on the product in question.
Two mills fell victim to the margin squeeze and shut down. Production
worker employment in the defined industry lost a total of 403 jobs in
1996. More jobs were lost in 1997, as another firm exited the business,
resulting in a net loss of 619 jobs from 1995 to the first quarter of
1997.
The USG concluded that the increase in imports from 1995 to 1996 is
the direct cause of serious damage to the industry as reflected in the
industry's declining production, the substantial increase in
inventories, the industry's deteriorating financial performance, and
the significant fall in unfilled orders, man-hours, and employment.
[[Page 49208]]
The USG has also determined that serious damage to this industry is
directly attributable to a sharp and substantial increase in imports of
the subject yarn from Thailand. Imports from Thailand have increased
significantly, both absolutely and relative to domestic production and
world imports, thereby increasing Thailand's share of U.S. imports and
the U.S. market. Thailand's low-valued imports adversely affected U.S.
domestic prices.U.S. imports of the subject yarn from Thailand rose to
1,279,683 kilograms in 1996, an increase of 22.3 percent above the
1,046,174 kilograms imported during 1995. In the first quarter of 1997,
imports from Thailand surged to 610,843 kilograms, 85.8 percent above
the 328,698 kilograms imported in the first quarter of 1996. Imports
from Thailand for the year ending June 1997 reached 1,557,205
kilograms, 39.7 percent above the 1,114,926 kilograms imported during
the same period a year earlier.
The USG further determined that increases in imports of the subject
yarn from all sources constitute the actual threat of serious damage or
the exacerbation of serious damage to the defined domestic industry
producing a like and/or directly competitive product, and that, based
on sharp and substantial increases in imports of the subject product
from Thailand, such threat was attributable to Thailand.
[FR Doc. 97-24868 Filed 9-18-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F