50286 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 156 / Friday, August 12, 2011 / Notices 

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

Request for Comments and Notice of 

Public Hearing Concerning China’s 

Compliance With WTO Commitments 

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative. 

ACTION: Request for comments and 

notice of public hearing concerning 

China’s compliance with its WTO 

commitments. 

SUMMARY: The interagency Trade Policy 

Staff Committee (TPSC) will convene a 

public hearing and seek public 

comment to assist the Office of the 

United States Trade Representative 

(USTR) in the preparation of its annual 

report to the Congress on China’s 

compliance with the commitments 

made in connection with its accession 

to the World Trade Organization (WTO). 

DATES: Persons wishing to testify at the 

hearing must provide written 

notification of their intention, as well as 

a copy of their testimony, by noon, 

Wednesday, September 21, 2011. 

Written comments are due by noon, 

Monday, September 26, 2011. A hearing 

will be held in Washington, DC, on 

Wednesday, October 5, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Notifications of intent to 

testify and written comments should be 

submitted electronically via the Internet 

at http://www.regulations.gov. For 

alternatives to on-line submissions, 

please contact Laura Newport, Trade 

Policy Staff Committee, at (202) 395– 

3475. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

procedural questions concerning written 

comments or participation in the public 

hearing, contact Laura Newport, (202) 

395–3475. All other questions should be 

directed to Terrence J. McCartin, Deputy 

Assistant United States Trade 

Representative for China Enforcement, 

(202) 395–3900, or Katherine C. Tai, 

Chief Counsel for China Enforcement, 

(202) 395–3150. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Background 

China became a Member of the WTO 

on December 11, 2001. In accordance 

with section 421 of the U.S.-China 

Relations Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106–286), 

USTR is required to submit, by 

December 11 of each year, a report to 

Congress on China’s compliance with 

commitments made in connection with 

its accession to the WTO, including 

both multilateral commitments and any 

bilateral commitments made to the 

United States. In accordance with 

section 421, and to assist it in preparing 

this year’s report, the TPSC is hereby 

soliciting public comment. Last year’s 

report is available on USTR’s Internet 

Web site (http://www.ustr.gov/ 

webfm_send/2596). 

The terms of China’s accession to the 

WTO are contained in the Protocol on 

the Accession of the People’s Republic 

of China (including its annexes) 

(Protocol), the Report of the Working 

Party on the Accession of China 

(Working Party Report), and the WTO 

agreements. The Protocol and Working 

Party Report can be found on the 

Department of Commerce Web page, 

http://www.mac.doc.gov/China/ 

WTOAccessionPackage.htm, or on the 

WTO Web site, http:// 

docsonline.wto.org (document symbols: 

WT/L/432, WT/MIN(01)/3, WT/ 

MIN(01)/3/Add.1, WT/MIN(01)/3/ 

Add.2). 

2. Public Comment and Hearing 

USTR invites written comments and/ 

or oral testimony of interested persons 

on China’s compliance with 

commitments made in connection with 

its accession to the WTO, including, but 

not limited to, commitments in the 

following areas: (a) Trading rights; (b) 

import regulation (e.g., tariffs, tariff-rate 

quotas, quotas, import licenses); (c) 

export regulation; (d) internal policies 

affecting trade (e.g., subsidies, standards 

and technical regulations, sanitary and 

phytosanitary measures, government 

procurement, trade-related investment 

measures, taxes and charges levied on 

imports and exports); (e) intellectual 

property rights (including intellectual 

property rights enforcement); (f) 

services; (g) rule of law issues (e.g., 

transparency, judicial review, uniform 

administration of laws and regulations) 

and status of legal reform; and (h) other 

WTO commitments. In addition, given 

the United States’ view that China 

should be held accountable as a full 

participant in, and beneficiary of, the 

international trading system, USTR 

requests that interested persons 

specifically identify unresolved 

compliance issues that warrant review 

and evaluation by USTR’s China 

Enforcement Task Force. 

Written comments must be received 

no later than noon, Monday, September 

26, 2011. 

A hearing will be held on Wednesday, 

October 5, 2011, in Room 1, 1724 F 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508. If 

necessary, the hearing will continue on 

the next business day. Persons wishing 

to testify orally at the hearing must 

provide written notification of their 

intention by noon, Wednesday, 

September 21, 2011. The notification 

should include: (1) The name, address, 

and telephone number of the person 

presenting the testimony; and (2) a short 

(one or two paragraph) summary of the 

presentation, including the 

commitments at issue and, as 

applicable, the product(s) (with HTSUS 

numbers), service sector(s), or other 

subjects to be discussed. A copy of the 

testimony must accompany the 

notification. Remarks at the hearing 

should be limited to no more than five 

minutes to allow for possible questions 

from the TPSC. 

All documents should be submitted in 

accordance with the instructions in 

section 3 below. 

3. Requirements for Submissions 

Persons submitting a notification of 

intent to testify and/or written 

comments must do so in English and 

must identify (on the first page of the 

submission) ‘‘China’s WTO 

Compliance.’’ 

In order to ensure the most timely and 

expeditious receipt and consideration of 

comments, USTR has arranged to accept 

on-line submissions via http:// 

www.regulations.gov. To submit 

comments via http:// 

www.regulations.gov, enter docket 

number USTR–2011–0005 on the home 

page and click ‘‘go’’. The site will 

provide a search-results page listing all 

documents associated with this docket. 

Find a reference to this notice by 

selecting ‘‘Notice’’ under ‘‘Document 

Type’’ on the left side of the searchresults page, and click on the link 

entitled ‘‘Send a Comment or 

Submission.’’ (For further information 

on using the http://www.regulations.gov 

Web site, please consult the resources 

provided on the Web site by clicking on 

‘‘How to Use This Site’’ on the left side 

of the home page.) 

The http://www.regulations.gov Web 

site provides the option of making 

submissions by filling in a ‘‘General 

Comments’’ field, or by attaching a 

document. We expect that most 

submissions will be provided in an 

attached document. If a document is 

attached, it is sufficient to type ‘‘See 

attached’’ in the ‘‘General Comments’’ 

field. 

Submit any documents containing 

business confidential information with a 

file name beginning with the characters 

‘‘BC’’. Submit, as a separate submission, 

a public version of the submission with 

a file name beginning with the character 

‘‘P’’. The ‘‘BC’’ and ‘‘P’’ should be 

followed by the name of the person or 

entity submitting the comments. For 

comments that contain no business 

confidential information, the file name 

should begin with the character ‘‘P’’, 

followed by the name of the person or 

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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 156 / Friday, August 12, 2011 / Notices 50287 

entity submitting the comments. 

Electronic submissions should not 

attach separate cover letters; rather, 

information that might appear in a cover 

letter should be included in the 

comments you submit. Similarly, to the 

extent possible, please include any 

exhibits, annexes, or other attachments 

to a submission in the same file as the 

submission itself and not as separate 

files. 

We strongly urge submitters to use 

electronic filing. If an on-line 

submission is impossible, alternative 

arrangements must be made with Ms. 

Newport prior to delivery for the receipt 

of such submissions. Ms. Newport may 

be contacted at (202) 395–3475. 

General information concerning USTR 

may be obtained by accessing its 

Internet Web site (http://www.ustr.gov). 

Donald W. Eiss, 

Acting Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee. 

[FR Doc. 2011–20483 Filed 8–11–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3190–W1–P 

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

Request for Public Comments To 

Compile the National Trade Estimate 

Report on Foreign Trade Barriers and 

Reports on Sanitary and Phytosanitary 

and Standards-Related Foreign Trade 

Barriers 

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 181 of the 

Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 

U.S.C. 2241), the Office of the United 

States Trade Representative (USTR) is 

required to publish annually the 

National Trade Estimate Report on 

Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE). With this 

notice, the Trade Policy Staff Committee 

(TPSC) is requesting interested persons 

to submit comments to assist it in 

identifying significant barriers to U.S. 

exports of goods, services, and U.S. 

foreign direct investment for inclusion 

in the NTE. 

Once again, the TPSC is requesting 

that comments on standards-related 

measures and sanitary and 

phytosanitary (SPS) measures that 

create barriers to U.S. exports be 

submitted separately from other NTE 

comments. This will assist USTR in 

updating two reports issued in 2011 in 

conjunction with the release of the NTE 

highlighting SPS and standards-related 

measures that may be inconsistent with 

international trade agreements to which 

the United States is a party or that 

otherwise act as significant barriers to 

U.S. exports. These reports were 

published as the 2011 Report on 

Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures 

(2011 SPS Report) and the 2011 Report 

on Technical Barriers to Trade (2011 

TBT Report) respectively. 

The TPSC invites written comments 

from the public on issues that USTR 

should examine in preparing the NTE 

and the reports on SPS and standardsrelated measures. 

DATES: Public comments are due not 

later than October 4, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Submissions should be 

made via the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov under the 

following dockets (based on the subject 

matter of the submission): 

SPS Measures: USTR–2011–0006. 

Standards-Related Measures: USTR– 

2011–0007. 

All Other Measures: USTR–USTR– 

2011–0008. 

For alternatives to on-line 

submissions please contact Laura 

Newport at USTR (202–395–3475). The 

public is strongly encouraged to file 

submissions electronically rather than 

by facsimile or mail. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Questions regarding the NTE or on 

submitting comments in response to this 

notice should be directed to Laura 

Newport at (202) 395–3475. Questions 

regarding the SPS report or substantive 

questions concerning comments on SPS 

measures should be directed to Jane 

Doherty, Director of Sanitary and 

Phytosanitary Affairs, USTR (202–395– 

6127). Questions regarding the report on 

standards-related measures or 

substantive questions concerning 

comments on those measures should be 

directed to Jeff Weiss, Senior Director, 

Technical Barriers to Trade, USTR (202– 

395–4498). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NTE 

sets out an inventory of the most 

important foreign barriers affecting U.S. 

exports of goods and services, U.S. 

foreign direct investment, and 

protection of intellectual property 

rights. The inventory facilitates U.S. 

negotiations aimed at reducing or 

eliminating these barriers. The report 

also provides a valuable tool in 

enforcing U.S. trade laws and 

strengthening the rules-based trading 

system. The 2011 NTE, SPS, and TBT 

Reports may be found on USTR’s 

Internet Home Page (http:// 

www.ustr.gov) under the tab ‘‘Reports’’. 

To ensure compliance with the NTE’s 

statutory mandate and the Obama 

Administration’s commitment to focus 

on the most significant foreign trade 

barriers, USTR will be guided by the 

existence of active private sector interest 

in deciding which restrictions to 

include in the NTE and the reports on 

SPS and standards-related measures. 

Topics on which the TPSC Seeks 

Information: To assist USTR in 

preparing the NTE and the reports on 

SPS and standards-related measures, 

commenters should submit information 

related to one or more of the following 

categories of foreign trade barriers: 

(1) Import policies (e.g., tariffs and 

other import charges, quantitative 

restrictions, import licensing, and 

customs barriers); 

(2) SPS measures; 

(3) Standards-related measures 

(including standards, technical 

regulations, and conformity assessment 

procedures); 

(4) Government procurement 

restrictions (e.g., ’’buy national policies’’ 

and closed bidding); 

(5) Export subsidies (e.g., export 

financing on preferential terms and 

agricultural export subsidies that 

displace U.S. exports in third country 

markets); 

(6) Lack of intellectual property 

protection (e.g., inadequate patent, 

copyright, and trademark regimes); 

(7) Services barriers (e.g., limits on the 

range of financial services offered by 

foreign financial institutions, regulation 

of international data flows, restrictions 

on the use of data processing, quotas on 

imports of foreign films, and barriers to 

the provision of services by 

professionals); 

(8) Investment barriers (e.g., 

limitations on foreign equity 

participation and on access to foreign 

government-funded R&D consortia, local 

content, technology transfer and export 

performance requirements, and 

restrictions on repatriation of earnings, 

capital, fees, and royalties); 

(9) Government-tolerated 

anticompetitive conduct of state-owned 

or private firms that restricts the sale or 

purchase of U.S. goods or services in the 

foreign country’s markets; 

(10) Trade restrictions affecting 

electronic commerce (e.g., tariff and 

non-tariff measures, burdensome and 

discriminatory regulations and 

standards, and discriminatory taxation); 

and 

(11) Other barriers (e.g., barriers that 

encompass more than one category, 

such as bribery and corruption, or that 

affect a single sector). 

Reports on SPS and StandardsRelated Measures: On March 30, 2011, 

USTR published two reports in 

conjunction with the release of the NTE 

focusing on foreign trade barriers—one 

on SPS measures and the other on 

standards-related measures. These 

reports serve as tools to bring greater 

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