Notice2024-19881
Request for Comments on the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) Global Trade Challenges Working Group
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 5, 2024
Issuing agencies
Trade Representative, Office of United States
Abstract
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) seeks comments on the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) Global Trade Challenges Working Group. USTR will use these comments as it considers future TTC-related collaboration it may pursue with the European Commission's Directorate-General for Trade (DG Trade).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 172 (Thursday, September 5, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 172 (Thursday, September 5, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72696-72697]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-19881]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
[Docket Number USTR-2024-0017]
Request for Comments on the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council
(TTC) Global Trade Challenges Working Group
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR)
seeks comments on the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) Global
Trade Challenges Working Group. USTR will use these comments as it
considers future TTC-related collaboration it may pursue with the
European Commission's Directorate-General for Trade (DG Trade).
DATES: To be assured of consideration, submit written comments by the
October 21, 2024, 11:59 p.m. ET deadline.
ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made through
the Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>
(<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>). Follow the instructions for submitting comments in
section III below, using docket number is USTR-2024-0017. For
alternatives to online submissions, please contact Michael Rogers,
Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe, at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3974505a51585c551778176b565e5c4b4a794c4a4d4b175c5649175e564f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="672a0e040f06020b49264935080002151427121413154902081749000811">[email protected]</span></a> or 202.395.2684, in advance of the
deadline.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Rogers, Deputy Assistant U.S.
Trade Representative for Europe, at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0845616b60696d642649265a676f6d7a7b487d7b7c7a266d6778266f677e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a9e4c0cac1c8ccc587e887fbc6ceccdbdae9dcdadddb87ccc6d987cec6df">[email protected]</span></a> or
202.395.2684.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On June 15, 2021, the United States and the European Union (EU)
announced the creation of the TTC with goals to:
<bullet> Grow the bilateral trade and investment relationship.
<bullet> Avoid new unnecessary technical barriers to trade.
<bullet> Coordinate, seek common ground, and strengthen global
cooperation on technology, digital issues, and supply chains.
<bullet> Support collaborative research and exchanges.
<bullet> Cooperate on compatible and international standards
development.
<bullet> Facilitate regulatory policy and enforcement cooperation
and, where possible, convergence.
<bullet> Promote innovation and leadership by U.S. and European
firms.
<bullet> Contribute to the creation of a stronger, more
sustainable, and more resilient transatlantic marketplace through the
facilitation of environmentally responsible trade in goods and
technologies.
<bullet> Advance cooperation to benefit workers in the global
economy.
<bullet> Strengthen other areas of cooperation.
The work undertaken in the TTC is without prejudice to the
regulatory autonomy of the U.S. and the EU and respects the different
legal systems in both jurisdictions.
The U.S. and the EU established ten working groups to undertake the
work of the TTC. USTR and DG Trade serve as the U.S. and EU co-chairs
of the Global Trade Challenges Working Group (Trade Working Group).
Many of the activities of the Trade Working Group fall within three
broad categories of cooperation:
1. To enhance inclusive and sustainable bilateral U.S.-EU trade in
goods and services, including through the use of digital technology.
2. To address and counter non-market policies and practices that
unfairly undermine the competitiveness of U.S and EU workers and firms.
3. On trade and labor issues, including through the tripartite
transatlantic Trade and Labor Dialogue (TALD), established through the
TTC.
Non-market policies and practices of concern include, but are not
limited to:
<bullet> Targeting of key industries for dominance.
<bullet> Creation and maintenance of non-market excess capacity.
<bullet> Unfair labor practices including the use of forced labor.
<bullet> Forced or pressured technology transfer, including through
state-sponsored theft of intellectual property.
<bullet> Market-distorting industrial subsidies, including support
given to and through state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and all other
types of support offered by governments.
<bullet> Discriminatory treatment of foreign companies and their
products and services in support of industrial policy objectives.
<bullet> Anti-competitive and non-market actions of SOEs.
In April 2024, the U.S. and the EU held the sixth ministerial-level
meeting of the TTC in Leuven, Belgium. In the joint statement released
at the end of the ministerial, the U.S. and the EU announced their
intention to consult with stakeholders on the work of the TTC and
potential future work that the TTC may undertake.
II. Public Participation
To help inform USTR as it considers future cooperation within the
Trade Working Group, USTR invites comments on the following:
<bullet> With specific regard to the Trade Working Group's efforts
to enhance inclusive and sustainable bilateral trade in goods and
services, including through the use of digital tools, how might USTR
and DG Trade further improve or expand cooperation in a manner that is
mutually beneficial to U.S. and EU stakeholders.
<bullet> With specific regard to the work of the Trade Working
Group related to non-market policies and practices of third countries:
<bullet> How might USTR and DG Trade expand or enhance our
cooperation and coordination of trade tools available to us or to
create new tools.
<bullet> How might USTR and DG Trade, respectively or in
coordination, use existing tools more effectively to deter and counter
non-market policies and practices.
<bullet> Are there particular sectors that USTR and DG Trade should
focus on?
<bullet> Are there particular non-market policies and practices
that are of greatest concern to you? Why? How do those non-market
policies and practices hinder or harm your interests?
<bullet> With specific regard to the work of the Trade Working
Group related to trade and labor, including within the TALD, how might
USTR, the U.S. Department of Labor, DG Trade, and the Directorate-
General for Employment expand or enhance our cooperation and
coordination to better address the needs of U.S. and EU workers and
businesses.
<bullet> What steps can USTR take to provide a wide-range of U.S.
and EU stakeholders the opportunity to periodically provide
suggestions, feedback, and input to the Trade Working Group.
USTR will review these recommendations as it considers
[[Page 72697]]
potential future U.S.-EU cooperation within the TTC's Trade Working
Group.
III. Procedures for Written Submissions
To be assured of consideration, submit your written comments by the
October 21, 2024, 11:59 p.m. ET deadline. All submissions must be in
English. USTR strongly encourages submissions via <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>,
using Docket Number USTR-2024-0017. To make a submission via
<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>, enter Docket Number USTR-2024-0017 in the `search for'
field on the home page and click `search.' 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' in the `refine documents results' section on the left side of the
screen and click on the link entitled `comment.' <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> allows
users to make submissions by filling in a `type comment' field, or by
attaching a document using the `upload file' field. USTR prefers that
you provide submissions in an attached document and, in such cases,
that you write `see attached' in the `type comment' field. USTR prefers
submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). If you
use an application other than those two, please indicate the name of
the application in the `type comment' field.
At the beginning of your submission or on the first page (if an
attachment), include the following text: (1) TTC Trade Working Group
and (2) your organization's name. Submissions should not exceed 10
single-spaced, standard letter-size pages in 12-point type, including
attachments. Please do not attach separate cover letters, exhibits,
annexes, or other attachments to electronic submissions; rather,
include any in the same file as the submission itself, not as separate
files. You will receive a tracking number upon completion of the
submission procedure at <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>. The tracking number is
confirmation that <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> received your submission. Keep the
confirmation for your records.
USTR is not able to provide technical assistance for
<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>. For further information on using <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>,
please consult the resources provided on the website by clicking on
`How to Use <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>' on the bottom of the home page. USTR may
not consider submissions that you do not make in accordance with these
instructions.
If you are unable to provide submissions as requested, please
contact Michael Rogers, Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for
Europe, in advance of the deadline at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#88c5e1ebe0e9ede4a6c9a6dae7efedfafbc8fdfbfcfaa6ede7f8a6efe7fe"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="216c48424940444d0f600f734e4644535261545255530f444e510f464e57">[email protected]</span></a> or
202.395.2684, to arrange for an alternative method of transmission.
USTR will not accept hand-delivered submissions.
General information concerning USTR is available at <a href="http://www.ustr.gov">www.ustr.gov</a>.
IV. Business Confidential Information (BCI)
If you ask USTR to treat information you submit as BCI, you must
certify that the information is business confidential and you would not
customarily release it to the public. For any comments submitted
electronically containing BCI, the file name of the business
confidential version should begin with the characters `BCI.' You must
clearly mark any page containing BCI with `BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL' at
the top of that page. Filers of submissions containing BCI also must
submit a public version of their submission that will be placed in the
docket for public inspection. The file name of the public version
should begin with the character `P.'
V. Public Viewing of Review Submissions
USTR will post written submissions in the docket for public
inspection, except properly designated BCI. You can view submissions at
<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> by entering Docket Number USTR-2024-0017 in the search
field on the home page.
Bryant Trick,
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East,
Office of the United States Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2024-19881 Filed 9-4-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3390-F4-P
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