SUPPORTING STATEMENT
Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA)
Procedures for Considering Requests and Comments from the Public for Textile Safeguard Actions on Imports from Colombia
OMB CONTROL NO. 0625-0271
A. JUSTIFICATION
This is a request for extension of an existing information collection.
1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary
Article 3.1 of the United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (the “Agreement”) provides for a textile safeguard mechanism. This safeguard mechanism applies when, as a result of the elimination of a customs duty under the Agreement, a Colombian textile or apparel article is being imported into the United States in such increased quantities, in absolute terms or relative to the domestic market for that article, and under such conditions as to cause serious damage or actual threat thereof to a U.S. industry producing a like or directly competitive article. In these circumstances, Article 3.1 permits the United States to increase duties on the imported article from Colombia to a level that does not exceed the lesser of the prevailing U.S. normal trade relations (NTR)/most-favored-nation (MFN) duty rate for the article or the U.S. NTR/MFN duty rate in effect on the day before the Agreement entered into force.
The Statement of Administrative Action accompanying the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act (the U.S.-Colombia TPA or the “Act”) [Public Law 112-42] provides that CITA will issue procedures for requesting such safeguard measures, for making its determinations under section 322(a) of the Act, and for providing relief under section 322(b) of the Act.
In Proclamation No. 8818 (77 FR 29519, May 18, 2012), the President delegated to CITA his authority under Subtitle B of Title III of the Act with respect to textile and apparel safeguard measures.
The textile safeguard provision will be of considerable benefit to firms manufacturing textile and apparel goods in the United States in the event that an industry finds itself to be adversely impacted by duty-free imports of textiles and apparel from Colombia.
CITA must collect information in order to determine whether a domestic textile or apparel industry is being adversely impacted by imports of these products from Colombia, thereby allowing CITA to take corrective action to protect the viability of the domestic textile industry, subject to section 322(b) of the Act.
2. Explain how, by whom, how frequently, and for what purpose the information will be used. If the information collected will be disseminated to the public or used to support information that will be disseminated to the public, then explain how the collection complies with all applicable Information Quality Guidelines.
An interested party in the U.S. domestic textile and apparel industry may file a request for a textile and apparel safeguard action with CITA. Consistent with longstanding CITA practice in considering textile safeguard actions, CITA will consider an interested party to be an entity (which may be a trade association, firm, certified or recognized union, or group of workers) that is representative of either: (A) a domestic producer or producers of an article that is like or directly competitive with the subject Colombian textile or apparel article; or (B) a domestic producer or producers of a component used in the production of an article that is like or directly competitive with the subject Colombian textile or apparel article.
In order for a request to be considered, the requestor must provide the following information in support of a claim that a textile or apparel article from Colombia is being imported into the United States in such increased quantities, in absolute terms or relative to the domestic market for that article, and under such conditions as to cause serious damage or actual threat thereof, to a U.S. industry producing an article that is like, or directly competitive with, the imported article: 1) name and description of the imported article concerned; 2) import data demonstrating that imports of a Colombian origin textile or apparel article that are like or directly competitive with the articles produced by the domestic industry concerned are increasing in absolute terms or relative to the domestic market for that article; 3) U.S. domestic production of the like or directly competitive articles of U.S. origin indicating the nature and extent of the serious damage or actual threat thereof, along with an affirmation that to the best of the requester’s knowledge, the data represent substantially all of the domestic production of the like or directly competitive article(s) of U.S. origin; 4) imports from Colombia as a percentage of the domestic market of the like or directly competitive article; and 5) all data available to the requester showing changes in productivity, utilization of capacity, inventories, exports, wages, employment, domestic prices, profits, and investment, and any other information, relating to the existence of serious damage or actual threat thereof caused by imports from Colombia to the industry producing the like or directly competitive article that is the subject of the request. To the extent that such information is not available, the requester should provide best estimates and the basis therefore.
If CITA determines that the request provides the information necessary for it to be considered, CITA will publish a notice in the Federal Register seeking public comments regarding the request. The comment period shall be 30 calendar days. The notice will include a summary of the request. Any interested party may submit information to rebut, clarify, or correct public comments submitted by any interested party.
CITA will make a determination on any request it considers within 60 calendar days of the close of the comment period. If CITA is unable to make a determination within 60 calendar days, it will publish a notice in the Federal Register, including the date it will make a determination.
If a determination under section 322(b) of the Act is affirmative, CITA may provide tariff relief to a U.S. industry to the extent necessary to remedy or prevent serious damage or actual threat thereof and to facilitate adjustment by the domestic industry to import competition. The import tariff relief is effective beginning on the date that CITA’s affirmative determination is published in the Federal Register.
Entities submitting requests, responses or rebuttals to CITA may submit both a public and confidential version of their submissions. If the request is accepted, the public version will be posted on the dedicated Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement textile safeguards section of the Office of Textile and Apparel (OTEXA) website. The confidential version of the requests, responses or rebuttals will not be shared with the public as it may contain business confidential information. Entities submitting responses or rebuttals may use the public version of the request as a basis for responses.
3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological techniques or other forms of information technology.
If comments are submitted electronically, the electronic copy must be submitted to [email protected]. All submitted comments will be posted for public review on the website dedicated to U.S.-Colombia TPA textile and apparel safeguard proceedings. The website is located on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Textile and Apparel website (http://otexa.trade.gov), under “Free Trade Agreements”/ “Colombia”/”Safeguards”.
4. Describe efforts to identify duplication.
The information provided by participants in a Colombia TPA safeguard proceeding is unique in that it relates to the impact of imported textile and apparel products from Colombia on the domestic industry. There is no chance for duplication as no other U.S. government agency collects this information.
5. If the collection of information involves small businesses or other small entities, describe the methods used to minimize burden.
Standardized criteria and instructions are utilized to help ensure that the burden on small businesses is minimized. In addition, the amount of information requested has been reduced to the minimum necessary to determine whether or not imported textiles from Colombia are adversely affecting the domestic textile industry.
6. Describe the consequences to the Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently.
If the collection of requests and comments were not conducted, CITA would be unable to determine if certain textile or apparel imports were having a negative impact on the domestic textile or apparel industry, and thus would not be able to take measures to protect the industry. Therefore, the United States would not be in compliance with its obligations under the U.S.-Colombia TPA.
7. Explain any special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with OMB guidelines.
None.
8. Provide a copy of the PRA Federal Register notice that solicited public comments on the information collection prior to this submission. Summarize the public comments received in response to that notice and describe the actions taken by the agency in response to those comments. Describe the efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any), and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported.
The Federal Register Notice soliciting public comments was published on June 11, 2015 (Volume 80, Number 112, page 33243). No comments were received.
CITA also requested comments from interested U.S. entities when the interim procedures for considering textile safeguard requests under the U.S.-Colombia TPA were published in the Federal Register in October 2012. No comments were received in response to that request.
9. Explain any decisions to provide payments or gifts to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.
None. CITA makes no payments or gifts to respondents.
10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.
The following assurance is included in CITA’s procedures: “As provided in Section 328 of the Act, the Committee will protect from disclosure any business confidential information that is marked ‘business confidential’ to the full extent permitted by law.” To the extent that business confidential information is provided, two copies of a non-confidential version must also be provided, in which business confidential information is summarized or, if necessary, deleted. At the conclusion of the request, an interested party must attest that “all information contained in the request is complete and accurate and no false claims, statements, or representations have been made.”
11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private.
No questions of a sensitive nature are asked.
12. Provide an estimate in hours of the burden of the collection of information.
It is estimated that 1 Request will be filed per year. The average amount of time required to prepare each Request is estimated at 4 hours. The total annual burden for all Requests is estimated to be 4 hours.
Activity Time Required
Preparing Request 3 hours
Preparing Supporting Documentation 1 hour
Total Time per Request 4 hours
Times 1 Request per Year 4 hours
It is estimated that 5 Comments will be filed per year in response to the Request. The average amount of time required to prepare each Comment is estimated at 4 hours. The total annual burden for all Comments is estimated to be 20 hours.
Activity Time Required
Preparing Comments 3 hours
Preparing Supporting Documentation 1 hour
Total Time per Comment 4 hours
Times 5 Comments per Year 20 hours
TOTAL RESPONSES: 6 TOTAL BURDEN HOURS: 24
13. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to the respondents or record-keepers resulting from the collection (excluding the value of the burden hours in #12 above).
It is estimated that 1 Request will be filed per year. The average amount of time required to prepare each Request is estimated at 4 hours. The estimated average private sector salary for persons responding is $40 per hour. The estimated total annual labor cost per Request is $160.
Activity |
Time Required |
Cost |
Preparing Request |
3 hours |
$120 |
Preparing Supporting Documentation |
1 hour |
$40 |
|
|
|
Total Cost Per Request |
4 hours |
$160 |
Times 1 Request per Year |
4 hours |
$160 |
It is estimated that 5 Comments will be filed per year. The average amount of time required to prepare each Comment is estimated at 4 hours. The estimated average private sector salary for persons responding is $40 per hour. The total labor cost per Comment is estimated at $160. The estimated total annual cost burden for all comments is $800.
Activity |
Time Required |
Cost |
Preparing Comments |
3 hours |
$120 |
Preparing Supporting Documentation |
1 hour |
$40 |
|
|
|
Total Cost per Comment |
4 hours |
$160 |
Times 5 Comments per Year |
20 hours |
$800 |
In addition to the costs outlined above, postage/delivery services and telephone calls for assistance from ITA analysts may be required. Some private sector entities may choose to engage legal counsel or other consultants to assist in preparing the Request, which would add an additional cost.
TOTAL RESPONSES = 6 TOTAL COST = $960
14. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government.
The average amount of time to review and process Requests and Comments is estimated at an average annual total of 84 hours (14 hours per Request and Comments for an average of 1 Request per year and 5 Comments per year). The estimated average public sector salary for persons processing the Request is $40.00 per hour. The total annual cost to the government is estimated at $3,360 per year.
Activity Time Required Cost
Initial Processing of Request: Review and 3 hours $120
Ensure Compliance with CITA’s
Procedures
Notify Interested Parties (if accepted); 3 hours $120
draft and publish FR Notice for CITA
requesting public comments (30
calendar days); obtain proper clearances
Review confidential/non-confidential 4 hours $160
comments (60 calendar days)
Draft and publish FR for CITA 3 hours $120
(if affirmative determination)
and obtain proper clearances
Publish Decision on OTEXA’s Website 1 hour $40
Total Cost per Request and Comments 14 hours $560
Times 1 Request and 5 Comments 84 hours $3,360
per year
15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported in Items 13 or 14 of the OMB 83-I.
There are no program changes or adjustments.
16. For collections whose results will be published, outline the plans for tabulation and publication.
If CITA determines that the request provides the information necessary for it to be considered, CITA will publish a notice in the Federal Register seeking public comments regarding the request, which will include a summary of the request and the date by which comments must be received. Public comments will be available for review by the public.
17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons why display would be inappropriate.
None.
18. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in Item 19 of the
OMB 83-I.
None.
B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS
This collection of information does not employ statistical methodologies.
| File Type | application/msword |
| Author | Maria D'Andrea |
| Last Modified By | Laurie Mease |
| File Modified | 2015-07-21 |
| File Created | 2015-04-22 |