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USTRNonrulemakingUSTR-2019-0003

Initiation of Section 301 Investigation; Notice of Hearing and Request for Public Comments: Enforcement of U.S. WTO Rights in Large Civil Aircraft Dispute

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Northwest Horticultural Council filings
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Northwest Horticultural Council filed 3 comments on this docket between May 29, 2019 and Jan 23, 2020. 357 other organizations filed here. The comment window closed 2388d ago.

What Northwest Horticultural Council filed (3)

Jan 23, 2020· Comment from Kate Tynan, Northwest Horticultural Council· USTR-2019-0003-25363

January 13, 2020 Robert Lighthizer Ambassador United States Trade Representative 600 Seventeenth Street NW Washington, D.C., 20508 RE: Public Comments Regarding Docket No. USTR-2019-0003, Review of Action: Enforcement of U.S. World Trade Organization (WTO) Rights in Large Civil Aircraft Dispute Dear Ambassador Lighthizer: The Northwest Horticultural Council (NHC) is responding to the United States Trade Representatives (USTR) Review of Action: Enforcement of U.S. WTO Rights in Large Civil Aircraft Dispute, published in the Federal Register Notice dated December 12, 2019, under Docket No. USTR-2019-0003. The NHC handles federal and international policy and regulatory issues for apple, pear, and cherry growers, packers, and shippers in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Together, our growers produce 67 percent of the apples, 76 percent of the pears (51 percent of the processed crop), and 81 percent of the sweet cherries grown in the United States. As noted in our former comments under this docket (submitted on May 28, 2019, and July 25, 2019), production of canned pears and processed cherries in the United States has declined substantially due to unfair competition from imports, including from the European Union (EU). This has harmed growers and caused processors to go out of business. The NHC appreciates that USTR took our previously-submitted comments into account and have subjected processed pear and cherry products to additional duties from certain member states of the EU in connection with the enforcement case referenced in this docket. We support the continuation of these duties, which are encapsulated in Annex I of this Review of Action, and request they be increased to the maximum level possible. In addition, we request that, as proposed for consideration in Section 12 of Annex II, additional duties be extended to processed cherries and cherry juice (listed under HTS codes 2008.60.00 and 2009.89.65) imported from the EU states of France and Poland. We also support the extension of additional duties to processed pears and pear juice (listed under HTS codes 2008.40.00 and 2009.89.20) imported from France as proposed in Section 14 of Annex II. Both France and Poland are significant tree fruit-producing regions within the EU. Thank you for your consideration of these comments as you determine further action regarding enforcement of U.S. rights in the WTO large civil aircraft dispute. Sincerely, NORTHWEST HORTICULTURAL COUNCIL Kate Tynan Senior Vice President CC: B.J. Thurlby, President, Washington State Fruit Commission

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Jul 26, 2019· Comment from Kate Tynan, Northwest Horticultural Council· USTR-2019-0003-0679

Robert Lighthizer Ambassador United States Trade Representative 600 Seventeenth Street NW Washington, D.C., 20508 RE: Public Comments Regarding Docket No. USTR-2019-0003, Notice of Hearing and Request for Public Comments: Enforcement of U.S. World Trade Organization (WTO) Rights in Large Civil Aircraft Dispute Dear Ambassador Lighthizer: The Northwest Horticultural Council (NHC) is responding to the United States Trade Representatives (USTR) notice of hearing and request for public comment on Enforcement of U.S. WTO Rights in Large Civil Aircraft Dispute, published in the Federal Register Notice dated July 5, 2019, under Docket No. USTR-2019-0003. The NHC handles federal and international policy and regulatory issues for apple, pear, and cherry growers, packers, and shippers in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Together, our growers produce 67 percent of the apples, 76 percent of the pears (51 percent of the processed crop), and 81 percent of the sweet cherries grown in the United States. The NHC appreciates that USTR took our former comments (submitted on May 28, 2019) into account and added canned and frozen pears (HTS code 2008.40.00 and HTS code 0811.90.80.80) and processed cherry products (listed under HTS codes 0811.90.80, 0812.10.00, 0813.40.30, 2008.60, 2008.60.00.20, and 2009.89.65.11) to Section 2 of the Annex listing products under consideration for additional import duties from any of the member states of the European Union (EU) in connection with the Section 301 investigation referenced in this docket. As noted in our previously-submitted comments under this docket, production of canned pears and processed cherries has declined substantially due to unfair competition from imports harming growers and causing processors to go out of business. Specific to the EU, while there is growing non-transparency surrounding the EU and its member-states agricultural subsidy payments, it is our understanding that growers and processors in the domestic canned fruit sector continue to receive subsidy benefits under a range of different EU and national programs. Specific programs of concern are spelled out in the NHCs May 28, 2019, comments. In particular with processed cherry products, this has allowed EU producers to undercut the U.S. price-of-production and led to a substantial increase in EU exports to the United States, with a 36 percent increase to dried cherry shipments and a 150 percent increase to Maraschino cherry shipments between 2015 and 2018. For example, the average price of EU juice and juice concentrate was assessed earlier this year at $1.03 per diluted liter, while U.S. tart cherry juice is selling at retail for $4.50 per diluted liter. In regards to canned pears, the NHC is also concerned that the EU may benefit from the Section 301 retaliatory tariff now 25 percent, in addition to the underlying 15 percent imposed by the U.S. on canned pears imported from China. We support this enhanced canned pear duty in China, and increasing the EU tariff on this product, through the Section 301 action related to large aircraft included in this docket, would prevent EU growers from unduly benefiting from reduced competition with China in the U.S. canned pear market. In conclusion, we recognize that the final list of additional duties will not be finalized until the WTO Arbitrator determines the appropriate level of countermeasures afforded to the United States in this case. As you consider the final list of products to be subject to additional duties under this Section 301 investigation, we request that you consider applying the maximum tariff of 100 percent to the following HTS codes related to canned pears and processed cherries: 2008.40.00, 0811.90.80.80, 0812.10.00, 0813.40.30, 2008.60, 2008.60.00.20, and 2009.89.65.11. Sincerely, NORTHWEST HORTICULTURAL COUNCIL Kate Tynan Senior Vice President

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May 29, 2019· Comment from Kate Tynan, Northwest Horticultural Council· USTR-2019-0003-0396

Dear Ambassador Lighthizer: The Northwest Horticultural Council (NHC) is responding to the United States Trade Representatives notice of hearing and request for public comment on Enforcement of U.S. WTO Rights in Large Civil Aircraft Dispute, published in the Federal Register Notice dated April 12, 2019, under Docket No. USTR-2019-0003. The NHC handles federal and international policy and regulatory issues for apple, pear, and cherry growers, packers, and shippers in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Together, our growers produce 67 percent of the apples, 76 percent of the pears (51 percent of the processed crop), and 81 percent of the sweet cherries grown in the United States. The NHC requests that USTR add canned and frozen pears (HTS code 2008.40.00 and HTS code 0811.90.80.80, respectively) and processed cherry products (listed under HTS codes 0811.90.80, 0812.10.00, 0813.40.30, 2008.60, 2008.60.00.20, and 2009.89.65.11) to Section 2 of the Annex, subjecting the importation of these products from any of the member states of the European Union (EU) to additional duties under the Section 301 investigation referenced in this docket. Canned pears and processed cherries are important products for our pear and cherry growers respectively. Unfortunately, production in both cases has declined substantially due to unfair competition from imports harming growers and causing processors to go out of business. Specific to the EU, while there is growing non-transparency surrounding the EU and its member-states agricultural subsidy payments, it is our understanding that growers and processors in the domestic canned fruit sector continue to receive subsidy benefits under a range of different EU and national programs. These include EU Pillar I Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) direct payments, BPS-Greening Program direct payments, BPS Aid for Young Farmers direct payments, Producer Organization work program payments, EU rural development aid payments, and National member-state investment/development aid payments. In particular with processed cherry products, this has allowed EU producers to undercut the U.S. price-of-production and led to a substantial increase in EU exports to the United States, with a 36 percent increase to dried cherry shipments and a 150 percent increase to Maraschino cherry shipments between 2015 and 2018. For example, the average price of EU juice and juice concentrate was assessed earlier this year at $1.03 per diluted liter, while U.S. tart cherry juice is selling at retail for $4.50 per diluted liter. U.S. processed pear and cherry producers are also facing severe threats of imports from other parts of the world. In the case of canned pears, imports from China the largest pear producer in the world has rapidly become the leader in the global canned fruit sector, fueled by wide-scale Chinese government subsidies and other unfair trading practices like deep price undercutting. The price of Chinese canned pears on-arrival in the United States is roughly 60-65 percent lower than the U.S. industrys cost-of-production. In the case of processed cherries, the biggest threat to the U.S. industry comes from Turkey, which is the largest producer of cherries in the world and subsidizes their fruit industry through programs to assist growers with replanting, compensate for the cost of fuel and fertilizer, and cover the cost of crop insurance among other things. This has allowed Turkey to flood the U.S. market with processed cherry products like concentrate, which is being sold at less than half of the U.S. industrys market price. The NHC is also concerned that the EU may benefit from the Section 301 retaliatory tariff now 25 percent, in addition to the underlying 15 percent imposed by the U.S. on canned pears imported from China. We support this enhanced canned pear duty in China, and increasing the EU tariff on this product, through the Section 301 action related to large aircraft included in this docket, will prevent EU gro…

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Abstract

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