Request for Public Comments on Bilateral Textile Consultations with Hungary on Certain Cotton and Man-Made Fiber Textile Products

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Request for Public Comments on Bilateral Textile Consultations

with Hungary on Certain Cotton and Man-Made Fiber Textile Products

January 25, 1995.

AGENCY: Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA).

ACTION: Notice.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Naomi Freeman, 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).

On December 30, 1994, under the terms of Article 3 of the

Arrangement Regarding International Trade in Textiles, done at Geneva

on December 20, 1973, as further extended on December 9, 1993, the

Government of the United States requested consultations with the

Government of the Republic of Hungary with respect to cotton and man-

made fiber nightwear and pajamas in Categories 351/651, produced or

manufactured in Hungary.

The purpose of this notice is to advise the public that, if no

solution is agreed upon in consultations with the Government of

Hungary, the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements may

later establish a limit for the entry and withdrawal from warehouse for

consumption of cotton and man-made fiber textile products in Categories

351/651, produced or manufactured in Hungary.

A summary market statement concerning Categories 351/651 follows

this notice.

Anyone wishing to comment or provide data or information regarding

the treatment of Categories 351/651, or to comment on domestic

production or availability of products included in Categories 351/651,

is invited to submit 10 copies of such comments or information to Rita

D. Hayes, 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 Hungary.

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

[[Page 5653]] Implementation of Textile Agreements considers

appropriate for further consideration.

The solicitation of comments regarding any aspect of the agreement

or the implementation thereof 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 Categories 351/651. Should such a solution be reached in

consultations with the Government of Hungary, 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 59 FR 65531, published on December 20, 1994).

Rita D. Hayes,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

Market Statement--Hungary

Categories 351/651--Cotton and Man-Made Fiber Nightwear and Pajamas

December 1994

Import Situation and Conclusion

U.S. imports of cotton and manmade fiber pajamas and other

nightwear, Category 351/651, from Hungary reached 148,570 dozen during

the year ending September 1994, 63 percent above the 91,159 dozen

imported during the year ending September 1993. In the first nine

months of 1994, imports of Category 351/651 from Hungary reached

109,805 dozen, 41 percent above the 77,718 dozen shipped during

January-September 1993, and 94 percent of their total calendar year

1993 imports.

The sharp and substantial increase of Category 351/651 imports from

Hungary is causing disruption in the U.S. market for cotton and manmade

fiber pajamas and other nightwear.

U.S. Production, Import Penetration and Market Share

U.S. production of cotton and manmade fiber pajamas and other

nightwear fell from 11,639 thousand dozen in 1992 to 10,442 thousand

dozen in 1993, a decline of 10 percent. Production continued to decline

in 1994, falling to 10,114 thousand dozen in the year ending in June

1994, 7 percent below the year ending June 1993 level. In contrast,

U.S. imports of Category 351/651 increased from 9,347 thousand dozen in

1992 to 10,832 thousand dozen in 1993, an increase of 16 percent.

Category 351/651 imports continued to increase in 1994, reaching a

record level 11,079 thousand dozen during the year ending September

1994, 5 percent above the 10,563 thousand dozen imported during the

same period a year earlier.

The ratio of imports to domestic production increased from 80

percent in 1992 to 104 percent in 1993, and reached 109 percent for the

year ending June 1994. The domestic manufacturers' share of the cotton

and manmade fiber nightwear market declined from 55 percent in 1992 to

49 percent in 1993, and fell to 48 percent during the year ending June

1994.

Duty-Paid Value and U.S. Producers' Price

Nearly all of Category 351/651 imports from Hungary during the year

ending in September 1993 entered the U.S. under HTSUSA 6108.31.0010--

women's knit cotton nightdresses and pajamas. This nightwear entered

the U.S. at landed duty-paid values below U.S. producers' prices for

comparable nightwear.

[FR Doc. 95-2290 Filed 1-26-95; 11:19 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F