There shall be established a library of information relating to foreign subsidy practices and countervailing measures. Copies of material in the library shall be made available to the public upon payment of the costs of preparing such copies.
The administering authority and the Commission shall, from time to time upon request, inform the parties to an investigation of the progress of that investigation.
If the administering authority of the Commission determines, on the basis of the nature and extent of the information or its availability from public sources, that designation of any information as proprietary is unwarranted, then it shall notify the person who submitted it and ask for an explanation of the reasons for the designation. Unless that person persuades the administering authority or the Commission that the designation is warranted, or withdraws the designation, the administering authority or the Commission, as the case may be, shall return it to the party submitting it. In a case in which the administering authority or the Commission returns the information to the person submitting it, the person may thereafter submit other material concerning the subject matter of the returned information if the submission is made within the time otherwise provided for submitting such material.
Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), information submitted to the administering authority or the Commission in connection with a review under section 1675(b) or 1675(c) of this title which is designated as proprietary by the person submitting the information may, if the review results in the revocation of an order or finding (or termination of a suspended investigation) under section 1675(d) of this title, be used by the agency to which the information was originally submitted in any investigation initiated within 2 years after the date of the revocation or termination pursuant to a petition covering the same subject merchandise.
Upon receipt of an application (before or after receipt of the information requested) which describes in general terms the information requested and sets forth the reasons for the request, the administering authority or the Commission shall make all business proprietary information presented to, or obtained by it, during a proceeding (except privileged information, classified information, and specific information of a type for which there is a clear and compelling need to withhold from disclosure) available to interested parties who are parties to the proceeding under a protective order described in subparagraph (B), regardless of when the information is submitted during a proceeding. Customer names obtained during any investigation which requires a determination under section 1671d(b) or 1673d(b) of this title may not be disclosed by the administering authority under protective order until either an order is published under section 1671e(a) or 1673e(a) of this title as a result of the investigation or the investigation is suspended or terminated. The Commission may delay disclosure of customer names under protective order during any such investigation until a reasonable time prior to any hearing provided under section 1677c of this title.
The protective order under which information is made available shall contain such requirements as the administering authority or the Commission may determine by regulation to be appropriate. The administering authority and the Commission shall provide by regulation for such sanctions as the administering authority and the Commission determine to be appropriate, including disbarment from practice before the agency.
If a person submitting information to the administering authority refuses to disclose business proprietary information which the administering authority determines should be released under a protective order described in subparagraph (B), the administering authority shall return the information, and any nonconfidential summary thereof, to the person submitting the information and summary and shall not consider either.
Any party submitting written information, including business proprietary information, to the administering authority or the Commission during a proceeding shall, at the same time, serve the information upon all interested parties who are parties to the proceeding, if the information is covered by a protective order. The administering authority or the Commission shall not accept any such information that is not accompanied by a certificate of service and a copy of the protective order version of the document containing the information. Business proprietary information shall only be served upon interested parties who are parties to the proceeding that are subject to protective order; however, a nonconfidential summary thereof shall be served upon all other interested parties who are parties to the proceeding.
If binational panel review of a determination under this subtitle is requested pursuant to article 1904 of the United States-Canada Agreement or article 10.12 of the USMCA, or an extraordinary challenge committee is convened under Annex 1904.13 of the United States-Canada Agreement or chapter 10 of the USMCA, the administering authority or the Commission, as appropriate, may make available to authorized persons, under a protective order described in paragraph (2), a copy of all proprietary material in the administrative record made during the proceeding in question. If the administering authority or the Commission claims a privilege as to a document or portion of a document in the administrative record of the proceeding in question and a binational panel or extraordinary challenge committee finds that in camera inspection or limited disclosure of that document or portion thereof is required by United States law, the administering authority or the Commission, as appropriate, may restrict access to such document or portion thereof to the authorized persons identified by the panel or committee as requiring access and may require such persons to obtain access under a protective order described in paragraph (2).
A decision concerning the disclosure or nondisclosure of material under protective order by the administering authority or the Commission shall not be subject to judicial review, and no court of the United States shall have power or jurisdiction to review such decision on any question of law or fact by an action in the nature of mandamus or otherwise.
Each protective order issued under this subsection shall be in such form and contain such requirements as the administering authority or the Commission may determine by regulation to be appropriate. The administering authority and the Commission shall ensure that regulations issued pursuant to this paragraph shall be designed to provide an opportunity for participation in the binational panel proceeding, including any extraordinary challenge, equivalent to that available for judicial review of determinations by the administering authority or the Commission that are not subject to review by a binational panel.
It is unlawful for any person to violate, to induce the violation of, or knowingly to receive information the receipt of which constitutes a violation of, any provision of a protective order issued under this subsection or to violate, to induce the violation of, or knowingly to receive information the receipt of which constitutes a violation of, any provision of an undertaking entered into with an authorized agency of a free trade area country (as defined in section 1516a(f)(9) of this title) to protect proprietary material during binational panel or extraordinary challenge committee review pursuant to article 1904 of article 1904 of [1] the United States-Canada Agreement or article 10.12 of the USMCA.
Any person, except a judge appointed to a binational panel or an extraordinary challenge committee under section 4582(b) of this title, who is found by the administering authority or the Commission, as appropriate, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing in accordance with section 554 of title 5 to have committed an act prohibited by paragraph (3) shall be liable to the United States for a civil penalty and shall be subject to such other administrative sanctions, including, but not limited to, debarment from practice before the administering authority or the Commission, as the administering authority or the Commission determines to be appropriate. The amount of the civil penalty shall not exceed $100,000 for each violation. Each day of a continuing violation shall constitute a separate violation. The amount of such civil penalty and other sanctions shall be assessed by the administering authority or the Commission by written notice, except that assessment shall be made by the administering authority for violation, inducement of a violation or receipt of information with reason to know that such information was disclosed in violation, of an undertaking entered into by any person with an authorized agency of a free trade area country (as defined in section 1516a(f)(9) of this title).
Any person against whom sanctions are imposed under paragraph (4) may obtain review of such sanctions by filing a notice of appeal in the United States Court of International Trade within 30 days from the date of the order imposing the sanction and by simultaneously sending a copy of such notice by certified mail to the administering authority or the Commission, as appropriate. The administering authority or the Commission shall promptly file in such court a certified copy of the record upon which such violation was found or such sanction imposed, as provided in section 2112 of title 28. The findings and order of the administering authority or the Commission shall be set aside by the court only if the court finds that such findings and order are not supported by substantial evidence, as provided in section 706(2) of title 5.
If any person fails to pay an assessment of a civil penalty or to comply with other administrative sanctions after the order imposing such sanctions becomes a final and unappealable order, or after the United States Court of International Trade has entered final judgment in favor of the administering authority or the Commission, an action may be filed in such court to enforce the sanctions. In such action, the validity and appropriateness of the final order imposing the sanctions shall not be subject to review.
The attendance of witnesses who are authorized to be summoned, and the production of documentary evidence authorized to be ordered, under subparagraph (A) may be required from any place in the United States at any designated place of hearing. In the case of disobedience to a subpoena issued under subparagraph (A), an action may be filed in any district or territorial court of the United States to require the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of documentary evidence. Such court, within the jurisdiction of which such inquiry is carried on, may, in case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpoena issued to any individual, partnership, corporation, association, organization or other entity, issue any order requiring such individual or entity to appear before the administering authority or the Commission, or to produce documentary evidence if so ordered or to give evidence concerning the matter in question. Any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by the court as a contempt thereof.
Any court referred to in subparagraph (B) shall have jurisdiction to issue writs of mandamus commanding compliance with the provisions of this subsection or any order of the administering authority or the Commission made in pursuance thereof.
For purposes of carrying out any functions or duties under this subsection, the administering authority or the Commission may order testimony to be taken by deposition. Such deposition may be taken before any person designated by the administering authority or Commission and having power to administer oaths. Such testimony shall be reduced to writing by the person taking the deposition, or under the direction of such person, and shall then be subscribed by the deponent. Any individual, partnership, corporation, association, organization or other entity may be compelled to appear and depose and to produce documentary evidence in the same manner as witnesses may be compelled to appear and testify and produce documentary evidence before the administering authority or Commission, as provided in this paragraph.
Witnesses summoned before the administering authority or the Commission shall be paid the same fees and mileage that are paid witnesses in the courts of the United States.
The administering authority and the Commission may withhold from disclosure any correspondence, private letters of reprimand, settlement agreements, and documents and files compiled in relation to investigations and actions involving a violation or possible violation of a protective order issued under subsection (c) or (d), and such information shall be treated as information described in section 552(b)(3) of title 5.
The administering authority and the Commission shall provide an opportunity for industrial users of the subject merchandise and, if the merchandise is sold at the retail level, for representative consumer organizations, to submit relevant information to the administering authority concerning dumping or a countervailable subsidy, and to the Commission concerning material injury by reason of dumped or subsidized imports.
Whenever the administering authority makes a determination under section 1671a or 1673a of this title whether to initiate an investigation, or the administering authority or the Commission makes a preliminary determination under section 1671b or 1673b of this title, a final determination under section 1671d of this title or section 1673d of this title, a preliminary or final determination in a review under section 1675 of this title, a determination to suspend an investigation under this subtitle, or a determination under section 1675b of this title, the administering authority or the Commission, as the case may be, shall publish the facts and conclusions supporting that determination, and shall publish notice of that determination in the Federal Register.