[House Document 105-66]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
105th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 105-66
INTENTION TO WITHDRAW BENEFITS FOR 50 PERCENT OF ARGENTINA'S EXPORTS
UNDER THE GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES PROGRAM
__________
MESSAGE
from
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
transmitting
HIS DETERMINATION THAT ARGENTINA FAILS TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE AND
EFFECTIVE MEANS UNDER ITS LAWS FOR FOREIGN NATIONALS TO SECURE, TO
EXERCISE, AND TO ENFORCE EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, AND
NOTIFICATION THAT HE INTENDS TO WITHDRAW BENEFITS FOR 50 PERCENT OF
ARGENTINA'S EXPORTS UNDER THE GSP PROGRAM, PURSUANT TO 19 U.S.C.
2462(a)
April 15, 1997.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means and ordered to be printed
To the Congress of the United States:
The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program offers
duty-free treatment to specified products that are imported
from designated developing countries. The program is authorized
by title V of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended.
Pursuant to title V, I have determined that Argentina fails
to provide adequate and effective means under its laws for
foreign nationals to secure, to exercise, and to enforce
exclusive rights in intellectual property. As a result, I have
determined to withdraw benefits for 50 percent (approximately
$260 million) of Argentina's exports under the GSP program. The
products subject to removal include chemicals, certain metals
and metal products, a variety of manufactured products, and
several agricultural items (raw cane sugar, garlic, fish, milk
protein concentrates, and anchovies).
This notice is submitted in accordance with the
requirements of title V of the Trade Act of 1974.
William J. Clinton.
The White House, April 11, 1997.
To Modify Application of Duty-Free Treatment Under the Generalized
System of Preferences
----------
By the President of the United States of America
a proclamation
1. Sections 502(d)(1) and 503(c)(1) of the Trade Act of
1974, as amended by Public Law 104-188; 110 Stat. 1755, 1920,
1922 (``the 1974 Act'') (19 U.S.C. 2462(d)(1) and 2463(c)(1)),
provide that the President may withdraw, suspend, or limit the
application of the duty-free treatment accorded under the
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) with respect to any
country and any article upon consideration of the factors set
forth in sections 501 and 502(c) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C.
2461 and 2462(c)). Pursuant to sections 502(d)(1) and 503(c)(1)
of the 1974 Act and having considered the factors set forth in
sections 501 and 502(c) of such Act, including, in particular,
section 502(c)(5) (19 U.S.C. 2464(c)(5)) on the extent to which
a designated beneficiary developing country is providing
adequate and effective protection of intellectual property
rights, I have determined that it is appropriate to suspend the
duty-free treatment accorded under the GSP to certain eligible
articles that are the product of Argentina, as provided in the
Annex to this proclamation.
2. Section 604 of the 1974 Act, as amended (19 U.S.C.
2483), authorizes the President to embody in the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) the substance of the
relevant provisions of that Act, and of other acts affecting
import treatment, and actions thereunder, including the
removal, modification, continuance, or imposition of any rate
of duty or other import restriction.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, acting under the authority vested in
me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States,
including but not limited to sections 502(d)(1), 503(c)(1), and
604 of the 1974 Act, do proclaim that:
(1) In order to provide that Argentina should no longer be
treated as a beneficiary developing country with respect to
certain eligible articles for purposes of the GSP, the HTS is
modified as provided in the Annex to this proclamation.
(2) Any provisions of previous proclamations and Executive
orders that are inconsistent with the actions and provisions of
this proclamation are superseded to the extent of such
inconsistency.
(3) The modifications made by this proclamation shall be
effective with respect to articles both: (i) imported on or
after January 1, 1976, and (ii) entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse for consumption, on or after 30 days after the date
of publication of this proclamation in the Federal Register.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred
and ninety-seven, and of the Independence of the United States
of America the two hundred and twenty-first.
William J. Clinton.