[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.



