[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 19 (Monday, January 30, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5655-5656]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-2292]



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COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Request for Public Comments on Bilateral Textile Consultations 
with Indonesia on Certain Wool Textile Products

January 13, 1995.
AGENCY: Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA).

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing 
a limit.

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EFFECTIVE DATE:January 26, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Tallarico, International 
Trade Specialist, Office of Textiles and Apparel, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, (202) 482-4212. For information on the quota status of this 
limit, refer to the Quota Status Reports posted on the bulletin boards 
of each Customs port or call (202) 927-6704. For information on 
embargoes and quota re-openings, call (202) 482-3715. For information 
on categories on 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 29, 1994, under the terms of the Bilateral Cotton, 
Wool, Man-Made Fiber, and Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Textile 
Agreement of May 8, 1992, as amended and extended, between the 
Governments of the United States and Indonesia, the United States 
Government requested consultations with the Government of Indonesia 
with respect to wool textile products in Category 435.
    The purpose of this notice is to advise the public that, pending 
agreement on a mutually satisfactory solution concerning Category 435, 
the Government of the United States will, pursuant to the bilateral 
agreement, control imports during the ninety-day period which began on 
December 29, 1994 and extends through March 28, 1995.
    A summary market statement concerning Category 435 follows this 
notice.
    If no solution is agreed upon in consultations between the two 
governments, CITA may later establish a specific limit for the entry 
and withdrawal from warehouse for consumption of textile products in 
Category 435, produced or manufactured in Indonesia.
    Anyone wishing to comment or provide data or information regarding 
the treatment of Category 435, under the agreement with Indonesia, or 
to comment on domestic production or availability of products included 
in Category 435, 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 Indonesia.
    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 
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 Category 435. Should such a solution be reached in 
consultations with the Government of Indonesia, 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--Indonesia
Category 435--Women's and Girls' Wool Coats
December 1994
Import Situation and Conclusion
    U.S. imports of women's and girls' wool coats, Category 435, from 
Indonesia reached 35,642 dozen for the year ending September 1994, 
nearly four times the 9,374 dozen imported a year earlier. During the 
first nine months of 1994, imports from Indonesia were 35,042 dozen, 
over five times the 6,933 dozen imported during January-September 1993 
and more than four and a half times the 7,533 dozen imported during 
calendar year 1993. Indonesia became the eighth largest supplier of 
women's and girls' wool coats, Category 435, to the U.S. market, 
accounting for 3.5 percent of total Category 435 imports during 
January-September 1994. Indonesia was ranked twenty-eighth among the 
major suppliers in calendar year 1993, accounting for 0.7 percent of 
total Category 435 imports.
    The sharp and substantial increase in Category 435 imports from 
Indonesia is causing a real risk of disruption in the U.S. market for 
women's and girls' wool coats.
U.S. Production, Import Penetration and Market Share
    U.S. production of women's and girls' wool coats, Category 435, 
declined from 981,000 dozen in 1992 to 922,000 dozen in 1993, a decline 
of 6 percent. U.S. production continued to decline in 1994, falling to 
911,000 dozen produced in the year ending in June 1994, 1 percent below 
the 924,000 dozen produced in the same period a year earlier. In 
contrast, U.S. imports of Category 435 increased from 834,000 dozen in 
1992 to 1,110,000 dozen in 1993, an increase of 33 percent. Category 
435 imports continued to increase in 1994 reaching a record level 
1,187,552 dozen during the year ending September 1994, 8 percent above 
the year ending September 1993 level.
    The ratio of imports to domestic production increased from 85 
percent in 1992 to 120 percent in 1993, and reached 126 percent during 
the year [[Page 5656]] ending June 1994. The domestic manufacturers' 
share of the market for women's and girls' wool coats, Category 435, 
declined from 54 percent in 1992 to 45 percent in 1993, a decline of 9 
percentage points, and fell to 44 percent during the year ending June 
1994.
Duty-Paid Value and U.S. Producers' Price
    Approximately 83 percent of Category 435 imports from Indonesia 
during the year ending September 1994 entered under HTSUSA 
6202.11.0010--Women's wool overcoats, carcoats, capes and similar 
items; and HTSUSA 6204.31.2010--Women's wool suit-type coats, other 
than silk blend jackets of 30% or more silk. These coats entered the 
U.S. at landed duty-paid values substantially below U.S. producers' 
prices for comparable wool coats.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements
January 13, 1995.

Commissioner of Customs,
Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC 20229.

    Dear Commissioner: Under the terms of section 204 of the 
Agricultural Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1854), and the 
Arrangement Regarding International Trade in Textiles done at Geneva 
on December 20, 1973, as further extended on December 9, 1993; 
pursuant to the Bilateral Cotton, Wool, Man-Made Fiber, and Silk 
Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Textile Agreement of May 8, 1992, as 
amended and extended, between the Governments of the United States 
and Indonesia; and in accordance with the provisions of Executive 
Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended, you are directed to 
prohibit, effective on January 26, 1995, entry into the United 
States for consumption and withdrawal from warehouse for consumption 
of wool textile products in Category 435, produced or manufactured 
in Indonesia and exported during the period beginning on December 
29, 1994 and extending through March 28, 1995, in excess of 12,475 
dozen.\1\

    \1\The limit has not been adjusted to account for any imports 
exported after December 28, 1994.
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    Textile products in Category 435 which have been exported to the 
United States on and after July 1, 1994 shall remain subject to the 
levels for Group II and the Group II subgroup established in the 
directive dated November 3, 1994 for the period July 1, 1994 through 
December 31, 1994. Also, Category 435 shall remain subject to 
monitoring in Group II and the Group II subgroup for the January 1, 
1995 through December 31, 1995 period (see directive dated December 
13, 1994).
    Textile products in Category 435 which have been exported to the 
United States prior to December 29, 1994 shall not be subject to the 
limit established in this directive.
    In carrying out the above directions, the Commissioner of 
Customs should construe entry into the United States for consumption 
to include entry for consumption into the Commonwealth of Puerto 
Rico.
    The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements has 
determined that this action falls within the foreign affairs 
exception of the rulemaking provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1).
    Sincerely,
Rita D. Hayes,
Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.
[FR Doc. 95-2292 Filed 1-26-95; 11:19 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F