[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 29, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 4415-4427]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-2345]



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Part VI





The President





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Proclamation 6969--To Modify Application of Duty-Free Treatment of 
Certain Articles Under the Generalized System of Preferences, and for 
Other Purposes
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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 19 / Wednesday, January 29, 1997 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

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                Proclamation 6969 of January 27, 1997

                
To Modify Application of Duty-Free Treatment of 
                Certain Articles Under the Generalized System of 
                Preferences, and for Other Purposes

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                1. Pursuant to section 503(c)(1) of the Trade Act of 
                1974, as amended by Public Law 104-88; 110 Stat. 1755, 
                1922 (``the 1974 Act''), the President may withdraw, 
                suspend, or limit the application of the duty-free 
                treatment accorded under section 501 of the 1974 Act 
                (19 U.S.C. 2461) with respect to any article. With due 
                regard for the factors set forth in sections 501 and 
                502(c) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2461 and 2462(c)), I 
                have determined that it is appropriate to modify the 
                application of duty-free treatment under title V of the 
                1974 Act for certain articles, including certain goods 
                previously eligible for such treatment that the Customs 
                Service has reclassified.

                2. Presidential Proclamation 6961 of November 28, 1996, 
                provided import relief with respect to certain broom 
                corn brooms. For certain subheadings of the Harmonized 
                Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) established 
                to carry out this relief, provisions were omitted that 
                would have continued staged reductions of special rates 
                of duty for the goods concerned, previously proclaimed 
                pursuant to section 201(a) of the North American Free 
                Trade Agreement Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 3331(a)). 
                Further, other HTS provisions established by that 
                proclamation contain conflicting dates that complicate 
                their administration. To rectify these omissions and to 
                permit proper administration of the import relief, I 
                have decided that it is necessary and appropriate to 
                continue previously proclaimed duty treatment for the 
                affected goods and to make technical corrections in 
                certain HTS provisions.

                3. Section 213 of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery 
                Act, as amended (CBERA) (19 U.S.C. 2703), and section 
                204 of the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA) (19 
                U.S.C. 3203) authorize the President to provide duty-
                free entry for all eligible articles, and duty 
                reductions for certain other articles, that are the 
                product of any country that has been designated as a 
                beneficiary country under those Acts. To clarify the 
                preferential tariff treatment provided to particular 
                dutiable goods that are the product of beneficiary 
                countries under the CBERA or the ATPA and that are 
                eligible to enter under HTS heading 9802.00.80, which 
                provides for certain goods assembled abroad using 
                components of U.S. origin, I have decided it is 
                appropriate to provide special rates of duty for 
                purposes of the CBERA and of the ATPA in heading 
                9802.00.80 to apply to such goods.

                4. Presidential Proclamation 6948 of October 29, 1996, 
                modified tariff provisions concerning special import 
                quotas for upland cotton. That proclamation also 
                modified certain provisions of the HTS and of prior 
                Presidential proclamations to correct technical errors 
                and to clarify the intent of previously proclaimed 
                modifications. In proclaiming the modifications to the 
                provisions on upland cotton, a conforming change to 
                U.S. note 6 to subchapter III of chapter 99 of the HTS 
                was omitted. Further, the instructions in section 
                A(5)(c) of Annex II to such proclamation concerning 
                modifications to subchapter IV of chapter 99 to the HTS 
                contained an error. To rectify the omission and to 
                correct the error in instructions, I have decided it is 
                necessary and appropriate to modify U.S. note 6 to 
                subchapter III of chapter 99

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                of the HTS and to amend the instructions in section 
                A(5)(c) of Annex II to Proclamation 6948.

                5. Presidential Proclamation 6763 of December 23, 1994, 
                implemented with respect to the United States the trade 
                agreements resulting from the Uruguay Round of 
                multilateral trade negotiations, including Schedule 
                XX--United States of America, annexed to the Marrakesh 
                Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 
                1994. A conforming change in a subheading in subchapter 
                V of chapter 99 of the HTS was omitted from 
                Proclamation 6763. Further, particular HTS additional 
                U.S. notes implementing tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) for 
                specified agricultural products do not clearly reflect 
                the intended quota periods and the quantities permitted 
                entry during such quota periods and have caused 
                administrative difficulties. In order to make the 
                necessary conforming change and to correct the legal 
                notes controlling such TRQs, I have decided it is 
                necessary and appropriate to modify a subheading in 
                subchapter V of chapter 99 and the legal notes 
                pertaining to such TRQs.

                6. Presidential Proclamation 6857 of December 11, 1995, 
                implemented with respect to the United States certain 
                modifications to the HTS, in conformity with the 
                obligations of the United States under the 
                International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity 
                Description and Coding System. The Annex to that 
                proclamation omitted provisions that would have 
                continued previously proclaimed staged reductions of 
                certain rates of duty for the goods concerned, pursuant 
                to section 111(a) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act 
                (URAA) (19 U.S.C. 3521(a)). To rectify these omissions, 
                I have decided that it is necessary and appropriate to 
                provide for the continuation of previously proclaimed 
                duty treatment for the affected goods.

                7. (a) Section 115 of the URAA (19 U.S.C. 3524) 
                requires the President to (1) obtain advice regarding 
                certain proposed actions; (2) submit a report to the 
                Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
                Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the 
                Senate; and (3) consult with those Committees on the 
                proposed action during a subsequent 60-day period to 
                meet the consultation and layover requirements of that 
                section.

                    (b) Section 604 of the 1974 Act, as amended (19 
                U.S.C. 2483), authorizes the President to embody in the 
                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.

                8. I have decided that it is appropriate to authorize 
                the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to 
                perform the functions specified in section 115 of the 
                URAA and certain functions under section 604 of the 
                1974 Act.

                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 section 503 
                of the 1974 Act, section 213 of the CBERA, section 204 
                of the ATPA, section 604 of the 1974 Act, and section 
                301 of title 3, United States Code, do proclaim that:

                    (1) In order to reflect in the HTS various 
                technical and conforming changes, to correct provisions 
                of Proclamations 6948 and 6961, and to modify the 
                special duty rates subcolumn for heading 9802.00.80, 
                the HTS and Proclamations 6948 and 6961 are each 
                modified as set forth in Annexes I and II to this 
                proclamation.
                    (2) In order to modify the application of duty-free 
                treatment under title V of the 1974 Act for certain 
                articles, the HTS is modified as set forth in Annex III 
                to this proclamation.
                    (3) The modifications to the HTS made by Annexes I, 
                II, and III to this proclamation shall be effective 
                with respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from 
                warehouse for consumption, on or after the dates set 
                forth in such Annexes and during the time periods 
                specified therein.

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                    (4) The USTR is authorized to perform the functions 
                vested in the President under section 115 of the URAA. 
                In addition, the USTR is authorized to exercise the 
                authority provided to the President under section 604 
                of the 1974 Act to embody rectifications, technical or 
                conforming changes, or similar modifications in the 
                HTS.
                    (5) Any provisions of previous proclamations and 
                Executive orders that are inconsistent with the actions 
                taken in this proclamation are superseded to the extent 
                of such inconsistency.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-seventh day of January, 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.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

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[FR Doc. 97-2345
Filed 1-28-97; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3190-01-C