[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 34 (Friday, February 18, 2000)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 8629-8630]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-4199]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 34 / Friday, February 18, 2000 / 
Presidential Documents  

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[[Page 8629]]


                Memorandum of February 16, 2000

                
Action Under Section 203 of the Trade Act of 1974 
                Concerning Steel Wire Rod

                Memorandum for the Secretary of the Treasury [and] the 
                United States Trade Representative

                On July 12, 1999, the United States International Trade 
                Commission (USITC) submitted a report to me of its 
                investigation under section 202 of the Trade Act of 
                1974, as amended (the ``Trade Act''), with respect to 
                imports of steel wire rod. The USITC commissioners were 
                equally divided in their determinations under section 
                202(b) of the Trade Act of whether steel wire rod is 
                being imported into the United States in such increased 
                quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious 
                injury or threat of serious injury to the domestic 
                steel wire rod industry. The report also contained 
                negative findings by the ITC pursuant to section 311(a) 
                of the North American Free Trade Agreement 
                Implementation Act (the ``NAFTA Implementation Act'') 
                with respect to imports of steel wire rod from Canada 
                and Mexico.

                Having reviewed the determinations of both groups of 
                commissioners, I have decided pursuant to section 
                330(d)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930 to consider the 
                determination of the group of commissioners voting in 
                the affirmative to be the determination of the USITC.

                After taking into account all relevant considerations, 
                including the factors specified in section 203(a)(2) of 
                the Trade Act, I have implemented action of a type 
                described in section 203(a)(3) of that Act. I have 
                determined that the most appropriate action is a 
                tariff-rate quota on imports of steel wire rod, other 
                than enumerated steel wire rod products (``excluded 
                products''), with an increase in currently scheduled 
                rates of duties for imports above the tariff-rate quota 
                level. I have proclaimed such action for a period of 3 
                years and 1 day in order to facilitate efforts by the 
                domestic industry to make a positive adjustment to 
                import competition.

                Specifically, I have established a tariff-rate quota 
                for steel wire rod in an amount equal to 1.58 million 
                net tons in the first year (March 1, 2000 through 
                February 28, 2001), an amount that is equivalent to 
                1998 import levels of covered products from the 
                countries subject to the TRQ plus 2 percent (to account 
                for growth in demand). The tariff-rate quota amount 
                will increase by 2 percent annually in the second and 
                third years of relief. I have established increased 
                rates of duty for imports above the tariff-rate quota 
                level: namely 10 percent ad valorem in the first year 
                of relief, 7.5 percent ad valorem in the second year of 
                relief, and 5 percent ad valorem in the third year of 
                relief. In addition, I have provided that during each 
                quarter of the first three quarters of a quota year, 
                any articles subject to the tariff-rate quota entered 
                or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption in excess 
                of one-third of the total within-quota quantity for 
                that quota year shall be subject to the over-quota rate 
                of duty then in effect. During the fourth quarter of a 
                quota year, the tariff-rate quota shall apply as though 
                the preceding sentence did not have effect, except that 
                any imports subject to the over-quota duty as a result 
                of the preceding sentence shall not be counted against 
                the in-quota quantity for that quota year. In this 
                regard, I instruct the Secretary of the Treasury to 
                publish or otherwise make available on a weekly basis, 
                import statistics that will enable importers to 
                identify the rate at which the in-quota quantity for 
                that quota year, and the portion of the in-quota 
                quantity allotted to that quarter, is being filled. I 
                further

[[Page 8630]]

                instruct the Secretary of the Treasury to seek to 
                obtain by March 1, 2000 statistical subdivisions in the 
                Harmonized Tariff Schedule for the excluded products 
                (specified in the Annex to the proclamation). The 
                Secretary of the Treasury will monitor imports of the 
                excluded products by country of origin and imports the 
                product of Mexico and Canada throughout the period of 
                this action, and report to the United States Trade 
                Representative on relevant volumes each quarter during 
                the period of this action, or more often as needed, or 
                as the United States Trade Representative may request.

                I have further determined, pursuant to section 312(a) 
                of the NAFTA Implementation Act, that imports of steel 
                wire rod produced in Canada and Mexico do not account 
                for a substantial share of total steel wire rod imports 
                or are not contributing importantly to the serious 
                injury or threat of serious injury. Therefore, pursuant 
                to section 312(b) of the NAFTA Implementation Act, the 
                safeguard measure will not apply to imports of steel 
                wire rod that is the product of Canada or Mexico.

                I have determined that the actions described above will 
                facilitate efforts by the domestic industry to make a 
                positive adjustment to import competition and provide 
                greater economic and social benefits than costs. This 
                action will provide the domestic industry with 
                necessary temporary relief from increasing import 
                competition, while also assuring our trading partners 
                continued access to the United States market.

                Pursuant to section 204 of the Trade Act, the USITC 
                will monitor developments with respect to the domestic 
                industry, including the progress and specific efforts 
                made by workers and firms in the domestic industry to 
                make a positive adjustment to import competition, and 
                will provide to me and to the Congress a report on the 
                results of its monitoring no later than the date that 
                is the mid-point of the period during which the action 
                I have taken under section 203 of that Act is in 
                effect. I further instruct the United States Trade 
                Representative to request the USITC pursuant to section 
                332(g) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 
                1332(g)) to examine the effects of this action on both 
                the domestic wire rod industry and the principal users 
                of wire rod in the United States, and to report on the 
                results of its investigation in conjunction with its 
                report under section 204(a)(2).

                The United States Trade Representative is authorized 
                and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal 
                Register.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    Washington, February 16, 2000.

[FR Doc. 00-4199
Filed 2-17-00; 11:43 am]
Billing code 3190-01-M