[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 250 (Wednesday, December 31, 2003)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 75789-75791]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-32319]



[[Page 75787]]

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Part V





The President





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Proclamation 7746--To Implement the United States-Chile Free Trade 
Agreement



Proclamation 7747--To Implement the United States-Singapore Free Trade 
Agreement
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  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 250 / Wednesday, December 31, 2003 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 75789]]

                Proclamation 7746 of December 30, 2003

                
To Implement the United States-Chile Free Trade 
                Agreement

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                1. On June 6, 2003, the United States entered into the 
                United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement (USCFTA). The 
                Congress approved the USCFTA in section 101(a) of the 
                United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement Implementation 
                Act (the ``USCFTA Act'') (Public Law 108-77, 117 Stat. 
                909) (19 U.S.C. 3805 note).

                2. Section 105 of the USCFTA Act authorizes the 
                President to establish or designate within the 
                Department of Commerce an office that shall be 
                responsible for providing administrative assistance to 
                panels established under Chapter 22 of the USCFTA.

                3. Section 201 of the USCFTA authorizes the President 
                to proclaim such modifications or continuation of any 
                duty, such continuation of duty-free or excise 
                treatment, or such additional duties, as the President 
                determines to be necessary or appropriate to carry out 
                or apply articles 3.3 (including the schedule of United 
                States duty reductions with respect to originating 
                goods set forth in Annex 3.3 to the USCFTA), 3.7, 3.9, 
                and 3.20(8), (9), (10), and (11) of the USCFTA.

                4. Section 202 of the USCFTA Act provides certain rules 
                for determining whether a good is an originating good 
                for the purpose of implementing tariff treatment under 
                the USCFTA. I have decided that it is necessary to 
                include these rules of origin, together with particular 
                rules applicable to certain other goods, in the 
                Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS).

                5. Consistent with section 201(a)(2) of the USCFTA Act, 
                Chile is to be removed from the enumeration of 
                designated beneficiary developing countries eligible 
                for the benefits of the Generalized System of 
                Preferences (GSP). Further, consistent with section 604 
                of the Trade Act of 1974 (the ``1974 Act'') (19 U.S.C. 
                2483), as amended, I have determined that other 
                technical and conforming changes to the HTS are 
                necessary to reflect that Chile is no longer eligible 
                to receive benefits of the GSP.

                6. Section 208 of the USCFTA Act authorizes the 
                President to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to 
                take certain actions related to verifications conducted 
                consistent with Article 3.21 of the USCFTA.

                7. Subtitle B of title III of the USCFTA Act authorizes 
                the President to take certain actions in response to a 
                request by an interested party for relief from imports 
                that are a cause of serious damage, or actual threat 
                thereof, to a domestic industry producing certain 
                textile or apparel articles.

                8. Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended, 
                establishes the Committee for the Implementation of 
                Textile Agreements (CITA) to supervise the 
                implementation of textile trade agreements.

                9. Section 604 of the 1974 Act, as amended, authorizes 
                the President to embody in the HTS the substance of 
                relevant provisions of that Act, or other acts 
                affecting import treatment, and of actions taken 
                thereunder, including the removal, modification, 
                continuance, or imposition of any rate of duty or other 
                import restriction.

[[Page 75790]]

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the 
                United States of America, acting under the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States of America, including but not limited to 
                sections 105, 201, 202, and 208 of the USCFTA Act, 
                section 604 of the 1974 Act, and section 301 of title 
                3, United States Code, do proclaim that:

                    (1) In order to provide generally for the 
                preferential tariff treatment being accorded under the 
                USCFTA, to set forth rules for determining whether 
                goods imported into the customs territory of the United 
                States are eligible for preferential tariff treatment 
                under the USCFTA, to provide certain other treatment to 
                originating goods for the purposes of the USCFTA, to 
                provide tariff-rate quotas with respect to certain 
                originating goods, to reflect Chile's removal from the 
                enumeration of designated beneficiary developing 
                countries for purposes of the GSP, and to make 
                technical and conforming changes in the general notes 
                to the HTS, the HTS is modified as set forth in Annex I 
                of Publication 3652 of the United States International 
                Trade Commission, entitled Modifications of the 
                Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
                Implementing the United States- Chile Free Trade 
                Agreement (Publication 3652), which is incorporated by 
                reference into this proclamation.
                    (2) In order to implement the initial stage of duty 
                elimination provided for in the USCFTA, and to provide 
                for future staged reductions in duties for products of 
                Chile for purposes of the USCFTA, the HTS is modified 
                as provided in Annex II of Publication 3652, effective 
                on the dates specified in the relevant sections of such 
                publication and on any subsequent dates set forth for 
                such duty reductions in that publication.
                    (3) The Secretary of Commerce is authorized to 
                exercise the authority of the President under section 
                105(a) of the USCFTA Act to establish or designate an 
                office within the Department of Commerce to carry out 
                the functions set forth in that section.
                    (4) The CITA is authorized to exercise the 
                authority of the President under section 208 of the 
                USCFTA Act with respect to verifications conducted in a 
                manner consistent with article 3.21 of the USCFTA.
                    (5) The CITA is authorized to exercise the 
                authority of the President under subtitle B of title 
                III of the USCFTA Act to review requests and to 
                determine whether to commence consideration of such 
                requests; to cause to be published in the Federal 
                Register a notice of commencement of consideration of a 
                request and notice seeking public comment; to determine 
                whether a Chilean textile or apparel article is being 
                imported into the United States in such increased 
                quantities and under such conditions as to cause 
                serious damage, or actual threat thereof, to a domestic 
                industry producing an article that is like, or directly 
                competitive with, the imported article; and to provide 
                relief from imports of an article that is the subject 
                of such a determination.
                    (6)(a) The amendments to the HTS made by paragraph 
                (2) of this proclamation shall be effective with 
                respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse 
                for consumption, on or after the relevant dates 
                indicated in Annex II to Publication 3652.
                    (b) Except as provided in paragraph (6)(a) of this 
                proclamation, this proclamation shall be effective with 
                respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse 
                for consumption, on or after January 1, 2004.
                    (7) All 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.

[[Page 75791]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                thirtieth day of December, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand three, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and twenty-eighth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)B

[FR Doc. 03-32319
Filed 12-30-03; 11:33 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P