[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 41 (Thursday, March 2, 2006)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 10827-10830]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-2084]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 41 / Thursday, March 2, 2006 / 
Presidential Documents  

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[[Page 10827]]


                Proclamation 7987 of February 28, 2006

                
To Implement the Dominican Republic-Central 
                America-United States Free Trade Agreement

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                1. On August 5, 2004, the United States entered into 
                the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States 
                Free Trade Agreement (the ``Agreement'') with Costa 
                Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, 
                Honduras, and Nicaragua (the ``Agreement countries''). 
                The Agreement was approved by the Congress in section 
                101(a) of the Dominican Republic-Central America-United 
                States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (the 
                ``Act'')(Public Law 109-53, 119 Stat. 462)(19 U.S.C. 
                4001 note).

                2. Section 105(a) of the 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 Twenty of the Agreement.

                3. Section 201 of the Act 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, 3.5, 3.6, 3.21, 3.26, 3.27, and 
                3.28, and Annexes 3.3 (including the schedule of United 
                States duty reductions with respect to originating 
                goods), 3.27, and 3.28 of the Agreement.

                4. Consistent with section 201(a)(2) of the Act, each 
                Agreement country is to be removed from the enumeration 
                of designated beneficiary developing countries eligible 
                for the benefits of the Generalized System of 
                Preferences (GSP) on the date the Agreement enters into 
                force with respect to that country.

                5. Consistent with section 201(a)(3) of the Act, each 
                Agreement country is to be removed from the enumeration 
                of designated beneficiary countries under the Caribbean 
                Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA)(19 U.S.C. 2701 et 
                seq.) on the date the Agreement enters into force with 
                respect to that country, subject to the exceptions set 
                out in section 201(a)(3)(B) of the Act.

                6. Consistent with section 213(b)(5)(D) of the CBERA, 
                as amended by the United States-Caribbean Basin Trade 
                Partnership Act (CBTPA)(Public Law 106-200), each 
                Agreement country is to be removed from the enumeration 
                of designated CBTPA beneficiary countries on the date 
                the Agreement enters into force with respect to that 
                country.

                7. Section 203 of the Act provides certain rules for 
                determining whether a good is an originating good for 
                the purpose of implementing preferential tariff 
                treatment under the Agreement. 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).

                8. Section 203(o) of the Act authorizes the President 
                to determine that a fabric, yarn, or fiber is not 
                available in commercial quantities in a timely manner 
                in the United States and those Agreement countries for 
                which the

[[Page 10828]]

                Agreement has entered into force, and to add any such 
                fabric, yarn, or fiber to the list in Annex 3.25 of the 
                Agreement in a restricted or unrestricted quantity; to 
                eliminate a restriction on the quantity of a fabric, 
                yarn, or fiber within 6 months after adding the fabric, 
                yarn, or fiber to the list in Annex 3.25 of the 
                Agreement in a restricted quantity; and to restrict the 
                quantity of, or remove from the list in Annex 3.25 of 
                the Agreement, certain fabrics, yarns, or fibers.

                9. Section 209 of the Act authorizes the President to 
                take certain enforcement actions relating to trade with 
                the Agreement countries in textile or apparel goods.

                10. Sections 321-328 of the Act authorize the President 
                to take certain actions in response to a request by an 
                interested party for relief from serious damage or 
                actual threat thereof to a domestic industry producing 
                certain textile or apparel articles.

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

                12. Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974 (the ``1974 
                Act'') (19 U.S.C. 2483), 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.

                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, including but not limited to sections 
                105(a), 201, 203, 209, and 321-328 of the Act, section 
                301 of title 3, United States Code, and section 604 of 
                the 1974 Act, do proclaim that:

                    (1) In order to provide generally for the 
                preferential tariff treatment being accorded under the 
                Agreement to El Salvador, 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 Agreement, to 
                provide certain other treatment to originating goods 
                for the purposes of the Agreement, to provide tariff-
                rate quotas with respect to certain goods, to reflect 
                the removal of El Salvador from the enumeration of 
                designated beneficiary developing countries for 
                purposes of the GSP, to reflect the removal of El 
                Salvador from the enumeration of designated beneficiary 
                countries for purposes of the CBERA and the CBTPA, 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 No. 3829 of the United States 
                International Trade Commission, entitled 
                ``Modifications to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
                the United States to Implement the Dominican Republic-
                Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement With 
                Respect to El Salvador'' (``Publication 3829''), which 
                is incorporated by reference into this proclamation.
                    (2) In order to implement the initial stage of duty 
                elimination provided for in the Agreement, to provide 
                tariff-rate quotas with respect to certain goods, and 
                to provide for future staged reductions in duties for 
                originating goods for purposes of the Agreement, the 
                HTS is modified as provided in Annex II of Publication 
                3829, 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 my authority under section 105(a) of the 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 my authority 
                under section 203(o) of the Act to determine that a 
                fabric, yarn, or fiber is not available in commercial 
                quantities in a timely manner in the United States and 
                those Agreement countries for which the Agreement has 
                entered into force, and to add any such fabric, yarn, 
                or fiber to the list in Annex 3.25 of the

[[Page 10829]]

                Agreement in a restricted or unrestricted quantity; to 
                eliminate a restriction on the quantity of a fabric, 
                yarn, or fiber within 6 months after adding the fabric, 
                yarn, or fiber to the list in Annex 3.25 of the 
                Agreement in a restricted quantity; to restrict the 
                quantity of, or remove from the list in Annex 3.25 of 
                the Agreement, certain fabrics, yarns, or fibers; and 
                to establish procedures governing the submission of a 
                request for any such determination and to ensure 
                appropriate public participation in any such 
                determination.
                    (5) The CITA is authorized to exercise my authority 
                under section 209 of the Act to suspend or deny 
                preferential tariff treatment to textile or apparel 
                goods; to detain textile or apparel goods; and to deny 
                entry to textile or apparel goods.
                    (6) The CITA is authorized to exercise my authority 
                under sections 321-328 of the 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; and to 
                determine whether imports of a textile or apparel 
                article of an Agreement country are causing serious 
                damage, or actual threat thereof, to a domestic 
                industry producing an article that is like, or directly 
                competitive with, the imported article.
                    (7) The CITA, after consultation with the 
                Commissioner of Customs (the ``Commissioner''), is 
                authorized to consult with representatives of an 
                Agreement country for the purpose of identifying 
                particular textile or apparel goods of that country 
                that are mutually agreed to be handloomed, handmade, or 
                folklore articles as provided in Article 3.21 of the 
                Agreement. The Commissioner shall take actions as 
                directed by the CITA to carry out any such 
                determination.
                    (8) The United States Trade Representative is 
                authorized to exercise my authority under section 104 
                of the Act to obtain advice from the appropriate 
                advisory committees and the United States International 
                Trade Commission on the proposed implementation of an 
                action by presidential proclamation; to submit a report 
                on such proposed action to the appropriate 
                congressional committees; and to consult with those 
                congressional committees regarding the proposed action.
                    (9) The United States Trade Representative is 
                authorized to modify U.S. note 20 to subchapter XXII of 
                chapter 98 of the HTS in a notice published in the 
                Federal Register to reflect modifications pursuant to 
                paragraph (4) of this proclamation by the CITA to the 
                list of fabrics, yarns, or fibers in Annex 3.25 of the 
                Agreement.
                    (10)(a) The amendments to the HTS made by 
                paragraphs (1) and (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 
                3829.
                    (b) Except as provided in paragraph (10)(a) of this 
                proclamation, this proclamation shall be effective with 
                respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse 
                for consumption, on or after March 1, 2006.
                    (11) 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.

[[Page 10830]]

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

                    (Presidential Sig.)B

[FR Doc. 06-2084
Filed 3-1-06; 12:05 pm]
Billing code 3195-01-P