    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 134, 116th Congress, 2nd Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    Proclamation 9979 of January 23, 2020
    To Further Facilitate Positive Adjustment to Competition From Imports of
    Large Residential Washers
    By the President of the United States of America
    A Proclamation
    1. On January 23, 2018, pursuant to section 203 of the Trade Act of
    1974, as amended (the ``Trade Act'';) (19 U.S.C. 2253), I issued
    Proclamation 9694, which imposed a safeguard measure for a period of 3
    years plus 1 day comprising both a tariff-rate quota (TRQ) on imports of
    large residential washers (washers) provided for in subheadings
    8450.11.00 and 8450.20.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
    United States (HTS) and a TRQ on covered washer parts provided for in
    subheadings 8450.90.20 and 8450.90.60 of the HTS. I exempted covered
    imports from Canada and certain designated beneficiary countries under
    the Generalized System of Preferences from the application of the
    measure.
    2. On August 7, 2019, the United States International Trade Commission
    (USITC) issued its report pursuant to section 204(a)(2) of the Trade Act
    (19 U.S.C. 2254(a)(2)), on the results of its monitoring of developments
    with respect to the domestic washers industry (USITC, Large Residential
    Washers: Monitoring Developments in the Domestic Industry, No. TA-204-
    013). In its report, the USITC found that imports peaked in November and
    December of 2017, just before the safeguard measure was imposed, and
    again in February and March of 2019, at the opening of the second TRQ
    period. More recent data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection
    indicate that the number of imported units exceeded the 1.2-million-unit
    annual limit qualifying for the in-quota rate well before the end of the
    year in the first year of the measure and in less than 3 months in the
    second year of the measure.
    3. Section 204(b)(1)(B) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2254(b)(1)(B))
    authorizes the President, upon petition of the majority of the
    representatives of the domestic industry, to reduce, modify, or
    terminate an action taken under section 203 of the Trade Act when the
    President de

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    termines that the domestic industry has made a positive adjustment to
    import competition.
    4. After taking into account the information provided in the USITC's
    report, and after receiving a petition from the representative of the
    majority of the domestic industry, I have determined that the domestic
    industry has begun to make positive adjustment to import competition but
    that, despite that adjustment, increased imports of washers at peak
    times of the year have impaired the effectiveness of the action I
    proclaimed in 2018 under section 203 of the Trade Act, and modification
    of the action is warranted.
    5. Section 204(b)(2) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2254(b)(2)) also
    authorizes the President to take such additional action under section
    203 of the Trade Act as may be necessary to eliminate any circumvention
    of any action previously taken under such section. Pursuant to section
    203(a)(3)(B) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2253(a)(3)(B)), the President
    may proclaim a TRQ on the imported article.
    6. I have further determined that additional action is necessary to
    eliminate circumvention of the TRQ by ensuring that within-quota
    quantities of imports of washers are spread throughout the year, thus
    eliminating the possibility that importers' concentration of imports of
    washers in a limited period would distort the quantity of washers in the
    U.S. market and undermine the positive effect of the TRQ on the domestic
    industry's adjustment to import competition. Accordingly, I have decided
    to allocate, on a quarterly basis, within-quota quantities of 1.2
    million washers during the third year of the action, beginning February
    7, 2020.
    7. Section 604 of the Trade Act (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.
    NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, 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
    203, 204, and 604 of the Trade Act, do proclaim that:
    (1) In order to modify the quantitative limitations applicable to
    imports of washers under HTS subheadings 8450.11.00 and 8450.20.00, by
    allocating the within-quota quantities for the third quota year on a
    quarterly basis, subchapter III of chapter 99 of the HTS is modified as
    set forth in the Annex to this proclamation.
    (2) Any provision of previous proclamations and Executive Orders
    that is inconsistent with the actions taken in this proclamation is
    superseded to the extent of such inconsistency.
    (3) The modifications to the HTS made by this proclamation,
    including the Annex hereto, shall be effective with respect to goods
    entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on
    or after 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on February 7, 2020, and shall
    continue in effect as provided in the Annex to this proclamation, unless
    such actions are earlier expressly reduced, modified, or terminated. One
    year from the termination of the safeguard measure established in this
    proclamation, the U.S. note and tariff provisions estab

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    lished in the Annex to this proclamation shall be deleted from the HTS.
    IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-third day of
    January, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty, and of the
    Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-
    fourth.
    DONALD J. TRUMP

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