[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 42 (Monday, October 21, 1996)]
[Pages 2100-2102]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6942--To Amend the Generalized System of Preferences

October 17, 1996

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    1. Sections 501(1) and (4) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended 
(``Trade Act'') (19 U.S.C. 2461(1) and (4)), provide that, in affording 
duty-free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), 
the President shall have due regard for, among other factors, the effect 
such action will have on furthering the economic development of a 
beneficiary developing country and the extent of the beneficiary 
developing country's competitiveness with respect to eligible articles. 
Section 502(c)(2) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(c)(2)) provides that, 
in determining whether to designate any country as a beneficiary 
developing country for purposes of the GSP, the President shall take 
into account various factors, including the country's level of economic 
development, the country's per capita gross national product, the living 
standards of its inhabitants, and any other economic factors he deems 
appropriate. Section 502(d) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(d)) 
authorizes the President to withdraw, suspend, or limit the application 
of duty-free treatment under the GSP with respect to any country after 
considering the factors set forth in sections 501 and 502(c) of the 
Trade Act. Section 502(f)(2) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(f)(2)) 
requires the President to notify the Congress and the affected country, 
at least 60 days before termination, of the President's intention to 
terminate the affected country's designation as a beneficiary developing 
country for purposes of the GSP.
    2. Section 502(e) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(e)) provides that 
the President shall terminate the designation of a country as a 
beneficiary developing country if the President determines that such 
country has become a ``high income'' country as defined by the official 
statistics of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. 
Termination is effective on January 1 of the

[[Page 2101]]

second year following the year in which such determination is made.
    3. Section 502(c)(7) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(c)(7)) 
provides that, in determining whether to designate any country a 
beneficiary developing country under this section, the President shall 
take into account whether the country has taken or is taking steps to 
afford internationally recognized worker rights to workers in the 
country.
    4. Section 502(a)(1) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(a)(1)) 
authorizes the President to designate countries as beneficiary 
developing countries for purposes of the GSP. Section 503(c)(2)(F) of 
the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2463(c)(2)(F)) authorizes the President to 
disregard the limitations provided in section 503(c)(2)(A)(i)(II) of the 
Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2463(c)(2)(A)(i)(II)) with respect to any eligible 
article if the aggregate appraised value of the imports of such article 
into the United States during the preceding calendar year is de minimis.
    5. Section 502(a)(2) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(a)(2)) 
authorizes the President to designate any beneficiary developing country 
as a least-developed beneficiary developing country for purposes of the 
GSP based on the considerations in sections 501 and 502(c) of the Trade 
Act.
    6. Pursuant to section 502(d) of the Trade Act, and having 
considered the factors set forth in sections 501 and 502(c)(2), I have 
determined that Malaysia is sufficiently advanced in economic 
development and improved in trade competitiveness that continued 
preferential treatment under the GSP is not warranted, and that it is 
appropriate to terminate the designation of Malaysia as a beneficiary 
developing country for purposes of the GSP effective January 1, 1997. In 
order to take into account the termination of benefits under the GSP for 
articles imported from Malaysia, I have determined that it is 
appropriate to: (i) terminate the designation of Malaysia for GSP 
purposes as a member of the Association of South East Asian Nations 
(``ASEAN'') and to modify general note 4(a) of the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States (``HTS'') to reflect such termination, 
(ii) delete from general note 4(d) of the HTS and from pertinent HTS 
subheadings all references to particular products of Malaysia which are 
currently excluded from preferential tariff treatment under the GSP, and 
(iii) to terminate any waivers of the competitive need limits granted to 
Malaysia pursuant to section 503(d) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 
2463(d)).
    7. Pursuant to section 502(e) of the Trade Act, I have determined 
that Cyprus, Aruba, Macau, the Netherlands Antilles, Greenland, and the 
Cayman Islands meet the definition of a ``high income'' country as 
defined by the official statistics of the International Bank for 
Reconstruction and Development. As a result and pursuant to section 
502(e) of the Trade Act, I am terminating the preferential treatment 
under the GSP for articles that are currently eligible for such 
treatment and that are imported from Cyprus, Aruba, Macau, the 
Netherlands Antilles, Greenland, and the Cayman Islands effective 
January 1, 1998.
    8. Pursuant to section 502(d) of the Trade Act, and having 
considered the factors set forth in sections 501 and 502(c)(7), I have 
determined that it is appropriate to suspend some of Pakistan's GSP 
benefits because of insufficient progress on affording workers in that 
country internationally recognized worker rights. In order to reflect 
the suspension of benefits under the GSP for certain articles imported 
from Pakistan, I have determined that it is appropriate to modify 
general note 4(d) of the HTS and pertinent HTS subheadings so that 
Pakistan will no longer receive preferential tariff treatment under the 
GSP with respect to certain eligible articles effective July 1, 1996.
    9. Pursuant to section 502(a)(1) of the Trade Act, I am acting to 
correct the name of Guinea-Bissau and the Republic of Yemen in the HTS, 
beneficiary developing countries previously proclaimed. In addition, I 
have determined that it is appropriate to disregard section 
503(c)(2)(A)(i)(II) of the Trade Act with respect to certain eligible 
articles from certain beneficiary developing countries based on imports 
for calendar year 1994 and to restore preferential treatment under the 
GSP to imports of such articles from such countries.
    10. Pursuant to sections 502(a)(2) and 502(d) of the Trade Act, and 
having considered the factors set forth in sections 501 and 502(c), I 
have determined that Botswana and

[[Page 2102]]

Western Samoa should be deleted from the list of least-developed 
beneficiary developing countries and Angola, Ethiopia, Madagascar, 
Zaire, and Zambia should be added.
    11. Section 604 of the Trade 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.
    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 301 of Title 3, United States Code, and Title V and 
section 604 of the Trade Act, do proclaim that:
    (1) In order to terminate the designation of Malaysia as a 
beneficiary developing country under the GSP and to modify the list of 
beneficiary developing countries designated as least-developed 
beneficiary developing countries for purposes of the GSP, the HTS is 
modified as provided in Annex I to this proclamation.
    (2) In order to terminate the designation of Cyprus, Aruba, Macau, 
the Netherlands Antilles, Greenland, and the Cayman Islands as 
beneficiary developing countries under the GSP, the HTS is modified as 
provided in Annex II to this proclamation.
    (3) In order to reflect the suspension of benefits under the GSP for 
certain articles imported from Pakistan, the HTS is modified as provided 
in Annex III to this proclamation.
    (4) In order to correct the name of Guinea-Bissau and Republic of 
Yemen and to restore preferential treatment to certain eligible articles 
from certain beneficiary developing countries as a result of granting of 
de minimis waivers to such articles, the HTS is modified as provided in 
Annex IV to this proclamation.
    (5) I delegate to the United States Trade Representative the powers 
granted to me in section 502(f)(2) of the Trade Act to notify a country 
of my intention to terminate that country's status as a beneficiary 
developing country for the purposes of the GSP.
    (6) Any provisions of previous proclamations and Executive orders 
inconsistent with the provisions of this proclamation are hereby 
superseded to the extent of such inconsistency.
    (7) The modifications to the HTS made in paragraphs (1) through (4) 
of this proclamation shall be effective with respect to articles both: 
(i) imported on or after January 1, 1976, and (ii) entered, or withdrawn 
from warehouse for consumption, on or after the date specified in the 
respective Annex.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day 
of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-six, and 
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twenty-first.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., October 18, 
1996]

Note: This proclamation and its annexes were published in the Federal 
Register on October 21.