[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 5 (Monday, February 3, 1997)]
[Pages 97-99]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6969--To Modify Application of Duty-Free Treatment of 
Certain Articles Under the Generalized System of Preferences, and for 
Other Purposes

January 27, 1997

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    1. Pursuant to section 503(c)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, as 
amended by Public Law 104-88; 110 Stat. 1755, 1922 (``the 1974 Act''), 
the President may withdraw, suspend, or limit the application of the 
duty-free treatment accorded under section 501 of the 1974 Act (19 
U.S.C. 2461) with respect to any article. With due regard for the 
factors set forth in sections 501 and 502(c) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 
2461 and 2462(c)), I have determined that it is appropriate to modify 
the application of duty-free treatment under title V of the 1974 Act for 
certain articles, including certain goods previously eligible for such 
treatment that the Customs Service has reclassified.
    2. Presidential Proclamation 6961 of November 28, 1996, provided 
import relief with respect to certain broom corn brooms. For certain 
subheadings of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) 
established to carry out this relief, provisions were omitted that would 
have continued staged reductions of special rates of duty for the goods 
concerned, previously proclaimed pursuant to section 201(a) of the North 
American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 3331(a)). 
Further, other HTS provisions established by that proclamation contain 
conflicting dates that complicate their administration. To rectify these 
omissions and to permit proper administration of the import relief, I 
have decided that it is necessary and appropriate to continue previously 
proclaimed duty treatment for the affected goods and to make technical 
corrections in certain HTS provisions.
    3. Section 213 of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, as 
amended (CBERA) (19 U.S.C. 2703), and section 204 of the Andean Trade 
Preference Act (ATPA) (19 U.S.C. 3203) authorize the President to 
provide duty-free entry for all eligible articles, and duty reductions 
for certain other articles, that are the product of any country that has 
been designated as a beneficiary country under those Acts. To clarify 
the preferential tariff treatment provided to particular dutiable goods 
that are the product of beneficiary countries under the CBERA or the 
ATPA and that are eligible to enter under HTS heading 9802.00.80, which 
provides for certain goods assembled abroad using components of U.S. 
origin, I have decided it is appropriate to provide special rates of 
duty for purposes of the CBERA and of the ATPA in heading 9802.00.80 to 
apply to such goods.
    4. Presidential Proclamation 6948 of October 29, 1996, modified 
tariff provisions concerning special import quotas for upland cotton. 
That proclamation also modified certain provisions of the HTS and of 
prior Presidential proclamations to correct technical errors and to 
clarify the intent of previously proclaimed modifications. In 
proclaiming the modifications to the provisions on upland cotton, a 
conforming change to U.S. note 6 to subchapter III of chapter 99 of the 
HTS was omitted. Further, the instructions in section A(5)(c) of Annex 
II to such proclamation concerning modifications to subchapter IV of 
chapter 99 to the HTS contained an error. To rectify the omission and to 
correct the error in instructions, I have decided it is necessary and 
appropriate to modify U.S. note 6 to subchapter III of chapter 99 of the 
HTS and to amend the instructions in section A(5)(c) of Annex II to 
Proclamation 6948.
    5. Presidential Proclamation 6763 of December 23, 1994, implemented 
with respect to the United States the trade agreements

[[Page 98]]

resulting from the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, 
including Schedule XX--United States of America, annexed to the 
Marrakesh Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994. A 
conforming change in a subheading in subchapter V of chapter 99 of the 
HTS was omitted from Proclamation 6763. Further, particular HTS 
additional U.S. notes implementing tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) for 
specified agricultural products do not clearly reflect the intended 
quota periods and the quantities permitted entry during such quota 
periods and have caused administrative difficulties. In order to make 
the necessary conforming change and to correct the legal notes 
controlling such TRQs, I have decided it is necessary and appropriate to 
modify a subheading in subchapter V of chapter 99 and the legal notes 
pertaining to such TRQs.
    6. Presidential Proclamation 6857 of December 11, 1995, implemented 
with respect to the United States certain modifications to the HTS, in 
conformity with the obligations of the United States under the 
International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and 
Coding System. The Annex to that proclamation omitted provisions that 
would have continued previously proclaimed staged reductions of certain 
rates of duty for the goods concerned, pursuant to section 111(a) of the 
Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) (19 U.S.C. 3521(a)). To rectify 
these omissions, I have decided that it is necessary and appropriate to 
provide for the continuation of previously proclaimed duty treatment for 
the affected goods.
    7. (a) Section 115 of the URAA (19 U.S.C. 3524) requires the 
President to (1) obtain advice regarding certain proposed actions; (2) 
submit a report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate; and (3) 
consult with those Committees on the proposed action during a subsequent 
60-day period to meet the consultation and layover requirements of that 
section.
    (b) Section 604 of the 1974 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, including the removal, modification, 
continuance, or imposition of any rate of duty or other import 
restriction.
    8. I have decided that it is appropriate to authorize the United 
States Trade Representative (USTR) to perform the functions specified in 
section 115 of the URAA and certain functions under section 604 of the 
1974 Act.
    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 503 of the 1974 Act, section 213 of the CBERA, 
section 204 of the ATPA, section 604 of the 1974 Act, and section 301 of 
title 3, United States Code, do proclaim that:
    (1) In order to reflect in the HTS various technical and conforming 
changes, to correct provisions of Proclamations 6948 and 6961, and to 
modify the special duty rates subcolumn for heading 9802.00.80, the HTS 
and Proclamations 6948 and 6961 are each modified as set forth in 
Annexes I and II to this proclamation.
    (2) In order to modify the application of duty-free treatment under 
title V of the 1974 Act for certain articles, the HTS is modified as set 
forth in Annex III to this proclamation.
    (3) The modifications to the HTS made by Annexes I, II, and III to 
this proclamation shall be effective with respect to goods entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after the dates set 
forth in such Annexes and during the time periods specified therein.
    (4) The USTR is authorized to perform the functions vested in the 
President under section 115 of the URAA. In addition, the USTR is 
authorized to exercise the authority provided to the President under 
section 604 of the 1974 Act to embody rectifications, technical or 
conforming changes, or similar modifications in the HTS.
    (5) 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.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-seventh 
day of January, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-
seven, and of the Independence

[[Page 99]]

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., January 28, 
1997]

Note: This proclamation and the attached annexes were published in the 
Federal Register on January 29.]'