[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 21 (Monday, May 29, 2000)]
[Pages 1235-1236]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7314--To Modify the Quantitative Limitations Applicable to 
Imports of Wheat Gluten

May 26, 2000

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    1. On May 30, 1998, pursuant to section 203 of the Trade Act of 
1974, as amended (the ``Trade Act'') (19 U.S.C. 2253), I issued 
Proclamation 7103, which imposed quantitative limitations on certain 
wheat gluten imports provided for in subheadings 1109.00.10 and 
1109.00.90 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) 
for a period of 3 years plus 1 day, with annual increases in such quota 
limits of 6 percent during the second and the third year. I exempted 
imports of wheat gluten that is the product of certain countries, 
including designated beneficiary countries under the Generalized System 
of Preferences (``GSP countries''), from the application of the 
quantitative limitations.
    2. On December 1, 1999, the United States International Trade 
Commission (USITC) issued a report, as required under 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 wheat gluten 
industry. The USITC report notes that in the 12-month period prior to 
the imposition of the quota (June 1, 1997-May 31, 1998), 440,000 pounds 
of wheat gluten entered the United States from Poland. During the first 
quota year (June 1, 1998-May 31, 1999), imports from Poland grew to 
5,004,000 pounds, or more than eleven times the amount of the previous 
year, accounting for 2.9 percent of total U.S. imports. The USITC report 
has been provided to me (Investigation Number TA-204-2). More recent 
data from the United States Customs Service indicate that in the first 
10 months of the second quota year (June 1999-March 2000), imports from 
Poland totaled 8,965,800 pounds, accounting for 6.9 percent of total 
U.S. imports.
    3. Section 204(b)(1)(A) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2254(b)(1)(A)) 
authorizes the President, after taking into account the report of the 
USITC required under section 204(a)(2) of the Trade Act and seeking 
advice from the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Labor, to 
reduce, modify, or terminate an action taken under section 203 of the 
Trade Act when the President determines that changed economic 
circumstances so warrant.
    4. After taking into account the information provided in the USITC's 
report, and after receiving advice from the Secretary of Commerce and 
the Secretary of Labor, I have determined, on the basis that increased 
imports of wheat gluten the product of Poland have impaired the 
effectiveness of the action I proclaimed in 1998 under section 203 of 
the Trade Act, that changed economic circumstances warrant a 
modification in the action. Accordingly, I have decided to include in 
the action imports of wheat gluten the product of Poland, beginning June 
1, 2000.
    5. Pursuant to section 203(g) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2253(g)), 
I have further determined to provide for the efficient and fair 
administration of the quantitative limitation on imports of wheat gluten 
by allocating on a quarterly basis the quantitative limitations 
applicable during the third year of the action.
    6. Pursuant to section 503(b)(2) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 
2463(b)(2)), no article

[[Page 1236]]

shall be eligible for duty-free treatment provided under section 501 of 
the Trade Act if that article is subject to an action proclaimed under 
section 203.
    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, 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 of America, including but 
not limited to sections 204, 503, and 604 of the Trade Act, do proclaim 
that:
    (1) In order to modify the scope of the quantitative limitations 
applicable to imports of wheat gluten under HTS heading 1109, and to 
allocate the 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) Such imported wheat gluten that is the product of Poland shall 
be included within the scope of the quantitative limitations during the 
third quota year, as provided in the Annex.
    (3) 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.
    (4) Effective at the close of June 1, 2002, or such other date that 
is 1 year from the close of the action taken under section 203 of the 
Trade Act as modified by this proclamation, HTS subheadings 9903.11.08 
through 9903.11.11 and the superior text thereto shall be deleted from 
the HTS.
    (5) Pursuant to section 503(b)(2) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 
2463(b)(2)), duty-free treatment for certain wheat gluten that is the 
product of beneficiary countries under the Generalized System of 
Preferences (GSP) (Title V of the Trade Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2461-
2467)), is suspended.
    (6) The modifications to the HTS made by this proclamation and the 
Annex thereto shall be effective with respect to goods entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. EDT 
June 1, 2000, and shall continue in effect through the close of June 1, 
2001, unless such actions are earlier expressly modified or terminated.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-sixth 
day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
fourth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 p.m., May 30, 2000]

Note: This proclamation and the attached annexes will be published in 
the Federal Register on May 31.