[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 50 (Monday, December 13, 2004)]
[Pages 2912-2913]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections 
Act of 2004

December 3, 2004

    Today, I have signed into law H.R. 1047, the ``Miscellaneous Trade 
and Technical Corrections Act of 2004.'' The Act modifies temporarily 
certain rates of duty under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States and makes other amendments to U.S. trade laws.
    The executive branch shall construe section 1560(b) of the Act, 
relating to interaction between the Bureau of Customs and Border 
Protection of the Department of Homeland Security and the Government of 
Canada, in a manner consistent with the President's constitutional 
authority to conduct the Nation's foreign affairs and to supervise the 
unitary executive branch.
    As is consistent with the Appointments Clause of the Constitution, 
the executive branch shall construe section 401(I) of the Tariff Act of 
1930, as amended by subsection 1561(a) of the Act, not to authorize the 
exercise of significant U.S. Governmental authority by foreign law 
enforcement officers.
    Section 629(e) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as enacted by section 
1561(b) of the Act, provides that any foreign customs or agriculture 
inspection official stationed in the United States under section 629(e) 
may exercise such functions, perform such duties, and enjoy such 
privileges and immunities as U.S. officials may be authorized to perform 
or are afforded in that foreign country by treaty, agreement, or law. 
The executive branch shall construe section 629(e) to authorize the 
executive branch to allow the specified foreign government officials to 
perform functions of such foreign government inside the United States on 
the same basis as the specified U.S. Government officials may perform 
their U.S. Government functions in that foreign country and, as is 
consistent with the Appointments Clause of the Constitution,

[[Page 2913]]

shall not construe the provision to authorize the exercise of 
significant U.S. Governmental authority by foreign officials.
    The executive branch shall construe the repeal, in section 1561(c) 
of the Act, of section 127 of the Treasury and General Government 
Appropriations Act, 2003, as contained in the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2003 (Public Law 108-7), as repealing the amendments 
that were made to title 19 of the United States Code by section 127. 
Such a construction of section 1561(c) is consistent with the text and 
structure of amendments to title 19 made by section 1561.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 December 3, 2004.

Note: H.R. 1047, approved December 3, was assigned Public Law No. 108-
429. This statement was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
December 6. An original was not available for verification of the 
content of this statement.