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TO MODIFY DUTY-FREE TREATMENT UNDER THE
GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES FOR
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN COUNTRIES
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
Section 506A(b)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the
"1974 Act") (19 U.S.C. 2466a(b)(1)), as added by section 111(a) of the
African Growth and Opportunity Act (Title I of Public Law 106-200)
(AGOA), authorizes the President to provide duty-free treatment under
the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) to any article described in
section 503(b)(1)(B) through (G) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2463(b)(1)
(B)-(G)) that is the growth, product, or manufacture of a designated
beneficiary sub-Saharan African country, if, after taking into account
the advice of the United States International Trade Commission (USITC),
the President determines that such article is not import-sensitive in
the context of imports from beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries.
Proclamation 7350 of October 2, 2000, designated certain
countries listed in section 107 of the AGOA as beneficiary sub-Saharan
African countries.
Pursuant to section 506A(b)(1) of the 1974 Act, and having
taken into account the advice of the USITC, I have determined that
certain articles are not import-sensitive in the context of imports from
beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries. I have determined to
designate those articles as eligible for duty-free treatment under the
GSP. I have decided to designate these articles by inserting the
symbol "D" in the Rates of Duty 1-Special subcolumn of the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) for subheadings covering
such articles.
Section 213(b)(3)(A) of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery
Act (CBERA) (19 U.S.C. 2703(b)(3)(A)), as amended by section 211(a) of
the United States-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (Title II of
Public Law 106-200) (CBTPA), provides that the tariff treatment
accorded at any time during the transition period defined in section
213(b)(5)(D) of the CBERA (19 U.S.C. 2703(b)(5)(D)), as amended
by section 211(a) of the CBTPA, to certain articles that are originating
goods of designated CBTPA beneficiary countries shall be identical to
the tariff treatment that is accorded at such time under Annex 302.2 of
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to an article described
in the same 8-digit subheading of the HTS that is a good of Mexico and
is imported into the United States. Such articles are described in
section 213(b)(1)(B) through (F) of the CBERA (19 U.S.C. 2703(b)(1)(B)-
(F)), as amended by section 211(a) of the CBTPA.
Proclamation 7351 of October 2, 2000, designated certain
countries as CBTPA beneficiary countries and reflected in the HTS the
tariff treatment provided under the CBTPA, which became effective on
that date with respect to those CBTPA beneficiary countries enumerated
in a Federal Register notice issued by the United States Trade
Representative. The Annex to Proclamation 7351 designated certain HTS
subheadings covering articles described in section 213(b)(1)(B) through
(F) of the CBERA as eligible for the tariff treatment authorized by
section 213(b)(3)(A) of the CBERA. Certain HTS provisions covering
watches and watch parts and footwear were inadvertently omitted. I
have determined that these provisions should be designated as covering
articles eligible for the tariff treatment authorized by section
213(b)(3)(A) of the CBERA.
Proclamation 7351 incorporated into the HTS the provisions of
the CBTPA concerning the tariff treatment of certain textile and
apparel articles imported into the United States from designated CBTPA
beneficiary countries, pursuant to section 213(b)(2) of the CBERA
(19 U.S.C. 2703(b)(2)), as amended by section 211(a) of the CBTPA.
I have determined that a technical error in one of the legal notes to
chapter 98 of the HTS created by the Annex to that proclamation should
be corrected.
Section 604 of the 1974 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
title V and section 604 of the 1974 Act, section 111 of the AGOA,
section 211 of the CBTPA, and section 213 of the CBERA, do proclaim
that:
(1) In order to provide duty-free treatment under the GSP to
certain articles when imported from designated beneficiary sub-Saharan
African countries, the HTS is modified as provided in Annex I to this
proclamation.
(2) In order to accord, at any time during the transition period, to
certain watches and watch parts described in section 213(b)(1)(E) of
the CBERA, when such watches and watch parts are CBTPA originating
goods, the identical tariff treatment that is accorded at such time
under Annex 302.2 of the NAFTA to an article described in the same
8-digit subheading of the HTS that is a good of Mexico and is imported
into the United States, chapter 91 of the HTS is modified as provided
in Annex II to this proclamation.
(3) In order to make a technical correction in U.S. note 2(c) to
subchapter XX of chapter 98 of the HTS, such note is modified as
provided in Annex II to this proclamation.
(4) Any provisions of previous proclamations and Executive
orders that are inconsistent with this proclamation are super-seded to
the extent of such inconsistency.
(5)(a) The modifications made by Annex I to this proclamation
shall be effective with respect to articles entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse for consumption, on or after the date of publication of this
proclamation in the Federal Register.
(b) The modifications made by Annex II to this proclamation
shall be effective with respect to articles entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse for consumption, on or after October 2, 2000.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
eighteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred
and twenty-fifth.