THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release December 19, 2000
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
1. 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.
2. Proclamation 7350 of October 2, 2000, designated certain
countries listed in section 107 of the AGOA as beneficiary sub-Saharan
African countries.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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 transi-tion 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 procla-mation 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.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
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