Presidential Documents

43635 

Federal Register 

Vol. 71, No. 147 

Tuesday, August 1, 2006 

Title 3— 

The President 

Proclamation 8039 of July 27, 2006 

To Implement the United States-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement, and for Other Purposes 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

1. On September 14, 2004, the United States entered into the United StatesBahrain Free Trade Agreement (USBFTA). The USBFTA was approved by 

the Congress in section 101(a) of the United States-Bahrain Free Trade 

Agreement Implementation Act (the ‘‘USBFTA Implementation Act’’) (Public 

Law 109–169, 119 Stat. 3581) (19 U.S.C. 3805 note). 

2. Section 105(a) of the USBFTA Implementation Act authorizes the President 

to establish or designate within the Department of Commerce an office 

that shall be responsible for providing administrative assistance to panels 

established under Chapter 19 of the USBFTA. 

3. Section 201 of the USBFTA Implementation Act authorizes the President 

to proclaim such modifications or continuation of any duty, such continuation of duty-free or excise treatment, or such additional duties, as the 

President determines to be necessary or appropriate to carry out or apply 

Articles 2.3, 2.5, 2.6, 3.2.8, and 3.2.9, and the schedule of reductions with 

respect to Bahrain set forth in Annex 2–B of the USBFTA. 

4. Consistent with section 201(a)(2) of the USBFTA Implementation Act, 

Bahrain is to be removed from the enumeration of designated beneficiary 

developing countries eligible for the benefits of the Generalized System 

of Preferences (GSP). Further, consistent with section 604 of the Trade 

Act of 1974 (the ‘‘1974 Act’’) (19 U.S.C. 2483), as amended, I have determined 

that other technical and conforming changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) are necessary to reflect that Bahrain is 

no longer eligible to receive benefits of the GSP. 

5. Section 202 of the USBFTA Implementation Act provides certain rules 

for determining whether a good is an originating good for the purpose 

of implementing preferential tariff treatment under the USBFTA. I have 

decided that it is necessary to include these rules of origin, together with 

particular rules applicable to certain other goods, in the HTS. 

6. Section 204 of the USBFTA Implementation Act authorizes the President 

to take certain enforcement actions relating to trade with Bahrain in textile 

and apparel goods. 

7. Sections 321–328 of the USBFTA Implementation Act authorize the President to take certain actions in response to a request by an interested party 

for relief from serious damage or actual threat thereof to a domestic industry 

producing certain textile or apparel articles. 

8. Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended, establishes the 

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) to supervise 

the implementation of textile trade agreements. 

9. Presidential Proclamation 7747 of December 30, 2003, implemented the 

United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (the ‘‘USSFTA’’) with respect 

to the United States and, pursuant to the United States-Singapore Free 

Trade Agreement Implementation Act (the ‘‘USSFTA Implementation Act’’) 

(Public Law 108–78, 117 Stat. 948) (19 U.S.C. 3805 note), incorporated 


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in the HTS the tariff modifications and rules of origin necessary or appropriate to carry out the USSFTA. 

10. Section 202 of the USSFTA Implementation Act provides rules for determining whether goods imported into the United States originate in the 

territory of a USSFTA party and thus are eligible for the tariff and other 

treatment contemplated under the USSFTA. Section 202(o) of the USSFTA 

Implementation Act authorizes the President to proclaim, as a part of the 

HTS, the rules of origin set out in the USSFTA and to proclaim modifications 

to such previously proclaimed rules of origin, subject to the consultation 

and layover requirements of section 103(a) of the USSFTA Implementation 

Act. 

11. The United States and Singapore have agreed to modifications to certain 

USSFTA rules of origin. Modifications to the USSFTA rules of origin set 

out in Proclamation 7747 are therefore necessary. 

12. Section 604 of the 1974 Act, as amended, authorizes the President 

to embody in the HTS the substance of relevant provisions of that Act, 

or other Acts affecting import treatment, and of actions taken thereunder, 

including the removal, modification, continuance, or imposition of any rate 

of duty or other import restriction. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, 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 section 604 of the 1974 Act; sections 105(a), 201, 202, 204, and 321–

328 of the USBFTA Implementation Act; section 202 of the USSFTA Implementation Act; and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, do hereby 

proclaim: 

(1) In order to provide generally for the preferential tariff treatment being 

accorded under the USBFTA, to set forth rules for determining whether 

goods imported into the customs territory of the United States are eligible 

for preferential tariff treatment under the USBFTA, to provide certain other 

treatment to originating goods for the purposes of the USBFTA, to provide 

tariff-rate quotas with respect to certain originating goods, to reflect Bahrain’s 

removal from the enumeration of designated beneficiary developing countries 

for purposes of the GSP, and to make technical and conforming changes 

in the general notes to the HTS, the HTS is modified as set forth in Annex 

I of Publication 3830 of the United States International Trade Commission, 

entitled, Modifications to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 

States to Implement the United States-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement (Publication 3830), which is incorporated by reference into this proclamation. 

(2) In order to implement the initial stage of duty elimination provided 

for in the USBFTA and to provide for future staged reductions in duties 

for products of Bahrain for purposes of the USBFTA, the HTS is modified 

as provided in Annex II of Publication 3830, effective on the dates specified 

in the relevant sections of such publication and on any subsequent dates 

set forth for such duty reductions in that publication. 

(3) The Secretary of Commerce is authorized to exercise my authority under 

section 105(a) of the USBFTA Implementation Act to establish or designate 

an office within the Department of Commerce to carry out the functions 

set forth in that section. 

(4) The amendments to the HTS made by paragraphs (1) and (2) of this 

proclamation shall be effective with respect to goods entered, or withdrawn 

from warehouse for consumption, on or after the relevant dates indicated 

in Annex II to Publication 3830. 

(5) The CITA is authorized to exercise my authority under section 204 

of the USBFTA Implementation Act to exclude textile and apparel goods 

from the customs territory of the United States; to determine whether an 

enterprise’s production of, and capability to produce, goods are consistent 

with statements by the enterprise; to find that an enterprise has knowingly 


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or willfully engaged in circumvention; and to deny preferential tariff treatment to textile and apparel goods. 

(6) The CITA is authorized to exercise my authority under subtitle B of 

title III of the USBFTA Implementation Act to review requests, and to 

determine whether to commence consideration of such requests; to cause 

to be published in the Federal Register a notice of commencement of consideration of a request and notice seeking public comment; to determine whether 

imports of a Bahraini textile or apparel article are causing serious damage, 

or actual threat thereof, to a domestic industry producing an article that 

is like, or directly competitive with, the imported article; and to provide 

relief from imports of an article that is the subject of such a determination. 

(7) In order to modify the rules of origin under the USSFTA, general note 

25 to the HTS is modified as provided in Annex I to this proclamation. 

(8) The modifications made by Annex I to this proclamation shall be effective 

with respect to goods of Singapore that are entered, or withdrawn from 

warehouse for consumption, on or after August 1, 2006. 

(9) In order to make technical corrections to the HTS, the HTS is modified 

as provided in Annex II to this proclamation. 

(10) The modifications made by Annex II to this proclamation shall be 

effective with respect to articles entered, or withdrawn for consumption, 

on or after the dates provided in that Annex. 

(11) All 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 July, in the year of our Lord two thousand six, and of the Independence 

of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty- first. 

W 

Billing code 3195–01–P 


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[FR Doc. 06–6651 

Filed 7–31–06; 8:49 am] 

Billing code 3190–01–C 


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