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[House Document 107-9]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                     

107th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 107-9

 
               TO MODIFY DUTY-FREE TREATMENT UNDER THE 
 GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES FOR SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN COUNTRIES 
                        AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

                               __________

                             COMMUNICATION

                                  from

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              transmitting

  A PROCLAMATION TO IMPLEMENT THE NON-TEXTILE/APPAREL BENEFITS OF THE 
   AFRICAN GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITY ACT (TITLE I OF PUBLIC LAW 106-200)

   January 3, 2001.--Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and 
                         ordered to be printed
                                           The White House,
                                     Washington, December 18, 2000.
Hon. J. Dennis Hastert,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Speaker: I hereby transmit a Proclamation to 
implement the non-textile/apparel benefits of the African 
Growth and Opportunity Act (Title I of Public Law 106-200) 
(AGOA) by expanding the list of products eligible for duty-free 
treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) 
program when imported from beneficiary sub-Saharan African 
countries.
            Sincerely,
                                                William J. Clinton.
     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 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 
superseded 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.

                                                William J. Clinton.

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