Presidential Documents

14265 

Federal Register 

Vol. 77, No. 47 

Friday, March 9, 2012 

Title 3— 

The President 

Proclamation 8783 of March 6, 2012 

To Implement the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

1. On June 30, 2007, the United States entered into the United StatesKorea Free Trade Agreement (the ‘‘Agreement’’). The Congress approved 

the Agreement in section 101(a) of the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (the ‘‘Implementation Act’’) (Public Law 112– 

41, 125 Stat. 428). 

2. Section 105(a) of the 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 22 of the Agreement. 

3. Section 201 of the Implementation Act authorizes the President to proclaim 

such modifications or continuation of any duty, such continuation of dutyfree 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, and 

2.6, and Annex 2-B, Annex 4-B, and Annex 22-A of the Agreement. 

4. Section 201(d) of the Implementation Act authorizes the President to 

proclaim the tariff treatment therein for certain motor vehicles of Korea. 

5. Section 202 of the Implementation Act sets forth certain rules for determining whether a good is an originating good for the purpose of implementing 

preferential tariff treatment provided for under the Agreement. I have decided 

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

rules applicable to certain other goods, in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule 

of the United States (HTS). 

6. Section 202(o) of the Implementation Act authorizes the President, upon 

receiving a request from an interested entity, to determine that a fabric, 

yarn, or fiber is or is not available in commercial quantities in a timely 

manner in the United States; to establish procedures governing the submission of a request for any such determination and ensuring appropriate public 

participation in any such determination; to add to the list of the United 

States as set forth in Appendix 4-B-1 of the Agreement any fabric, yarn, 

or fiber determined to be not available in commercial quantities in a timely 

manner in the United States; or to remove from the list in Appendix 4- 

B-1 of the Agreement any fabric, yarn, or fiber that the President has previously added to that list. 

7. Section 207 of the Implementation Act authorizes the President to take 

certain enforcement actions relating to trade with Korea in textile and apparel 

goods. 

8. Subtitle C of title III of the Implementation Act authorizes 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. 

9. Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended, established the 

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA), consisting 

of representatives of the Departments of State, the Treasury, Commerce, 

and Labor, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative, with 


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the representative of the Department of Commerce as Chairman, to supervise 

the implementation of textile trade agreements. Consistent with section 301 

of title 3, United States Code, when carrying out functions vested in the 

President by statute and assigned by the President to CITA, the officials 

collectively exercising those functions are all to be officers required to 

be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. 

10. Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the ‘‘1974 Act’’), 

19 U.S.C. 2483, 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, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States 

of America, by virtue of 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, 207, and subtitle 

C of title III of the Implementation Act; and section 301 of title 3, United 

States Code, and having made the determination under section 101(b) of 

the Implementation Act necessary for the exchange of notes, do hereby 

proclaim: 

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

accorded under the Agreement, 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 Agreement, to provide certain 

other treatment to originating goods of Korea for the purposes of the Agreement, the HTS is modified as set forth in Annex I of Publication 4308 

of the United States International Trade Commission, entitled ‘‘Modifications 

to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to Implement the 

United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement,’’ which is incorporated by reference into this proclamation. 

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

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

for originating goods of Korea for purposes of the Agreement, the HTS 

is modified as provided in Annex II of Publication 4308, 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 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 the Annexes of Publication 4308. 

(4) The Secretary of Commerce is authorized to exercise the authority 

of the President under section 105(a) of the Implementation Act to establish 

or designate an office within the Department of Commerce to carry out 

the functions set forth in that section. 

(5) The CITA is authorized to exercise the authority of the President 

under section 202(o) of the Implementation Act to determine that a fabric, 

yarn, or fiber is or is not available in commercial quantities in a timely 

manner in the United States; to establish procedures governing the request 

for any such determination and ensuring appropriate public participation 

in any such determination; to add any fabric, yarn, or fiber determined 

to be not available in commercial quantities in a timely manner in the 

United States to the list in Appendix 4-B-1 of the Agreement; or to remove 

from the list in Appendix 4-B-1 of the Agreement any fabric, yarn, or 

fiber that the President has previously added to that list. 

(6) The CITA is authorized to exercise the authority of the President 

under section 207 of the Implementation Act to direct the exclusion of 

certain textile and apparel goods from the customs territory of the United 

States and to direct the denial of preferential tariff treatment to textile 

and apparel goods. 


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(7) The CITA is authorized to exercise the functions of the President 

under subtitle C of title III of the Implementation Act to review requests, 

and to determine whether to commence consideration of such requests; 

after an appropriate determination, 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 Korean 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 an affirmative determination as to damage or threat. 

(8) The United States Trade Representative (USTR) is authorized to fulfill 

the obligations of the President under section 104 of the Implementation 

Act to obtain advice from the appropriate advisory committees and the 

United States International Trade Commission on the proposed implementation of an action by Presidential proclamation; to submit a report on such 

proposed action to the appropriate congressional committees; and to consult 

with those congressional committees regarding the proposed action. 

(9) The USTR is authorized to modify U.S. note 4 to subchapter XX 

of chapter 99 of the HTS in a notice published in the Federal Register 

to reflect modifications pursuant to paragraph (6) of this proclamation by 

the CITA to the list of fabrics, yarns, or fibers in Annex 4-B-1 of the 

Agreement. 

(10) 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 sixth day of 

March, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the Independence 

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

[FR Doc. 2012–5912 

Filed 3–8–12; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3295–F2–P 


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