[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 228 (Monday, November 27, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70757-70758]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-30138]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Implementation of the Third Round of Accelerated Tariff 
Eliminations Under Provisions of the North American Free Trade 
Agreement

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notification of articles proposed for accelerated tariff 
elimination under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Section 201(b) of the North American Free Trade Agreement 
Implementation Act (``the Act'') (19 U.S.C. 3331(b)) grants the 
President, subject to the consultation and layover requirements of 
section 103(a) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 3313(a)), the authority to 
proclaim any accelerated schedule for duty elimination that may be 
agreed to by the United States, Mexico and Canada under Article 302(3) 
of the North American Free Trade Agreement (``the NAFTA''). This notice 
is intended to inform the public of the list of products with respect 
to which the United States has provisionally agreed to accelerate the 
elimination of duties as a result of the third round of consultations 
with Mexico and Canada.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kent Shigetomi, Director, Mexico and 
NAFTA Affairs, Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Office of the 
United States Trade Representative, Room 523, 600 17th Street, NW, 
Washington, DC, 20508; telephone: (202) 395-3412; fax: (202) 395-9517. 
The list of products with respect to which the United States has 
provisionally agreed to accelerate tariff elimination, as well as the 
lists for Mexico can be obtained from the USTR Internet Web Page, at 
www.ustr.gov under [World Regions/Western Hemisphere/North American 
Free Trade Agreement/NAFTA Reports and Publications].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Article 302(3) of the NAFTA provides that 
the Parties may consider and agree to accelerate the elimination of 
customs duties set out in their schedules. Pursuant to this provision, 
on May 27, 1999, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (``USTR'') 
published a Federal Register notice (64 FR 28857) soliciting petitions 
from interested persons regarding products for which accelerated tariff 
elimination would be appropriate. For trade between the United States 
and Canada, all duties subject to tariff reductions were eliminated on 
January 1, 1998. Therefore, this acceleration round has resulted in two 
parallel agreements, one between the United States and Mexico and 
another between Mexico and Canada.
    Section 201(b) of the Act authorizes the President to proclaim such 
modifications in NAFTA duty treatment as the President determines to be 
necessary or appropriate to maintain the general level of reciprocal 
and mutually advantageous concessions provided in the NAFTA, subject to 
the consultation and layover requirements of section 103(a) of the Act. 
Pursuant to section 103(a), a report has been submitted to the House 
Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees that sets forth the 
proposed action to be proclaimed, the reasons therefore, and the advice 
obtained from the U.S. International Trade Commission (``USITC'') and 
appropriate advisory committees. After expiration of the 60-day 
consultation and layover period, the President may proclaim the 
proposed changes in NAFTA duty treatment. In developing the list of 
products proposed for tariff acceleration, USTR considered the advice 
of the USITC and consulted with the appropriate private sector trade 
advisory groups. As was the practice under the prior NAFTA and United 
States-Canada Free Trade Agreement tariff acceleration processes, the 
United States did not agree to provide accelerated tariff elimination 
for any products with respect to which the domestic industry opposed 
tariff elimination. The United States has agreed to accelerated tariff 
elimination, effective January 1, 2001, on the products listed in the 
Annex to this notice. These products currently are dutiable when 
entered from Mexico under the NAFTA. Each of these products was 
considered during the second round of tariff acceleration discussions, 
but no agreement was reached at that time. However, the Governments 
agreed to continue appropriate domestic procedures with the goal of 
reaching agreement at a later date (63 FR 32036). Such agreements have 
now been reached on the products listed.

Peter Allgeier,
Associate U.S. Trade Representative for the Western Hemisphere.

  List of HTS Subheadings for Which the United States Has Provisionally
Agreed To Accelerate Elimination of Duties for NAFTA Qualifying Goods of
                                 Mexico
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
     2905.17.00         6402.99.18         6403.51.90        6403.99.40
     2921.30.10         6403.19.10         6403.59.30        6403.99.60
     6402.19.05         6403.19.30         6403.59.60        6403.99.75
     6402.30.30         6403.19.50         6403.59.90        6403.99.90
     6402.91.40         6403.40.30         6403.91.30        6405.10.00
     6402.99.05         6403.40.60         6403.91.60        6405.20.30
     6402.99.10         6403.51.30         6403.91.90        6405.20.90
                        6403.51.60         6403.99.20        6405.90.90
------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 70758]]

[FR Doc. 00-30138 Filed 11-24-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3901-01-P