Federal Register: July 2, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 126)
DOCID: fr02jy09-120 FR Doc E9-15907
Presidential Documents
Veterans Affairs Department
NOTICE: Part IV
DOCID: fr02jy09-120
DOCUMENT SUMMARY:
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
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Proclamation 8394 of June 29, 2009
To Modify Duty-Free Treatment Under the
Generalized System of Preferences, and for Other Purposes
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
1. Pursuant to sections 501 and 503(a)(1)(A) of the
Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the ``1974 Act'') (19
U.S.C. 2461 and 2463(a)(1)(A)), the President may
designate articles as eligible for preferential tariff
treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).
2. Pursuant to section 503(c)(2)(A) of the 1974 Act
(19 U.S.C. 2463(c)(2)(A)), beneficiary developing
countries, except those designated as least-developed
beneficiary developing countries or beneficiary sub-
Saharan African countries as provided in section
503(c)(2)(D) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2463(c)(2)(D)),
are subject to competitive need limitations on the
preferential treatment afforded under the GSP to eligible articles.
3. Section 503(c)(2)(F)(i) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C.
2463(c)(2)(F)(i)) provides that the President may
disregard the competitive need limitation provided in
section 503(c)(2)(A)(i)(II) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C.
2463(c)(2)(A)(i)(II)) with respect to any eligible
article from any beneficiary developing country if the
aggregate appraised value of the imports of such
article into the United States during the preceding
calendar year does not exceed an amount set forth in
section 503(c)(2)(F)(ii) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2463(c)(2)(F)(ii)).
4. Pursuant to section 503(d)(1) of the 1974 Act (19
U.S.C. 2463(d)(1)), the President may waive the
application of the competitive need limitations in
section 503(c)(2)(A) of the 1974 Act with respect to
any eligible article from any beneficiary developing country if certain conditions are met.
5. Pursuant to section 503(d)(5) of the 1974 Act (19
U.S.C. 2463(d)(5)), any waiver granted under section
503(d) shall remain in effect until the President
determines that such waiver is no longer warranted due to changed circumstances.
6. Pursuant to section 503(c)(2)(E) of the 1974 Act
(19 U.S.C. 2463(c)(2)(E)), section 503(c)(2)(A)(i)(II)
shall not apply with respect to any eligible article if
a like or directly competitive article was not produced in the United States on January 1, 1995.
7. Pursuant to sections 501 and 503(a)(1)(A) of the
1974 Act, and after receiving advice from the United States International Trade Commission (the
``Commission'') in accordance with section 503(e), I
have determined to designate certain articles as
eligible articles when imported from any beneficiary developing country.
8. Pursuant to section 503(c)(2)(A) of the 1974 Act, I
have determined that in 2008 certain beneficiary
developing countries exported eligible articles in
quantities exceeding the applicable competitive need
limitations, and I therefore terminate the duty-free
treatment for such articles from such beneficiary developing countries.
9. Pursuant to section 503(c)(2)(F) of the 1974 Act, I
have determined that the competitive need limitation
provided in section 503(c)(2)(A)(i)(II) of the 1974 Act
should be disregarded with respect to certain eligible
articles from certain beneficiary developing countries.
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10. Pursuant to section 503(d)(1) of the 1974 Act, I
have received the advice of the Commission on whether
any industry in the United States is likely to be
adversely affected by a waiver of the competitive need
limitations provided in section 503(c)(2)(A), and I
have determined, based on that advice and on the
considerations described in sections 501 and 502(c) (19
U.S.C. 2462(c)) of the 1974 Act, and after giving great
weight to the considerations in section 503(d)(2) of
the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2463(d)(2)), that such waivers
are in the national economic interest of the United
States. Accordingly, I have determined that the
competitive need limitations of section 503(c)(2)(A) of
the 1974 Act should be waived with respect to certain
eligible articles from certain beneficiary developing countries.
11. Pursuant to section 503(d)(5) of the 1974 Act, I
have determined that certain previously granted waivers
of the competitive need limitations of section
503(c)(2)(A) of the 1974 Act are no longer warranted due to changed circumstances.
12. Pursuant to section 503(c)(2)(E) of the 1974 Act,
I have determined that the limitation provided for in
section 503(c)(2)(A)(i)(II) shall not apply with
respect to subheading 7202.50.00 of the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) because no
like or directly competitive article was produced in the United States on January 1, 1995.
13. Section 2004(d)(8)(A) of the Miscellaneous Trade
and Technical Corrections Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-
429, 118 Stat. 2434) amended subheading 9804.00.70 of
the HTS to provide the tariff treatment for certain
articles imported by or on the account of returning
United States residents. I have determined that it is
appropriate to make conforming changes to note 4 to
subchapter IV of chapter 98 of the HTS to reflect that amendment.
14. On June 6, 2003, the United States and Chile
entered into the United States-Chile Free Trade
Agreement (USCFTA), which the Congress approved in
section 101(a) of the United States-Chile Free Trade
Agreement Implementation Act (the ``USCFTA Act'') (19
U.S.C. 3805 note). Proclamation 8334 of December 31,
2008, exercised authority under the USCFTA Act by
modifying the HTS to provide for an accelerated
schedule of duty elimination for specific originating
goods of Chile. Proclamation 8334 inadvertently omitted
modifications to the HTS necessary to implement the
accelerated schedule. I have determined that technical
corrections to the HTS are necessary to provide for the intended tariff treatment.
15. Presidential Proclamation 8332 of December 29,
2008, implemented the tariff treatment called for under
certain provisions of the United States-Oman Free Trade
Agreement (USOFTA). I have determined that a technical
correction to the HTS is necessary to provide for the intended tariff treatment.
16. 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, BARACK OBAMA, 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
title V and section 604 of the 1974 Act, do proclaim that:
(1) In order to provide that one or more countries
should no longer be treated as beneficiary developing
countries with respect to one or more eligible articles
for purposes of the GSP, general note 4(d) to the HTS
is modified as set forth in section A of Annex I to this proclamation.
(2) In order to provide that one or more countries
should no longer be treated as beneficiary developing
countries with respect to certain eligible articles for
purposes of the GSP, the Rates of Duty 1-Special
subcolumn for the corresponding HTS subheadings is
modified as set forth in section B of Annex I to this proclamation.
[[Page 31823]]
(3) In order to designate certain articles as eligible
articles for purposes of the GSP, the Rates of Duty 1-
Special subcolumn for the corresponding HTS subheadings
is modified as set forth in section C of Annex I to this proclamation.
(4) The competitive need limitation provided in
section 503(c)(2)(A)(i)(II) of the 1974 Act is
disregarded with respect to the eligible articles in
the HTS subheadings and to the beneficiary developing
countries listed in Annex II to this proclamation.
(5) A waiver of the application of section
503(c)(2)(A) of the 1974 Act shall apply to the
eligible articles in the HTS subheadings and to the
beneficiary developing countries set forth in Annex III to this proclamation.
(6) The waiver of the application of section
503(c)(2)(A) of the 1974 Act to the articles in the HTS
subheading and to the beneficiary developing country
listed in Annex IV to this proclamation is revoked.
(7) In order to make technical corrections necessary
to provide the intended tariff treatment under the
Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of
2004, the USCFTA, and the USOFTA, the HTS is modified
as set forth in Annex V to this proclamation.
(8) The modifications to the HTS set forth in Annexes
I, IV, and V to this proclamation shall be effective
with respect to articles entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse for consumption, on or after the dates set forth in the respective annex.
(9) Any 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-ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord two
thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.
(Presidential Sig.)
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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD02JY09.015
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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD02JY09.016
[FR Doc. E9-15907 Filed 7-1-09; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-C