[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 19 (Monday, January 30, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5655-5656]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-2292]
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COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS
Request for Public Comments on Bilateral Textile Consultations
with Indonesia on Certain Wool Textile Products
January 13, 1995.
AGENCY: Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA).
ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing
a limit.
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EFFECTIVE DATE:January 26, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Tallarico, International
Trade Specialist, Office of Textiles and Apparel, U.S. Department of
Commerce, (202) 482-4212. For information on the quota status of this
limit, refer to the Quota Status Reports posted on the bulletin boards
of each Customs port or call (202) 927-6704. For information on
embargoes and quota re-openings, call (202) 482-3715. For information
on categories on which consultations have been requested, call (202)
482-3740.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Authority: Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended;
section 204 of the Agricultural Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C.
1854).
On December 29, 1994, under the terms of the Bilateral Cotton,
Wool, Man-Made Fiber, and Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Textile
Agreement of May 8, 1992, as amended and extended, between the
Governments of the United States and Indonesia, the United States
Government requested consultations with the Government of Indonesia
with respect to wool textile products in Category 435.
The purpose of this notice is to advise the public that, pending
agreement on a mutually satisfactory solution concerning Category 435,
the Government of the United States will, pursuant to the bilateral
agreement, control imports during the ninety-day period which began on
December 29, 1994 and extends through March 28, 1995.
A summary market statement concerning Category 435 follows this
notice.
If no solution is agreed upon in consultations between the two
governments, CITA may later establish a specific limit for the entry
and withdrawal from warehouse for consumption of textile products in
Category 435, produced or manufactured in Indonesia.
Anyone wishing to comment or provide data or information regarding
the treatment of Category 435, under the agreement with Indonesia, or
to comment on domestic production or availability of products included
in Category 435, is invited to submit 10 copies of such comments or
information to Rita D. Hayes, Chairman, Committee for the
Implementation of Textile Agreements, U.S. Department of Commerce,
Washington, DC 20230; ATTN: Helen L. LeGrande. The comments received
will be considered in the context of the consultations with the
Government of Indonesia.
Because the exact timing of the consultations is not yet certain,
comments should be submitted promptly. Comments or information
submitted in response to this notice will be available for public
inspection in the Office of Textiles and Apparel, room H3100, U.S.
Department of Commerce, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,
DC.
Further comments may be invited regarding particular comments or
information received from the public which the Committee for the
Implementation of Textile Agreements considers appropriate for further
consideration.
The solicitation of comments regarding any aspect of the agreement
or the implementation thereof is not a waiver in any respect of the
exemption contained in 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1) relating to matters which
constitute ``a foreign affairs function of the United States.''
The United States remains committed to finding a solution
concerning Category 435. Should such a solution be reached in
consultations with the Government of Indonesia, further notice will be
published in the Federal Register.
A description of the textile and apparel categories in terms of HTS
numbers is available in the CORRELATION: Textile and Apparel Categories
with the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (see Federal
Register notice 59 FR 65531, published on December 20, 1994).
Rita D. Hayes,
Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.
Market Statement--Indonesia
Category 435--Women's and Girls' Wool Coats
December 1994
Import Situation and Conclusion
U.S. imports of women's and girls' wool coats, Category 435, from
Indonesia reached 35,642 dozen for the year ending September 1994,
nearly four times the 9,374 dozen imported a year earlier. During the
first nine months of 1994, imports from Indonesia were 35,042 dozen,
over five times the 6,933 dozen imported during January-September 1993
and more than four and a half times the 7,533 dozen imported during
calendar year 1993. Indonesia became the eighth largest supplier of
women's and girls' wool coats, Category 435, to the U.S. market,
accounting for 3.5 percent of total Category 435 imports during
January-September 1994. Indonesia was ranked twenty-eighth among the
major suppliers in calendar year 1993, accounting for 0.7 percent of
total Category 435 imports.
The sharp and substantial increase in Category 435 imports from
Indonesia is causing a real risk of disruption in the U.S. market for
women's and girls' wool coats.
U.S. Production, Import Penetration and Market Share
U.S. production of women's and girls' wool coats, Category 435,
declined from 981,000 dozen in 1992 to 922,000 dozen in 1993, a decline
of 6 percent. U.S. production continued to decline in 1994, falling to
911,000 dozen produced in the year ending in June 1994, 1 percent below
the 924,000 dozen produced in the same period a year earlier. In
contrast, U.S. imports of Category 435 increased from 834,000 dozen in
1992 to 1,110,000 dozen in 1993, an increase of 33 percent. Category
435 imports continued to increase in 1994 reaching a record level
1,187,552 dozen during the year ending September 1994, 8 percent above
the year ending September 1993 level.
The ratio of imports to domestic production increased from 85
percent in 1992 to 120 percent in 1993, and reached 126 percent during
the year [[Page 5656]] ending June 1994. The domestic manufacturers'
share of the market for women's and girls' wool coats, Category 435,
declined from 54 percent in 1992 to 45 percent in 1993, a decline of 9
percentage points, and fell to 44 percent during the year ending June
1994.
Duty-Paid Value and U.S. Producers' Price
Approximately 83 percent of Category 435 imports from Indonesia
during the year ending September 1994 entered under HTSUSA
6202.11.0010--Women's wool overcoats, carcoats, capes and similar
items; and HTSUSA 6204.31.2010--Women's wool suit-type coats, other
than silk blend jackets of 30% or more silk. These coats entered the
U.S. at landed duty-paid values substantially below U.S. producers'
prices for comparable wool coats.
Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements
January 13, 1995.
Commissioner of Customs,
Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC 20229.
Dear Commissioner: Under the terms of section 204 of the
Agricultural Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1854), and the
Arrangement Regarding International Trade in Textiles done at Geneva
on December 20, 1973, as further extended on December 9, 1993;
pursuant to the Bilateral Cotton, Wool, Man-Made Fiber, and Silk
Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Textile Agreement of May 8, 1992, as
amended and extended, between the Governments of the United States
and Indonesia; and in accordance with the provisions of Executive
Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended, you are directed to
prohibit, effective on January 26, 1995, entry into the United
States for consumption and withdrawal from warehouse for consumption
of wool textile products in Category 435, produced or manufactured
in Indonesia and exported during the period beginning on December
29, 1994 and extending through March 28, 1995, in excess of 12,475
dozen.\1\
\1\The limit has not been adjusted to account for any imports
exported after December 28, 1994.
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Textile products in Category 435 which have been exported to the
United States on and after July 1, 1994 shall remain subject to the
levels for Group II and the Group II subgroup established in the
directive dated November 3, 1994 for the period July 1, 1994 through
December 31, 1994. Also, Category 435 shall remain subject to
monitoring in Group II and the Group II subgroup for the January 1,
1995 through December 31, 1995 period (see directive dated December
13, 1994).
Textile products in Category 435 which have been exported to the
United States prior to December 29, 1994 shall not be subject to the
limit established in this directive.
In carrying out the above directions, the Commissioner of
Customs should construe entry into the United States for consumption
to include entry for consumption into the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico.
The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements has
determined that this action falls within the foreign affairs
exception of the rulemaking provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1).
Sincerely,
Rita D. Hayes,
Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.
[FR Doc. 95-2292 Filed 1-26-95; 11:19 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F
