[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 204 (Monday, October 21, 1996)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 54719-54725]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-27126]
[[Page 54717]]
_______________________________________________________________________
Part IV
The President
_______________________________________________________________________
Proclamation 6942--To Amend the Generalized System of Preferences
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 204 / Monday, October 21, 1996 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 54719]]
Proclamation 6942 of October 17, 1996
To Amend the Generalized System of Preferences
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
1. Sections 501(1) and (4) of the Trade Act of 1974, as
amended (``Trade Act'') (19 U.S.C. 2461(1) and (4)),
provide that, in affording duty-free treatment under
the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), the
President shall have due regard for, among other
factors, the effect such action will have on furthering
the economic development of a beneficiary developing
country and the extent of the beneficiary developing
country's competitiveness with respect to eligible
articles. Section 502(c)(2) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C.
2462(c)(2)) provides that, in determining whether to
designate any country as a beneficiary developing
country for purposes of the GSP, the President shall
take into account various factors, including the
country's level of economic development, the country's
per capita gross national product, the living standards
of its inhabitants, and any other economic factors he
deems appropriate. Section 502(d) of the Trade Act (19
U.S.C. 2462(d)) authorizes the President to withdraw,
suspend, or limit the application of duty-free
treatment under the GSP with respect to any country
after considering the factors set forth in sections 501
and 502(c) of the Trade Act. Section 502(f)(2) of the
Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(f)(2)) requires the President
to notify the Congress and the affected country, at
least 60 days before termination, of the President's
intention to terminate the affected country's
designation as a beneficiary developing country for
purposes of the GSP.
2. Section 502(e) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(e))
provides that the President shall terminate the
designation of a country as a beneficiary developing
country if the President determines that such country
has become a ``high income'' country as defined by the
official statistics of the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development. Termination is
effective on January 1 of the second year following the
year in which such determination is made.
3. Section 502(c)(7) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C.
2462(c)(7)) provides that, in determining whether to
designate any country a beneficiary developing country
under this section, the President shall take into
account whether the country has taken or is taking
steps to afford internationally recognized worker
rights to workers in the country.
4. Section 502(a)(1) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C.
2462(a)(1)) authorizes the President to designate
countries as beneficiary developing countries for
purposes of the GSP. Section 503(c)(2)(F) of the Trade
Act (19 U.S.C. 2463(c)(2)(F)) authorizes the President
to disregard the limitations provided in section
503(c)(2)(A)(i)(II) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C.
2463(c)(2)(A)(i)(II)) with respect to any eligible
article if the aggregate appraised value of the imports
of such article into the United States during the
preceding calendar year is de minimis.
5. Section 502(a)(2) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C.
2462(a)(2)) authorizes the President to designate any
beneficiary developing country as a least-developed
beneficiary developing country for purposes of the GSP
based on the considerations in sections 501 and 502(c)
of the Trade Act.
[[Page 54720]]
6. Pursuant to section 502(d) of the Trade Act, and
having considered the factors set forth in sections 501
and 502(c)(2), I have determined that Malaysia is
sufficiently advanced in economic development and
improved in trade competitiveness that continued
preferential treatment under the GSP is not warranted,
and that it is appropriate to terminate the designation
of Malaysia as a beneficiary developing country for
purposes of the GSP effective January 1, 1997. In order
to take into account the termination of benefits under
the GSP for articles imported from Malaysia, I have
determined that it is appropriate to: (i) terminate the
designation of Malaysia for GSP purposes as a member of
the Association of South East Asian Nations (``ASEAN'')
and to modify general note 4(a) of the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States (``HTS'') to
reflect such termination, (ii) delete from general note
4(d) of the HTS and from pertinent HTS subheadings all
references to particular products of Malaysia which are
currently excluded from preferential tariff treatment
under the GSP, and (iii) to terminate any waivers of
the competitive need limits granted to Malaysia
pursuant to section 503(d) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C.
2463(d)).
7. Pursuant to section 502(e) of the Trade Act, I have
determined that Cyprus, Aruba, Macau, the Netherlands
Antilles, Greenland, and the Cayman Islands meet the
definition of a ``high income'' country as defined by
the official statistics of the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development. As a result and
pursuant to section 502(e) of the Trade Act, I am
terminating the preferential treatment under the GSP
for articles that are currently eligible for such
treatment and that are imported from Cyprus, Aruba,
Macau, the Netherlands Antilles, Greenland, and the
Cayman Islands effective January 1, 1998.
8. Pursuant to section 502(d) of the Trade Act, and
having considered the factors set forth in sections 501
and 502(c)(7), I have determined that it is appropriate
to suspend some of Pakistan's GSP benefits because of
insufficient progress on affording workers in that
country internationally recognized worker rights. In
order to reflect the suspension of benefits under the
GSP for certain articles imported from Pakistan, I have
determined that it is appropriate to modify general
note 4(d) of the HTS and pertinent HTS subheadings so
that Pakistan will no longer receive preferential
tariff treatment under the GSP with respect to certain
eligible articles effective July 1, 1996.
9. Pursuant to section 502(a)(1) of the Trade Act, I am
acting to correct the name of Guinea-Bissau and the
Republic of Yemen in the HTS, beneficiary developing
countries previously proclaimed. In addition, I have
determined that it is appropriate to disregard section
503(c)(2)(A)(i)(II) of the Trade Act with respect to
certain eligible articles from certain beneficiary
developing countries based on imports for calendar year
1994 and to restore preferential treatment under the
GSP to imports of such articles from such countries.
10. Pursuant to sections 502(a)(2) and 502(d) of the
Trade Act, and having considered the factors set forth
in sections 501 and 502(c), I have determined that
Botswana and Western Samoa should be deleted from the
list of least-developed beneficiary developing
countries and Angola, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Zaire, and
Zambia should be added.
11. Section 604 of the Trade Act, as amended (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.
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, including but not limited to section 301
of Title 3, United States Code, and Title V and section
604 of the Trade Act, do proclaim that:
[[Page 54721]]
(1) In order to terminate the designation of
Malaysia as a beneficiary developing country under the
GSP and to modify the list of beneficiary developing
countries designated as least-developed beneficiary
developing countries for purposes of the GSP, the HTS
is modified as provided in Annex I to this
proclamation.
(2) In order to terminate the designation of
Cyprus, Aruba, Macau, the Netherlands Antilles,
Greenland, and the Cayman Islands as beneficiary
developing countries under the GSP, the HTS is modified
as provided in Annex II to this proclamation.
(3) In order to reflect the suspension of benefits
under the GSP for certain articles imported from
Pakistan, the HTS is modified as provided in Annex III
to this proclamation.
(4) In order to correct the name of Guinea-Bissau
and Republic of Yemen and to restore preferential
treatment to certain eligible articles from certain
beneficiary developing countries as a result of
granting of de minimis waivers to such articles, the
HTS is modified as provided in Annex IV to this
proclamation.
(5) I delegate to the United States Trade
Representative the powers granted to me in section
502(f)(2) of the Trade Act to notify a country of my
intention to terminate that country's status as a
beneficiary developing country for the purposes of the
GSP.
(6) Any provisions of previous proclamations and
Executive orders inconsistent with the provisions of
this proclamation are hereby superseded to the extent
of such inconsistency.
(7) The modifications to the HTS made in paragraphs
(1) through (4) of this proclamation shall be effective
with respect to articles both: (i) imported on or after
January 1, 1976, and (ii) entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse for consumption, on or after the date
specified in the respective Annex.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
seventeenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-six, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and twenty-first.
(Presidential Sig.)
Billing code 3195-01-P
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[FR Doc. 96-27126
Filed 10-18-96; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3190-01-C
