United States Statutes at Large, Volume 120, 109th Congress, 2nd Session

[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 120, 109th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

120 STAT. 3770
 
PROCLAMATION 7987--FEB. 28, 2006



Proclamation 7987 of February 28, 2006
To Implement the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free
Trade Agreement
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
1. On August 5, 2004, the United States entered into the Dominican
Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (the
``Agreement'') with Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua (the ``Agreement countries''). The
Agreement was approved by the Congress in section 101(a) of the
Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement
Implementation Act (the ``Act'')(Public Law 109-53, 119 Stat. 462)(19
U.S.C. 4001 note).
2. Section 105(a) of the 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 Twenty of the Agreement.
3. Section 201 of the Act authorizes the President to proclaim such
modifications or continuation of any duty, such continuation of duty-
free or excise treatment, or such additional duties, as the President
determines to be necessary or appropriate to carry out or apply Articles
3.3, 3.5, 3.6, 3.21, 3.26, 3.27, and 3.28, and Annexes 3.3 (including
the schedule of United States duty reductions with respect to
originating goods), 3.27, and 3.28 of the Agreement.
4. Consistent with section 201(a)(2) of the Act, each Agreement country
is to be removed from the enumeration of designated beneficiary
developing countries eligible for the benefits of the Generalized System
of Preferences (GSP) on the date the Agreement enters into force with
respect to that country.
5. Consistent with section 201(a)(3) of the Act, each Agreement country
is to be removed from the enumeration of designated beneficiary
countries under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA)(19
U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) on the date the Agreement enters into force with
respect to that country, subject to the exceptions set out in section
201(a)(3)(B) of the Act.
6. Consistent with section 213(b)(5)(D) of the CBERA, as amended by the
United States-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA)(Public Law
106-200), each Agreement country is to be removed from the enumeration
of designated CBTPA beneficiary countries on the date the Agreement
enters into force with respect to that country.
7. Section 203 of the Act provides certain rules for determining whether
a good is an originating good for the purpose of implementing
preferential tariff treatment 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).
8. Section 203(o) of the Act authorizes the President to determine that
a fabric, yarn, or fiber is not available in commercial quantities in a

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120 STAT. 3771

timely manner in the United States and those Agreement countries for
which the Agreement has entered into force, and to add any such fabric,
yarn, or fiber to the list in Annex 3.25 of the Agreement in a
restricted or unrestricted quantity; to eliminate a restriction on the
quantity of a fabric, yarn, or fiber within 6 months after adding the
fabric, yarn, or fiber to the list in Annex 3.25 of the Agreement in a
restricted quantity; and to restrict the quantity of, or remove from the
list in Annex 3.25 of the Agreement, certain fabrics, yarns, or fibers.
9. Section 209 of the Act authorizes the President to take certain
enforcement actions relating to trade with the Agreement countries in
textile or apparel goods.
10. Sections 321-328 of the Act authorize 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.
11. Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended, established the
Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) to
supervise the implementation of textile trade agreements.
12. Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974 (the ``1974 Act'') (19 U.S.C.
2483), as amended, 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.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, 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 sections
105(a), 201, 203, 209, and 321-328 of the Act, section 301 of title 3,
United States Code, and section 604 of the 1974 Act, do proclaim that:
(1) In order to provide generally for the preferential tariff
treatment being accorded under the Agreement to El Salvador, 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 for the purposes of the Agreement, to provide tariff-
rate quotas with respect to certain goods, to reflect the removal of El
Salvador from the enumeration of designated beneficiary developing
countries for purposes of the GSP, to reflect the removal of El Salvador
from the enumeration of designated beneficiary countries for purposes of
the CBERA and the CBTPA, and to make technical and conforming changes in
the general notes to the HTS, the HTS is modified as set forth in Annex
I of Publication No. 3829 of the United States International Trade
Commission, entitled ``Modifications to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule
of the United States to Implement the Dominican Republic-Central
America-United States Free Trade Agreement With Respect to El Salvador''
(``Publication 3829''), which is incorporated by reference into this
proclamation.
(2) In order to implement the initial stage of duty elimination
provided for in the Agreement, to provide tariff-rate quotas with
respect to certain goods, and to provide for future staged reductions in
duties for originating goods for purposes of the Agreement, the HTS is
modified as provided in Annex II of Publication 3829, 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.

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120 STAT. 3772

(3) The Secretary of Commerce is authorized to exercise my authority
under section 105(a) of the Act to establish or designate an office
within the Department of Commerce to carry out the functions set forth
in that section.
(4) The CITA is authorized to exercise my authority under section
203(o) of the Act to determine that a fabric, yarn, or fiber is not
available in commercial quantities in a timely manner in the United
States and those Agreement countries for which the Agreement has entered
into force, and to add any such fabric, yarn, or fiber to the list in
Annex 3.25 of the Agreement in a restricted or unrestricted quantity; to
eliminate a restriction on the quantity of a fabric, yarn, or fiber
within 6 months after adding the fabric, yarn, or fiber to the list in
Annex 3.25 of the Agreement in a restricted quantity; to restrict the
quantity of, or remove from the list in Annex 3.25 of the Agreement,
certain fabrics, yarns, or fibers; and to establish procedures governing
the submission of a request for any such determination and to ensure
appropriate public participation in any such determination.
(5) The CITA is authorized to exercise my authority under section
209 of the Act to suspend or deny preferential tariff treatment to
textile or apparel goods; to detain textile or apparel goods; and to
deny entry to textile or apparel goods.
(6) The CITA is authorized to exercise my authority under sections
321-328 of the Act to review requests and to determine whether to
commence consideration of such requests; to cause to be published in the
Federal Register a notice of commencement of consideration of a request
and notice seeking public comment; and to determine whether imports of a
textile or apparel article of an Agreement country 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.
(7) The CITA, after consultation with the Commissioner of Customs
(the ``Commissioner''), is authorized to consult with representatives of
an Agreement country for the purpose of identifying particular textile
or apparel goods of that country that are mutually agreed to be
handloomed, handmade, or folklore articles as provided in Article 3.21
of the Agreement. The Commissioner shall take actions as directed by the
CITA to carry out any such determination.
(8) The United States Trade Representative is authorized to exercise
my authority under section 104 of the 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 United States Trade Representative is authorized to modify
U.S. note 20 to subchapter XXII of chapter 98 of the HTS in a notice
published in the Federal Register to reflect modifications pursuant to
paragraph (4) of this proclamation by the CITA to the list of fabrics,
yarns, or fibers in Annex 3.25 of the Agreement.
(10)(a) The amendments to the HTS made by paragraphs (1) and (2) of
this proclamation shall be effective with respect to goods entered,

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120 STAT. 3773

or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after the relevant
dates indicated in Annex II to Publication 3829.
(b) Except as provided in paragraph (10)(a) of this proclamation,
this proclamation shall be effective with respect to goods entered, or
withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after March 1, 2006.
(11) 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-eighth day
of February, in the year of our Lord two thousand six, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and
thirtieth.
GEORGE W. BUSH