Proclamation 3964—Modification of Trade Agreement Concession and Adjustment of Duty on Certain Pianos

1. Whereas, pursuant to the authority vested in him by the Constitution and the statutes, including section 350 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, and section 201 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1821), the President, by Proclamation No. 2929 of June 2, 1951, No. 3140 of June 13, 1956, and No. 3822 of December 16, 1967 (65 Stat. c12, 70 Stat. c33, and 82 Stat. 1455), proclaimed such modifications of existing duties as were found to be required or appropriate to carry out trade agreements into which he had entered;

2. Whereas among the proclaimed modifications were modifications in the rate of duty on pianos which are now provided for in item 725.02 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS);

3. Whereas the United States Tariff Commission has submitted to me a report of its Investigation No. TEA–I14 under section 301 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1901), on the basis of which investigation and a hearing duly held in connection therewith the said Commission has determined that pianos provided for in TSUS item 725.02 are, as a result in major part of concessions granted under trade agreements, being imported into the United States in such increased quantities as to threaten to cause serious injury to the domestic industry producing like or directly competitive products; and

4. Whereas I have determined that an increase in the prevailing rate of duty on pianos, except grand pianos, provided for in TSUS item 725.02, to a rate of duty of 13.5 percent ad valorem as hereinafter proclaimed is necessary to prevent serious injury to the piano industry:

Now, Therefore, I, Richard Nixon, President of the United States of America, acting under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the statutes, including sections 201(a) (2), 302(a) (2) and (3), and 351 (a) (1) of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1821(a) (2), 19 U.S.C. 1902(a) (2) and (3), and 1981 (a) (1)), and in accordance with section 253(d) of said Act (19 U.S.C. 1883(d)), and Article XIX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (61 Stat. (pt. 5) A58; 8 UST (pt. 2) 1786), do proclaim that—

(1) Item 725.02 in Part I of Schedule XX to the Geneva (1967) Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (19 UST (pt. 2) 1723) is superseded by the same article descriptions and item numbers as are provided for in the modification of Proclamation 3822 set forth in paragraph (2) (a) hereof, with "8.5% ad val." in the rate of duty column in each of the new items 725.01 and 725.03; except that, (i) so long as the articles provided for in new item 725.01 in Schedule XX are dutiable under item 924.00 (added to the Appendix to the Tariff Schedules by paragraph (3) hereof), the rate in said item 725.01 shall be the rate in said item 924.00, and (ii) thereafter the staging of further reductions in the duty applicable to such articles shall be subject to general note 3 (d) (ii) to the said Schedule XX;

(2) Proclamation No. 3822 is modified —

(a) In Annex II, by inserting after section E the following new section:

(b) In Annex III of said proclamation, by redesignating item "725.02" as "725.03" and adding immediately preceding item 725.03 the following new item and headings applicable solely thereto:

(3) Effective with respect to articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption during the three-year period commencing on the date of this proclamation, the TSUS is modified by inserting immediately after item 923.77 in part 2A of the appendix to the TSUS the following new item:

(4) Provision is hereby made, with respect to the piano (including player pianos, whether or not with keyboards) industry, that: (a) its firms may request the Secretary of Commerce for certifications of eligibility to apply for adjustment assistance under Chapter 2 of Title III of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962; and (b) its workers may request the Secretary of Labor for certifications of eligibility to apply for adjustment assistance under Chapter 3 of Title III of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 21st day of February in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and seventy, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninety-fourth.

RICHARD NIXON