Proclamation 2908—Terminating in Part Proclamation No. 2761A of December 16, 1947 and Certain Proclamations Supplemental Thereto, and Supplementing Proclamation No. 2764 of January 1, 1948 and Proclamation No. 2769 of January 30, 1948

1. Whereas (pursuant to the authority vested in the President by the Constitution and the statutes, including section 350 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by section 1 of the act of July 12, 1934, by the joint resolution approved June 7, 1943, and by sections 2 and 3 of the act of July 5, 1945 (ch. 474, 48 Stat. 943; ch. 118, 57 Stat. 125; ch. 269, 59 Stat. 410), the period for the exercise of the authority under the said section 350 having been extended by section 1 of the said act of July 5, 1945, until the expiration of three years from June 12, 1945 ), on October 30, 1947, I entered into a trade agreement with the Governments of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Kingdom of Belgium, the United States of Brazil, Burma, Canada, Ceylon, the Republic of Chile, the Republic of China, the Republic of Cuba, the Czechoslovak Republic, the French Republic, India, Lebanon, the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Kingdom of Norway, Pakistan, Southern Rhodesia, Syria, the Union of South Africa, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which trade agreement consists of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the related Protocol of Provisional Application thereof, together with the Final Act Adopted at the Conclusion of the Second Session of the Preparatory Committee of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment which authenticated the texts of the said General Agreement and the said Protocol (61 Stat. (Parts 5 and 6) A7, A11 and A2051);

2. Whereas by Proclamation No. 2761A of December 16, 1947 (61 Stat. 1103), I proclaimed such modifications of existing duties and other import restrictions of the United States of America and such continuance of existing customs or excise treatment of articles imported into the United States of America as were then found to be required or appropriate to carry out the said trade agreement specified in the first recital of this proclamation on and after January 1, 1948, which proclamation has been supplemented by Proclamation No. 2769 of January 30, 1948 (3 CFR, 1948 Supp., p. 21), and the other supplemental proclamations (including Proclamation No. 2784 of May 4, 1948) referred to in the second recital of Proclamation No. 2867 of December 22, 1949 (14 F.R. 7723) as well as by the said Proclamation of December 22, 1949, by Proclamation No. 2874 of March 1, 1950, Proclamation No. 2884 of April 27, 1950, Proclamation No. 2888 of May 13, 1950 and Proclamation No. 2901 of September 6, 1950 (15 F.R. 1217, 2479, 3043, and 6063);

3. Whereas, the Secretary General of the United Nations has informed the Secretary of State that on March 76, 1950, he was notified that it was the decision of the Government of the Republic of China, which was then a contracting party to the said General Agreement, to withdraw from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, in accordance with paragraphs 5 of the Protocol of Provisional Application of the General Agreement and the Government of China is therefore no longer such a contracting party.

4. Whereas the said section 350(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, authorizes the President to terminate in whole or in part any proclamation carrying out a trade agreement entered into under such section;

5. Whereas Article XXVII of the said General Agreement referred to in the first recital of this proclamation provides as follows:

Any contracting party shall at any time be free to withhold or to withdraw in whole or in part any concession, provided for in the appropriate Schedule annexed to this Agreement, in respect of which such contracting party determines that it was initially negotiated with a government which has not become, or has ceased to be, a contracting party. The contracting party taking such action shall give notice to all other contracting parties and, upon request, consult with the contracting parties which have a substantial interest in the product concerned.

6. Whereas the concessions provided for in Part I of Schedule XX of the said General Agreement which are identified in the following list were initially negotiated with the Government of the Republic of China within the terms of the said Article XXVII:

7. Whereas (pursuant to the authority vested in the President by the Constitution and the statutes, including section 350 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the acts specified in the first recital of this proclamation, the period for the exercise of the authority under the said section 350 having been extended by section 1 of the said act of July 5, 1945, until the expiration of three years from June 12, 1945), on October 30, 1947, I entered into an exclusive trade agreement with the Government of the Republic of Cuba (Treaties and Other International Acts Series 1703), which exclusive trade agreement includes certain portions of other documents made a part thereof and provides for the customs treatment in respect of ordinary customs duties of products of the Republic of Cuba imported into the United States of America;

8. Whereas by Proclamation No. 2764 of January 1, 1948 (3 CFR, 1948 Supp., p. 11), I proclaimed such modifications of existing duties and other import restrictions of the United States of America in respect of products of the Republic of Cuba and such continuance of existing customs and excise treatment of products of the Republic of Cuba imported into the United States of America as were then found to be required or appropriate to carry out the exclusive trade agreement on and after January 1, 1948, which proclamation has been supplemented by the supplemental proclamations referred to in the fourth recital of the said proclamation of December 22, 1949, and by the said proclamations of December 22, 1949, March 1, 1950, April 27, 1950, May 13, 1950, and September 6, 1950;

9. Whereas I determine that, upon the withdrawal pursuant to the said Article XXVII of the concessions identified in the sixth recital of this proclamation, the addition of the following items in the correct numerical order to the list set forth in the ninth recital of the said proclamation of January 1, 1948, as amended and rectified, will be required or appropriate to carry out the said exclusive trade agreement specified in the eight recital of this proclamation:

10. Whereas I determine that, upon the withdrawal pursuant to said Article XXVII of the concessions identified in the sixth recital of this proclamation, the addition of the following items in the correct numerical order to the list set forth in the seventh recital of the said proclamation of January 30, 1948, will be required or appropriate to carry out the said General Agreement specified in the first recital of this proclamation:

Now, Therefore, I, Harry S. Truman, President of the United States of America, acting under and by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the statutes, including the said section 350 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, do proclaim as follows:

PART I

The said proclamation of December 16, 1947, as amended and rectified, and the said proclamations supplemental thereto referred to in the second recital of this proclamation are hereby terminated to the extent that, on and after the sixtieth day following the date of this proclamation they shall be applied as though the items and parts of items identified in the sixth recital of this proclamation were deleted from Part I of Schedule XX of the said General Agreement, and as though the proviso to Item 760 in the said Part I were stated as follows:

Provided, That the rate of 7 ½ cents per pound shall not apply in any calendar year to blanched, roasted, prepared, or preserved walnuts after the aggregate quantity of such walnuts (not including walnut paste) and shelled walnuts entered in that year reaches 5,000,000 pounds.

Nothing in this proclamation shall have the effect of enlarging the scope of any Item 1529(a) in the said Part I.

PART II

To the end that the said exclusive trade agreement specified in the seventh recital of this proclamation may be carried out, the list set forth in the ninth recital of the said proclamation of January 1, 1948, as amended and rectified, shall on and after the sixtieth day following the date of this proclamation be further amended in the manner indicated in the ninth recital of this proclamation.

PART III

To the end that the said General Agreement specified in the first recital of this proclamation may be carried out, the list set forth in the seventh recital of the said proclamation of January 30, 1948, as amended and rectified, shall on and after the sixtieth day following the date of this proclamation be further amended in the manner indicated in the tenth recital of this proclamation.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington this 12th day of October in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and fifty, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and seventy-fifth.

HARRY S. TRUMAN

By the President:

DEAN ACHESON,

Secretary of State.