Proclamation 6428—To Implement Duty Reductions for Certain Products of Beneficiary Countries Under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Expansion Act of 1990

1. Section 213(h)(1) of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) (h)(1)), as added by section 212 of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Expansion Act of 1990 (Expansion Act) (Public Law 101-382), directs the President to proclaim reductions in the rates of duty on handbags, luggage, flat goods, work gloves, and leather wearing apparel that are (1) the product of any beneficiary country, and (2) were not designated on August 5, 1983, as eligible articles for purposes of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) under title V of the Trade Act of 1974 et seq.). Such goods were excluded from the duty-free treatment afforded under the CBERA by the provisions of section 213(b) of that Act.

2. Section 213(h)(2) of the CBERA provides that the duty reduction required for any such article shall (1) result in a rate that is equal to 80 percent of the rate of duty that applied to the article on December 31, 1991, except that, subject to certain limitations, the reduction may not exceed 2.5 percent ad valorem; and (2) be implemented in 5 equal annual stages with the first one-fifth of the aggregate reduction in the rate of duty being applied to entries, or withdrawals from warehouse for consumption, of the article on or after January 1, 1992.

3. Pursuant to section 213(h) of the CBERA, I have decided that certain existing duties set forth in Rates of Duty 1-General subcolumn of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) for specified handbags, luggage, flat goods, work gloves, and leather wearing apparel should be reduced as set forth in Annex I to this proclamation. In accordance with section 213(b) of the CBERA, as amended by section 212(b) of the Expansion Act, I have decided that it is appropriate to make conforming changes in general note 3(c)(v) to the HTS and to modify the nomenclature of certain HTS subheadings, in order to reflect the tariff treatment to be accorded to such goods.

4. Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended requires the President, from time to time, as appropriate, to embody in the HTS the substance of the provisions of that Act, of other Acts affecting import treatment, and actions thereunder, including removal, modification, continuance, or imposition of any import restriction.

Now, Therefore, I, George 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 section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, section 213 of the CBERA, and section 212 of the Expansion Act, do proclaim that:

11(1) In order to provide reductions in the Rates of Duty 1-General subcolumn duty rate applicable to certain goods which are the products of designated beneficiary countries under the CBERA, and to implement the provisions of the CBERA, as amended, the HTS is modified as provided in Annex I to this proclamation.

11(2) In order to continue the schedule of duty reductions for goods originating in the territory of Canada modified by Annex I to this proclamation, pursuant to Annex 401.2 to the United States-Canada Free-Trade Agreement (the Canada FTA), the HTS is further modified as set forth in Annex II to this proclamation.

11(3) In order to continue the schedule of duty reductions for products of Israel modified by Annex I to this proclamation, pursuant to Annex 1 to the Agreement on the Establishment of a Free Trade Area between the Government of the United States and the Government of Israel (the Israel FTA), the HTS is further modified as set forth in Annex III to this proclamation.

11(4) Any provisions of previous proclamations and Executive orders inconsistent with the provisions of this proclamation are hereby superseded to the extent of such inconsistency.

11(5)(a) Except as provided in this paragraph, the modifications made by Annex I to this proclamation shall be effective with respect to articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after the 15th day after the date of publication of this proclamation in the Federal Register. Entries of products of countries designated as beneficiary countries for purposes of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act made after January 1, 1992, and not liquidated as of the 15th day after the date of publication of this proclamation in the Federal Register, shall, if such goods would have qualified for duty reductions under the provisions of Annex I to this proclamation, be liquidated as if entered on such 15th day.

11(b) The modifications made by Annexes II and III to this proclamation shall be effective with respect to articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after the dates set forth in such annexes.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and sixteenth.

GEORGE BUSH