Proclamation 5805 --
Amending the Generalized System of Preferences
By
the President of the
A
Proclamation
1.
Pursuant to subsections 501(1) and (4), 502(c)(2), and sections 504 and 604 of
the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. 2461(1) and (4),
2462(c)(2), 2464, and 2483), I have determined that it is appropriate to
terminate the preferential tariff treatment under the Generalized System of
Preferences (GSP) for articles that are currently eligible for such treatment
and that are imported from Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and
Taiwan. I have determined that these countries are sufficiently advanced in
economic development and improved in trade competitiveness that continued
preferential treatment under the GSP is not warranted.
2.
Subsections 501(1) and (4) of the Trade Act provide that, in affording
duty-free treatment under the GSP, the President shall have due regard for the
effect such action will have on furthering the economic development of
developing countries and the extent of the beneficiary developing country's
competitiveness with respect to eligible articles. Subsection 502(c)(2)
provides that, in determining whether to designate any country a beneficiary
developing country under this section, the President shall take into account
the level of economic development of such country. Section 504 authorizes the
President to withdraw, suspend, or limit the application of duty-free treatment
under the GSP with respect to any article or to any country upon consideration
of the factors set forth in sections 501 and 502(c) of the Trade Act.
3.
Pursuant to subsection 504(f) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2464(f)), I have
determined that it is appropriate to terminate the preferential tariff
treatment under the GSP for articles that are currently eligible for such
treatment and that are imported from Bahrain, Bermuda, Brunei Darussalam, and
Nauru. Such termination is the result of my determination that the per capita
gross national product for each such country for calendar year 1985 (calculated
on the basis of the best available information, including that of the World
Bank) exceeds the applicable limit provided in subsection 504(f).
4.
Subsection 504(f) provides that if the President determines that the per capita
gross national product (calculated on the basis of the best available
information, including that of the World Bank) for any beneficiary country for
a calendar year subsequent to 1984 exceeds the applicable limit for the
determination year in question, such country shall not be treated as a
beneficiary developing country under this Act after the close of a 2-year
period.
5.
Previously, two of these countries, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore, were
designated as members of an association of countries treated as one country for
purposes of section 503(b)(2) of the Trade Act, as amended (19 U.S.C.
2463(b)(2)). In order to take into account the termination of benefits under
the GSP for articles imported from these two countries, I have determined that
it is appropriate to terminate the designations of Brunei Darussalam and
Singapore as members of ASEAN and to modify general headnote
3(e)(v)(A) to the Tariff Schedules of the United
States (TSUS) (19 U.S.C. 1202) to reflect such termination. Further, in order
to reflect the termination of benefits under the GSP for articles imported from
Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan, I have determined that
it is appropriate to delete from general headnote 3(e)(v)(D) to the TSUS and from the pertinent TSUS items all
references to particular products of these countries which are currently
excluded from preferential tariff treatment under the GSP.
6.
Section 604 of the Trade Act authorizes the President to embody in the TSUS the
substance of the relevant provisions of that Act, of other acts affecting
import treatment, and of actions taken thereunder.
Now,
Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the
(1)
General headnote 3(e)(v)(A)
to the TSUS, setting forth those countries whose products are eligible for
duty-free treatment under the GSP, is modified --
(a)
by deleting ``
(b)
by deleting ``Korea, Republic of'', ``Singapore'', and ``Taiwan'' from the
enumeration of independent countries and by deleting ``Hong Kong'' from the
enumeration of nonindependent countries and territories,
by deleting ``Singapore'' from the enumeration of members of the Association of
South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) except Brunei Darussalam, and by modifying
``Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) except Brunei Darussalam'' to
read ``Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) except Brunei Darussalam
and Singapore''.
(2)
No article the product of any such country and imported into the
(3)
General headnote 3(e)(v)(D) to the TSUS, listing
those articles that are eligible for benefits of the GSP except when imported
from the beneficiary countries listed opposite the enumerated TSUS items for
those articles, is modified as provided in Annex I to this Proclamation.
(4)
The Rates of Duty Special column for each of the TSUS items enumerated in Annex
II to this Proclamation is modified: (a) by deleting from such column for such
TSUS items the symbol ``A*'' in parentheses, and (b) by inserting in such
column the symbol ``A'' in lieu thereof.
(5)
(a) Paragraph (1)(a) of this Proclamation shall be
effective with respect to articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for
consumption, on or after
(b)
Paragraphs (1)(b), (3), and (4) of this Proclamation
shall be effective with respect to articles entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse for consumption, on or after
In
Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day of April, in
the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, and of the
Ronald
Reagan
[Filed with the Office
of the Federal Register,
Note: The annexes to the
proclamation were printed in the ``Federal Register'' of May 4.