Proclamation 5925 -- To Modify the Import Relief on Western Red Cedar Shakes and Shingles

December 21, 1988

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

1. In Proclamation 5498 of June 6, 1986 (51 FR 20953), pursuant to sections 202 and 203 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. 2252 and 2253), I proclaimed import relief with respect to wood shingles and shakes, provided for in item 200.85 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS) (19 U.S.C. 1202). This relief took the form of a temporary duty increase for such shingles and shakes of western red cedar entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, during the period June 7, 1986, through June 6, 1991. On May 23, 1986, I directed that the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) be requested to advise me of the probable economic effect on the domestic industry of the termination of import relief after 30 months and that the Secretaries of Commerce and Labor be requested to provide advice regarding termination of relief. The Secretaries of Commerce and Labor have duly provided this advice.

2. On October 6, 1988, the USITC reported to me the results of an investigation (Inv. No. TA - 203 - 18) pursuant to section 203(i) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2253(i)) with respect to the probable economic effect on the domestic industry of the termination of the import relief after 30 months. The USITC was equally divided on the question of whether the continuation of import relief would result in positive adjustments that would enhance the competitiveness of the domestic industry. On the basis of the advice that I have received, I have determined that the industry has undertaken positive adjustment efforts to improve competitiveness during the 30-month period of relief. However, the additional duties have burdened consumers and have encouraged substitution of alternative non-wood roofing materials.

3. On the basis of the information and advice received from the USITC and the Secretaries of Commerce and Labor, I have determined that recent market trends have impaired the effectiveness of import relief provided to the domestic industry. Accordingly, I have determined that it is in the national interest to accelerate the reduction of import duties.

4. Section 604 of the Trade Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2483), authorizes the President to embody in the TSUS the substance of the provisions of that Act, of other acts affecting import treatment, and of actions taken thereunder. Further, section 1204 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (the 1988 Act) (19 U.S.C. 3004) authorizes the President to proclaim such modifications to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) as are necessary or appropriate to implement the applicable provisions of statutes enacted, Executive actions taken, and final judicial decisions rendered, after January 1, 1988, and before the effective date of the HTS.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, acting under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the United States, including but not limited to sections 204 and 604 of the Trade Act and section 1204 of the 1988 Act, do proclaim that:

(1) Part 2A of the Appendix to the TSUS is modified as provided in section (a) of the Annex to this Proclamation.

(2) Chapter 99 of the HTS is modified as provided in section (b) of the Annex to this Proclamation.

(3) (a) The modifications to the TSUS made by this Proclamation shall be effective with respect to articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after the date of publication of this Proclamation in the Federal Register.

(b) The modifications to the HTS made by this Proclamation shall be effective with respect to articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after January 1, 1989.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 21st day of December, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirteenth.

Ronald Reagan

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 9:57 a.m., December 22, 1988]

Note: The annex was printed in the ``Federal Register'' of December 23.