To Implement the United States-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement and for Other Purposes, 66505-66511 [2012-27143]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 214 (Monday, November 5, 2012)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 66505-66511]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-27143]



[[Page 66505]]

Vol. 77

Monday,

No. 214

November 5, 2012

Part II





The President





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Proclamation 8894--To Implement the United States-Panama Trade 
Promotion Agreement and for Other Purposes



Notice of November 1, 2012--Continuation of the National Emergency With 
Respect to Weapons of Mass Destruction


                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 77 , No. 214 / Monday, November 5, 2012 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 66507]]

                Proclamation of October 29, 2012

                
To Implement the United States-Panama Trade 
                Promotion Agreement and for Other Purposes

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                1. On June 28, 2007, the United States entered into the 
                United States-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement (the 
                ``Agreement''). The Congress approved the Agreement in 
                section 101(a) of the United States-Panama Trade 
                Promotion Agreement Implementation Act (the 
                ``Implementation Act'') (Public Law 112-43, 125 Stat. 
                497).

                2. Section 105(a) of the Implementation Act authorizes 
                the President to establish or designate within the 
                Department of Commerce an office that shall be 
                responsible for providing administrative assistance to 
                panels established under chapter 20 of the Agreement.

                3. Section 201 of the Implementation Act authorizes the 
                President to proclaim such modifications or 
                continuation of any duty, such continuation of duty-
                free or excise treatment, or such additional duties, as 
                the President determines to be necessary or appropriate 
                to carry out or apply Articles 3.3, 3.5, 3.6, and 3.27, 
                3.28, and 3.29 and Annex 3.3 of the Agreement.

                4. Consistent with section 201(a)(2) of the 
                Implementation Act, Panama is to be removed from the 
                enumeration of designated beneficiary developing 
                countries eligible for the benefits of the Generalized 
                System of Preferences (GSP).

                5. Consistent with section 201(a)(3) of the 
                Implementation Act, Panama is removed from the 
                enumeration of beneficiary countries under the 
                Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) (19 
                U.S.C. 2701 et seq.), subject to the exceptions set out 
                in section 201(a)(3)(B) of the Implementation Act.

                6. Consistent with section 213(b)(5)(D) of the CBERA, 
                as amended by the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act 
                (CBTPA) (Public Law 106-200), Panama is removed from 
                the enumeration of designated CBTPA beneficiary 
                countries.

                7. Consistent with section 604 of the Trade Act of 
                1974, as amended (the ``1974 Act'') (19 U.S.C. 2483), I 
                have determined that other technical and conforming 
                changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
                States (HTS) are necessary to reflect that Panama is no 
                longer eligible to receive the benefits of the GSP, the 
                CBERA, and the CBTPA.

                8. Section 201(d) of the Implementation Act authorizes 
                the President to take such action as may be necessary 
                in implementing the tariff-rate quotas set forth in 
                Appendix I to the General Notes to the Schedule of the 
                United States to Annex 3.3 of the Agreement to ensure 
                that imports of agricultural goods do not disrupt the 
                orderly marketing of commodities in the United States.

                9. Section 203 of the Implementation Act sets forth 
                certain rules for determining whether a good is an 
                originating good for the purpose of implementing 
                preferential tariff treatment provided for under the 
                Agreement. I have determined that it is necessary to 
                include these rules of origin, together with particular 
                rules applicable to certain other goods, in the HTS.

[[Page 66508]]

                10. Section 203(o)(4) of the Implementation Act 
                authorizes the President, after receiving a request 
                from an interested entity, to determine that a fabric, 
                yarn, or fiber is or is not available in commercial 
                quantities in a timely manner in Panama and the United 
                States; to establish procedures governing the 
                submission of a request for any such determination and 
                ensuring appropriate public participation in any such 
                determination; to add to the list of the United States 
                as set forth in Annex 3.25 of the Agreement any fabric, 
                yarn, or fiber determined to be not available in 
                commercial quantities in a timely manner in Panama and 
                the United States; or to remove from the list in Annex 
                3.25 of the Agreement any fabric, yarn, or fiber that 
                the President has previously added to that list.

                11. Section 208 of the Implementation Act authorizes 
                the President to take certain enforcement actions 
                relating to trade with Panama in textile and apparel 
                goods.

                12. Subtitle B of title III of the Implementation Act 
                authorizes the President to take certain actions in 
                response to a request by an interested party for relief 
                from serious damage or actual threat thereof to a 
                domestic industry producing certain textile or apparel 
                articles.

                13. Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended, 
                established the Committee for the Implementation of 
                Textile Agreements (CITA), consisting of 
                representatives of the Departments of State, the 
                Treasury, Commerce, and Labor, and the Office of the 
                United States Trade Representative, with the 
                representative of the Department of Commerce as 
                Chairman, to supervise the implementation of textile 
                trade agreements. Consistent with section 301 of title 
                3, United States Code, when carrying out functions 
                vested in the President by statute and assigned by the 
                President to CITA, the officials collectively 
                exercising those functions are all to be officers 
                required to be appointed by the President with the 
                advice and consent of the Senate.

                14. Section 202(o)(2)(B)(ii) of the United States-Korea 
                Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act authorizes the 
                President, subject to the consultation and layover 
                provisions of section 104, to proclaim before the end 
                of the 1-year period beginning on the date on which the 
                United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement (the ``Korea 
                FTA'') enters into force, modifications to the HTS to 
                correct any typographical, clerical, or non-substantive 
                technical error regarding the provisions of chapters 50 
                through 63 (as included in Annex 4-A of the Korea FTA). 
                The Korea FTA entered into force on March 15, 2012.

                15. A provision in chapter 61 (as included in Annex 4-A 
                of the Korea FTA) contained a clerical error that the 
                United States and Korea have agreed to correct. I have 
                determined that a modification to the HTS is necessary 
                to correct this error and to provide the intended 
                tariff treatment. The requirements of the consultation 
                and layover provisions for the proposed correction of 
                this error were completed on August 17, 2012.

                16. Presidential Proclamation 8341 of January 16, 2009, 
                implemented the U.S. tariff commitments under the 
                United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement and 
                incorporated by reference Publication 4058 of the U.S. 
                International Trade Commission (the ``Commission''), 
                entitled ``Modifications to the Harmonized Tariff 
                Schedule of the United States to Implement the United 
                States-Peru Free Trade Agreement.'' Annex I of 
                Publication 4058 included a technical error that 
                affected the tariff treatment of a good of Peru and 
                omitted cross-references for certain tariff lines. I 
                have determined that modifications to the HTS are 
                necessary to correct this error and omission.

                17. Presidential Proclamation 8783 of March 6, 2012, 
                implemented U.S. tariff commitments under the Korea FTA 
                and incorporated by reference Publication 4308 of the 
                Commission, entitled ``Modifications to the Harmonized 
                Tariff Schedule of the United States to Implement the 
                United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement.'' Annexes I 
                and II to that publication each included a technical 
                error that affected the tariff treatment accorded

[[Page 66509]]

                to certain goods of Korea. I have determined that a 
                modification to the HTS is necessary to correct these 
                errors.

                18. Presidential Proclamation 8818 of May 14, 2012, 
                implemented U.S. tariff commitments under the United 
                States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement and 
                incorporated by reference Publication 4320 of the 
                Commission, entitled ``Modifications to the Harmonized 
                Tariff Schedule of the United States to Implement the 
                United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement.'' 
                Annexes I and II to that publication included technical 
                errors that affected the tariff treatment accorded to 
                certain goods of Colombia and omitted cross-references 
                for certain tariff lines. I have determined that 
                modifications to the HTS are necessary to correct the 
                technical errors and omissions.

                19. Section 604 of the 1974 Act authorizes the 
                President to embody in the HTS the substance of 
                relevant provisions of chapter V of that Act, and of 
                other Acts affecting import treatment, and of actions 
                taken thereunder, including the removal, modification, 
                continuance, or imposition of any rate of duty or other 
                import restriction.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States of America, including but not limited to 
                section 604 of the 1974 Act, sections 105(a), 201, 203, 
                and 208, and subtitle B of title III of the 
                Implementation Act, and section 301 of title 3, United 
                States Code, and having made the determination under 
                section 101(b) of the Implementation Act necessary for 
                the exchange of notes, do hereby proclaim:

                    (1) In order to provide generally for the 
                preferential tariff treatment being accorded under the 
                Agreement, to set forth rules for determining whether 
                goods imported into the customs territory of the United 
                States are eligible for preferential tariff treatment 
                under the Agreement, to provide certain other treatment 
                to originating goods of Panama for the purposes of the 
                Agreement, and to reflect Panama's removal from the 
                list of beneficiary developing countries under the GSP, 
                and from the list of beneficiary countries under CBERA 
                and CBTPA, the HTS is modified as set forth in Annex I 
                of Publication 4349 of the Commission, entitled 
                ``Modifications to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
                the United States to Implement the United States-Panama 
                Trade Promotion Agreement,'' which is incorporated by 
                reference into this proclamation.
                    (2) The modifications to the HTS made in paragraph 
                (1) of this proclamation shall be effective with 
                respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse 
                for consumption, on or after the relevant dates 
                indicated in Annex I of Publication 4349.
                    (3) In order to implement the initial stage of duty 
                elimination provided for in the Agreement and to 
                provide for future staged reductions in duties for 
                originating goods of Colombia for purposes of the 
                Agreement, the HTS is modified as provided in Annex II 
                of Publication 4349, effective on the dates specified 
                in the relevant sections of such Annex and on any 
                subsequent dates set forth for such duty reductions in 
                that Annex.
                    (4) The Secretary of Commerce is authorized to 
                exercise the authority of the President under section 
                105(a) of the Implementation Act to establish or 
                designate an office within the Department of Commerce 
                to carry out the functions set forth in that section.
                    (5) The CITA is authorized to exercise the 
                authority of the President under section 203(o)(4) of 
                the Implementation Act to determine that a fabric, 
                yarn, or fiber is or is not available in commercial 
                quantities in a timely manner in Panama and the United 
                States; to establish procedures governing the request 
                for any such determination and ensuring appropriate 
                public participation in any such determination; to add 
                any fabric, yarn, or fiber determined to be not 
                available in commercial quantities in a timely manner 
                in Panama and the United States to the list in Annex 
                3.25 of the Agreement;

[[Page 66510]]

                or to remove from the list in Annex 3.25 of the 
                Agreement any fabric, yarn, or fiber that the President 
                has previously added to that list.
                    (6) The CITA is authorized to exercise the 
                authority of the President under section 208 of the 
                Implementation Act to direct the exclusion of certain 
                textile and apparel goods from the customs territory of 
                the United States and to direct the denial of 
                preferential tariff treatment to textile and apparel 
                goods.
                    (7) The CITA is authorized to exercise the 
                functions of the President under subtitle B of title 
                III of the Implementation Act to review requests, and 
                to determine whether to commence consideration of such 
                requests; after an appropriate determination, to cause 
                to be published in the Federal Register a notice of 
                commencement of consideration of a request and notice 
                seeking public comment; to determine whether imports of 
                a Panamanian textile or apparel article are causing 
                serious damage, or actual threat thereof, to a domestic 
                industry producing an article that is like, or directly 
                competitive with, the imported article; and to provide 
                relief from imports of an article that is the subject 
                of an affirmative determination as to damage or threat.
                    (8) The United States Trade Representative (USTR) 
                is authorized to fulfill the obligations of the 
                President under section 104 of the Implementation Act 
                to obtain advice from the appropriate advisory 
                committees and the Commission on the proposed 
                implementation of an action by Presidential 
                proclamation; to submit a report on such proposed 
                action to the appropriate congressional committees; and 
                to consult with those congressional committees 
                regarding the proposed action.
                    (9) The USTR is authorized to modify U.S. note 4 to 
                subchapter XX of chapter 99 of the HTS in a notice 
                published in the Federal Register to reflect 
                modifications pursuant to paragraph (7) of this 
                proclamation by the CITA to the list of fabrics, yarns, 
                or fibers in Annex 3.25 of the Agreement.
                    (10) In order to provide the intended tariff 
                treatment to goods of Korea under the terms of general 
                note 33, the HTS is modified as set forth in section E 
                of Annex III to Publication 4349.
                    (11) The modifications to the HTS set forth in 
                section E of Annex III to Publication 4349 shall be 
                effective with respect to goods entered, or withdrawn 
                from warehouse for consumption, on or after March 15, 
                2012.
                    (12) In order to provide the intended tariff 
                treatment to certain goods of Peru, U.S. note 28 to 
                subchapter XXII of chapter 98 of the HTS is modified as 
                set forth in section A of Annex III to Publication 
                4349. In addition with respect to goods of Peru under 
                the terms of general note 32, the HTS is modified as 
                set forth in section D of Annex III to Publication 
                4349.
                    (13) The modifications to the HTS set forth in 
                sections A and D of Annex III to Publication 4349 shall 
                be effective with respect to goods of Peru entered, or 
                withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 
                February 1, 2009.
                    (14) In order to provide the intended tariff 
                treatment to certain goods of Colombia the HTS is 
                modified as set forth in sections C and D of Annex III 
                to Publication 4349.
                    (15) The modifications to the HTS set forth in 
                sections C and D of Annex III to Publication 4349 are 
                effective with respect to goods of Colombia entered, or 
                withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 
                May 15, 2012.
                    (16) All provisions of previous proclamations and 
                Executive Orders that are inconsistent with the actions 
                taken in this proclamation are superseded to the extent 
                of such inconsistency.

[[Page 66511]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord 
                two thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
                seventh.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2012-27143
Filed 11-2-12; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F3