Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 124.djvu/4797

 124 STAT. 4771 PROCLAMATION 8618—DEC. 21, 2010 18. During the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations (the ‘‘Uruguay Round’’), a group of major trading countries agreed to recip- rocal elimination of tariffs on certain pharmaceuticals and chemical intermediates, and that participants in this agreement would revise pe- riodically the list of products subject to duty-free treatment. On Decem- ber 13, 1996, as the result of negotiations under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United States and 16 other WTO members agreed to eliminate tariffs on additional pharmaceuticals and chemical intermediates. The United States implemented this agreement in Proclamation 6982 of April 1, 1997. In 1998, the United States and 21 other WTO members negotiated a second revision to the list of products subject to duty-free treatment. The United States imple- mented this revision in Proclamation 7207 of July 1, 1999. In 2006, the United States and 30 other WTO members concluded negotiations, under the auspices of the WTO, on a further revision to the list of pharmaceuticals and chemical intermediates subject to duty-free treat- ment. The United States implemented this revision in Proclamation 8095 of December 29, 2006. The United States and 31 other WTO members have negotiated, under the auspices of the WTO, a fourth re- vision to the list of pharmaceuticals and chemical intermediates sub- ject to duty-free treatment. 19. Section 111(b) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) (19 U.S.C. 3521(b)) authorizes the President under specified circumstances to proclaim the modification of any duty or staged rate reduction of any duty set forth in Schedule XX-United States of America, annexed to the Marrakesh Protocol to the GATT 1994 (Schedule XX) for prod- ucts that were the subject of reciprocal duty elimination negotiations during the Uruguay Round, if the United States agrees to such action in a multilateral negotiation under the auspices of the WTO. 20. On September 15, 2010, consistent with section 115 of the URAA (19 U.S.C. 3524), the USTR submitted a report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate that set forth the proposed further revision to the list of pharmaceuticals and chemical intermediates subject to duty-free treatment. The consultation and layover period specified in section 115 ended on November 14, 2010. 21. Pursuant to section 111(b) of the URAA, I have determined that Schedule XX should be modified to reflect the implementation by the United States of the multilateral agreement on certain pharmaceuticals and chemical intermediates negotiated under the auspices of the WTO. In addition, I have determined that the pharmaceuticals appendix to the HTS should be modified to reflect the duty eliminations provided for in that agreement. 22. Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2483), authorizes the President to embody in the HTS the substance of the rel- evant provisions of that Act, and of other Acts affecting import treat- ment, and actions thereunder, including the removal, modification, continuance, or imposition of any rate of duty or other import restric- tion. NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Con- stitution and the laws of the United States of America, including but not limited to section 104 of the AGOA, title V and section 604 of the