Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 54 Part 2.djvu/1243

 2464 INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS OTHER THAN TREATIES [54 STAT. RELATED NOTES The American Legation to the Division of Commerce, Swiss Federal Department of Public Economy No. 97 LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERIcA The Legation of the United States of America presents its com- pliments to the Division of Commerce of the Federal Department of Public Economy and, under instructions from the Secretary of State, has the honor to refer to previous correspondence and per- sonal conversations with regard to the intention of the American Government to modify the Trade Agreement between the United States of America and Switzerland with respect to the concession relating to handkerchiefs included in Item 1529 (b) of Schedule II of the agreement. In the light of representations received as a result of the public announcement in Washington on March 29, 1940,1 of intention to withdraw, in part, the handkerchief concession in the manner de- scribed in the Legation's note No. 87 of April 1, 1940,2 it is proposed to reword the concluding proviso attached to the list of items remain- ing subject to the reduced rates of duty, as follows: "Provided, that no handkerchiefs which were provided for in Item 1529 (b) of Schedule II of the Trade Agreement between the United States of America and Switzerland as proclaimed by the President of the United States of America on January 9, 1936, shall be excluded from classification under this item by reason of incidental handwork necessary to finish the machine work or to mend or correct defects." It is the intention of the Government of the United States to take action in the near future, under Article 16 of the Trade Agree- ment, withdrawing the handkerchief concession, in part, as stated in this Legation's note dated April 1, 1940, except that the proviso will be reworded as indicated in the second paragraph of the present note. Although the modification in the handkerchief concession will not be made effective until January 1, 1941, it is the intention of the American Government to announce the modification immediately in order to give importers as much advance notice as possible. Accord- ingly, the American Government hopes that the Swiss Government will signify its agreement in the next few days with respect to the modification in the handkerchief concession proposed by the Govern- ment of the United States of America. But, in any event, the American Government will feel constrained in the very near future to take the action proposed in accordance with the provisions of Article 16. 1 [Federal Register, April 2, 1940 (vol. 5, no. 64), p. 1280] '[Not printed.]

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