Proclamation 6519

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

1. Pursuant to section 201(c) of the United States-Canada Free-Trade Agreement Implementation Act of 1988 (Public Law 100–449) (the "CFTA Act"), the President is authorized to implement the tariff concessions described in article 2008 of the United States-Canada Free-Trade Agreement (the "CFTA") when he determines that common performance standards for the use of softwood plywood and other structural panels in construction applications have been incorporated into building codes in the United States and Canada. Article 2008 of the CFTA allowed the United States and Canada to delay implementation of tariff concessions on softwood plywood and on waferboard, oriented strand board, and particle-board of all species because a panel of experts from the two countries failed to resolve issues regarding the use of a particular grade of plywood by the date of entry into force of the CFTA.

2. Pursuant to section 201(c)(2) of the CFTA Act, the President reports to the Congress on the incorporation of common plywood performance standards into building codes in the two countries. Pursuant to section 201(c)(3) of the CFTA Act, any tariff reduction undertaken by the United States and commencing after January 1, 1991, need not be in equal annual increments.

3. Pursuant to section 201(c) of the CFTA Act, I have determined that common plywood performance standards have been incorporated into building codes in the United States and Canada and that the necessary conditions for implementing the tariff concessions under article 2008 of the CFTA have been met. Accordingly, I have reported to the Congress on such incorporation, and I have decided that the implementation by the United States of previously agreed staged reductions in duties on certain plywood originating in the territory of Canada should begin on January 1, 1993, and end on January 1, 1998.

4. Section 1204(b)(1)(C) of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (19 U.S.C. 3004(b)(1)(C)) (the "1988 Act") authorizes the President to proclaim modifications to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States ("HTS") as are necessary or appropriate to implement such technical rectifications as the President considers necessary. Pursuant to section 1204(b)(1)(C), I have determined that certain technical rectifications to the HTS are necessary to provide the proper tariff treatment to certain chemicals.

5. Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2483) (the "Trade Act"), authorizes the President to embody in the HTS the substance of the provisions of that Act, and of other acts affecting import treatment, and action thereunder, including the removal, modification, continuance, or imposition of any rate of duty or other import restriction.

Now, Therefore, I, George Bush, President of the United States of America, acting under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including but not limited to section 201(c) of the CFTA Act, section 1204(b)(1)(C) of the 1988 Act, and section 604 of the Trade Act, do proclaim that:

(1) In order to implement, consistent with the provisions of article 2008 of the CFTA, the tariff concessions on certain plywood and on waferboard, oriented strand board, and particle-board of all species, the HTS is modified as set forth in Annex I to this proclamation.

(2) In order to make technical rectifications in the tariff treatment afforded to certain chemicals, the HTS is further modified as set forth in Annex II to this proclamation.

(3) Any provisions of previous proclamations inconsistent with the provisions of this proclamation are hereby superseded to the extent of such inconsistency.

(4)(a) The modifications made by Annex I to this proclamation shall be effective with respect to goods originating in the territory of Canada entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after the dates set forth in Annex I.

(b) The modifications made by Annex II to this proclamation shall be effective with respect to articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after January 1, 1993.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of December, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and seventeenth.

George Bush