President Issues Proclamation Implementing the DR-CAFTA for El Salvador
On February 28, 2006, President Bush issued Proclamation 7987 to amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), etc., to implement the U.S. - Dominican Republic -Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) for El Salvador.
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According to the Proclamation, the DR-CAFTA for El Salvador is generally in effect for goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after March 1, 2006.
This is Part I of a multi-part series of BP summaries of Proclamation 7987, and highlights a portion of this four-page proclamation. See future issues of ITT for BP summaries highlighting other aspects of the proclamation, as well as its annexes, which total 164 pages in length.
Annexes Containing HTS Modifications Posted to ITC Web Site
The Proclamation states that the HTS modifications necessary to implement DR-CAFTA for El Salvador are not in the proclamation but are instead listed in publication 3829 of the International Trade Commission (ITC), entitled "Modifications to the HTS of the U.S. to Implement the Dominican Republic - Central American - U.S. Free Trade Agreement with respect to El Salvador", which is posted to the ITC's web site and is incorporated by reference into Proclamation 7987.
These HTS modifications implement the initial stage of duty elimination provided for in the DR-CAFTA for El Salvador, and provide for future DR-CAFTA staged duty reductions for El Salvador, effective on the dates specified in the relevant sections of publication 3829.
HTS Modifications Include TRQs, Rules of Origin; Removal of GSP/CBPTA/CBERA for El Salvador
The HTS modifications also include tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) for certain El Salvador DR-CAFTA originating goods, rules of origin for determining whether a good is eligible for preferential tariff treatment, and provision for the removal of El Salvador from the list of countries eligible for benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA), and the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA).
Presidential Proclamation 7987 (four-page portion), FR Pub 03/02/06, available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/06-2084.pdf.
Proclamation 7987's Annexes (ITC publication 3829, dated February 2006) available at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/other/rel_doc/annex/index.htm
BP Note
The DR-CAFTA is also referred to as the CAFTA-DR.