President Issues Proclamation Implementing U.S.-Bahrain FTA on August 1, 2006, Etc.
On July 27, 2006, President Bush issued Proclamation 8039 to amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), etc., to implement the U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement (BFTA), etc.
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According to a statement from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the BFTA will be implemented as of August 1, 2006.
This is Part I of a multi-part series of BP summaries on the Proclamation, and highlights this three-page proclamation.
BFTA Annexes Containing HTS Modifications Posted to ITC Web Site
The Proclamation states that the Annexes containing the HTS modifications necessary for the BFTA are not in the Proclamation but are instead in publication 3830 of the International Trade Commission (ITC), entitled "Modifications to the HTS of the U.S. to Implement the U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement", which has been posted to the ITC's web site at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/other/rel_doc/annex/pub3830.pdf, and is incorporated by reference into the Proclamation.
Staged Duty Rate Elimination, TRQs, Rules of Origin, Etc.
These HTS modifications implement the initial stage of duty elimination provided for in the BFTA, and provide for future BFTA staged duty reductions, effective on the dates specified in the relevant sections of publication 3830 and any subsequent dates set forth for such duty reductions in that publication.
The HTS modifications also include tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) for certain BFTA originating goods, rules of origin for determining whether a good is eligible for preferential tariff treatment, and a provision for the removal of Bahrain from the list of countries eligible for benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program.
SFTA Origin Rule Changes; HTS Technical Corrections
The Proclamation also amends HTS General Note 25 in order to modify the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SFTA) rules of origin (as agreed upon by the U.S. and Singapore) effective for goods of Singapore entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after August 1, 2006.
In addition, the Proclamation makes various technical corrections to the HTS.
CITA Authorized to Exercise BFTA Act Authorities on Textiles
The Proclamation also authorizes the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) to exercise certain BFTA Implementation Act authorities to exclude textile and apparel goods from the customs territory of the U.S.; to determine whether an enterprise's production of, and capability to produce, goods are consistent with statements by the enterprise; to find that an enterprise has knowingly or willfully engaged in circumvention; and to deny BFTA preferential treatment to textile or apparel goods.
CITA is further authorized to review requests and determine whether to commence consideration of such requests (with provision for proper public notice and opportunity to comment), to determine whether imports of a Bahraini 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 such a determination.
See future issues of ITT for BP summaries on the annexes to the Proclamation, which are in ITC Publication 3830.
Presidential Proclamation 8039 (dated 07/27/06) available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/07/20060727-14.html. It will soon be published in the Federal Register as a numbered proclamation.
ITC Publication 3830 (containing HTS modifications) available at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/other/rel_doc/annex/pub3830.pdf
USTR's statement on implementation of the BFTA (dated 07/27/06) available at