Proc. 7912 Title 3--The President of the 1974 Act should be disregarded with respect to certain eligible arti- cles from certain beneficiary developing countries. 17. Pursuant to section 503(d)(1) of the 1974 Act, I have received the ad- vice of the USITC on whether any industries in the United States are likely to be adversely affected by such waivers, and I have determined, based on that advice and on the considerations described in sections 501 and 502(c) of the 1974 Act, and after giving great weight to the considerations in sec- tion 503(d)(2) of the 1974 Act, that such waivers are in the national eco- nomic interest of the United States. Accordingly, I have determined that the competitive need limitations of section 503(c)(2)(A) should be waived with respect to certain eligible articles from certain beneficiary developing countries. 18. Pursuant to section 507(2) of the 1974 Act, I have determined that cur- rently qualifying members of the South Asian Association for Regional Co- operation (SAARC) should be treated as one country for purposes of the GSP. 19. Presidential Proclamation 6641 of December 15, 1993, implemented the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with respect to the United States and, pursuant to the North American Free Trade Agreement Imple- mentation Act (Public Law 103-182) (the "NAFTA Implementation Act") incorporated in the HTS the tariff modifications and rules of origin nec- essary or appropriate to carry out the NAFTA. 20. Section 202 of the NAFTA Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 3332) pro- vides rules for determining whether goods imported into the United States originate in the territory of a NAFTA Party and thus are eligible for the tar- iff and other treatment contemplated under the NAFTA. Section 202(q) of the NAFTA Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 3332(q)) authorizes the Presi- dent to proclaim, as a part of the HTS, the rules of origin set out in the NAFTA and to proclaim modifications to such previously proclaimed rules of origin, subject to the consultation and layover requirements of section 103(a) of the NAFTA Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 3313(a)). 21. The United States and Canada have agreed to modifications to certain NAFTA rules of origin. Modifications to the NAFTA rules of origin set out in Proclamation 6641 are therefore necessary. 22. Section 1558 of the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-429) (the "Miscellaneous Trade Act") amended section 213(b) of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) (19 U.S.C. 2703(b)) to exclude certain footwear from duty-free treatment under the CBERA and to provide duty-free treatment for certain other footwear that is the product of a designated beneficiary Caribbean Basin Trade Part- nership Act country. 23. In order to implement the tariff treatment provided under section 1558 of the Miscellaneous Trade Act, it is necessary to modify the HTS. 24. Section 7(c) of the AGOA Acceleration Act of 2004 (Public Law 108- 274) (the "AGOA Acceleration Act") amended section 112(b)(6) of the of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (title I of Public Law 106-200) (AGOA) (19 U.S.C. 3721(b)(6)) by adding ethnic printed fabrics to the list of textile and apparel goods of beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries that may be eligible for the preferential treatment described in section 112(a) of the AGOA (19 U.S.C. 3721(a)). 70
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