Public Law 102-182/Title I

TITLE I — EXTENSION OF NONDISCRIMINATORY TREATMENT TO ESTONIA, LATVIA, AND LITHUANIA

Sec. 101. Congressional Findings.

The Congress finds the following:

(1) The Government of the United States extended full diplomatic recognition to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in 1922.

(2) The Government of the United States entered into agreements extending most-favored-nation treatment with the Government of Estonia on August 1, 1925, the Government of Latvia on April 30, 1926, and the Government of Lithuania on July 10, 1926.

(3) The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics incorporated Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania involuntarily into the Union as a result of a secret protocol to a German-Soviet agreement in 1939 which assigned those three states to the Soviet sphere of influence; and the Government of the United States has at no time recognized the forcible incorporation of those states into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

(4) The Trade Agreements Extension Act of 1951 required the President to suspend, withdraw, or prevent the application of trade benefits, including most-favored-nation treatment, to countries under the domination or control of the world Communist movement.

(5) In 1951, responsible representatives of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania stated that they did not object to the imposition of ``such controls as the Government of the United States may consider to be appropriate´´ to the products of those countries, for such time as those countries remained under Soviet domination or control.

(6) In 1990, the democratically elected governments of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania declared the restoration of their independence from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

(7) The Government of the United States established diplomatic relations with Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania on September 2, 1991, and on September 6, 1991, the State Council of the transitional government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics recognized the independence of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, thereby ending the involuntary incorporation of those countries into, and the domination of those countries by, the Soviet Union.

(8) Immediate action should be taken to remove the impediments, imposed in response to the circumstances referred to in paragraph (5), in United States trade laws to the extension of nondiscriminatory treatment (most-favored-nation treatment) to the products of those countries.

(9) As a consequence of establishment of United States diplomatic relations with Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, these independent countries are eligible to receive the benefits of the Generalized System of Preferences provided for in title V of the Trade Act of 1974.

Sec. 102. Extension of Nondiscriminatory Treatment to the Products of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

(a) IN GENERAL.—

Notwithstanding any provision of title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2431 et seq.) or any other provision of law, nondiscriminatory treatment (most-favored-nation treatment) applies to the products of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

(b) CONFORMING TARIFF SCHEDULE AMENDMENTS.—

General Note 3(b) of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States is amended by striking out ``Estonia´´, ``Latvia´´, and ``Lithuania´´.

(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—

Subsection (a) and the amendments made by subsection (b) apply with respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after the 15th day after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Sec. 103. Termination of the Application of Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 to the Baltics.

Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2431 et seq.) shall cease to apply to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania effective as of the 15th day after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Sec. 104. Sense of the Congress Regarding Prompt Provision of GSP Treatment to the products of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

It is the sense of the Congress that the President should take prompt action under title V of the Trade Act of 1974 to provide preferential tariff treatment to the products of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania pursuant to the Generalized System of Preferences.