Announcement of Import Limits for Certain Cotton, Wool, Man-Made Fiber, Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Textiles and Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Taiwan

AGENCY:

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA).

ACTION:

Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing limits.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

January 1, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Roy Unger, International Trade Specialist, Office of Textiles and Apparel, U.S. Department of Commerce, (202) 482-4212. For information on the quota status of these limits, refer to the Quota Status Reports posted on the bulletin boards of each Customs port, call (202) 927-5850, or refer to the U.S. Customs website at http://www.customs.gov. For information on embargoes and quota re-openings, call (202) 482-3715.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Authority: Section 204 of the Agricultural Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1854); Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended.

The Bilateral Textile Agreement, effected by exchange of letters dated January 10, 1997, May 2, 1997 and December 10, 1997, as amended and extended, concerning textiles and textile products, produced or manufactured in Taiwan, establishes limits for the period January 1, 2001 through March 31, 2001.

In the letter published below, the Chairman of CITA directs the Commissioner of Customs to establish limits for the first three months of 2001.

These limits may be revised if Taiwan becomes a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the WTO agreement is applied to Taiwan.

A description of the textile and apparel categories in terms of HTS numbers is available in the CORRELATION: Textile and Apparel Categories with the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (see Federal Register notice 64 FR 71982, published on December 22, 1999). Information regarding the 2001 CORRELATION will be published in the Federal Register at a later date.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

December 26, 2000.

Commissioner of Customs,

Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC 20229.

Dear Commissioner: Pursuant to section 204 of the Agricultural Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1854); Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended; and the Bilateral Textile Agreement, effected by exchange of letters dated January 10, 1997 and May 2, 1997, as amended and extended, between the Governments of the United States and Taiwan, you are directed to prohibit, effective on January 1, 2001, entry into the United States for consumption and withdrawal from warehouse for consumption of cotton, wool, man-made fiber, silk blend and other vegetable fiber textiles and textile products in the following categories, produced or manufactured in Taiwan and exported during the three-month period which begins on January 1, 2001 and extends through March 31, 2001, in excess of the following levels of restraint:

The limits set forth above are subject to adjustment pursuant to the current bilateral agreement concerning imports of textile and apparel products from Taiwan.

Products in the above categories exported during 2000 shall be charged to the applicable category limits for that year (see directive dated November 2, 1999) to the extent of any unfilled balances. In the event the limits established for that period have been exhausted by previous entries, such products shall be charged to the limits set forth in this directive.

These limits may be revised if Taiwan becomes a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the WTO agreement is applied to Taiwan.

The conversion factors are as follows:

In carrying out the above directions, the Commissioner of Customs should construe entry into the United States for consumption to include entry for consumption into the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements has determined that these actions fall within the foreign affairs exception to the rulemaking provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1).

Sincerely,

Donald R. Foote,

Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.