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

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Announcement of Import Restraint Limits for Certain Cotton, Wool,

Man-Made Fiber, Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Textiles and

Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Thailand

April 21, 1994.

AGENCY: Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA).

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing

limits.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: April 28, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ross Arnold, 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 or call (202) 927-6717. For information on

embargoes and quota re-openings, call (202) 482-3715.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Authority: Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended;

section 204 of the Agricultural Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C.

1854).

During recent consultations, the Governments of the United States

and Thailand agreed to amend and extend their bilateral agreement

through December 31, 1994.

In the letter published below, the Chairman of CITA directs the

Commissioner of Customs to establish limits for the period beginning on

January 1, 1994 and extending through December 31, 1994. The 1994 Group

II limit is reduced for carryforward applied to the 1993 agreement

period.

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 58 FR 62645, published on November 29, 1993).

The letter to the Commissioner of Customs and the actions taken

pursuant to it are not designed to implement all of the provisions of

the MOU, but are designed to assist only in the implementation of

certain of its provisions.

Ronald I. Levin,

Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile

Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

April 21, 1994.

Commissioner of Customs, Department of the Treasury, Washington,

DC 20229.

Dear Commissioner: Under the terms of section 204 of the

Agricultural Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1854), and the

Arrangement Regarding International Trade in Textiles done at Geneva

on December 20, 1973, as further extended on July 31, 1993; pursuant

to the Memorandum of Understanding dated April 1, 1994 between the

Governments of the United States and Thailand; and in accordance

with the provisions of Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as

amended, you are directed to prohibit, effective on April 28, 1994,

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 Thailand and

exported during the twelve-month period beginning on January 1, 1994

and extending through December 31, 1994, in excess of the following

levels of restraint:

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Category Twelve-month restraint limit\1\

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239............................ 4,700,000 kilograms.

Levels in Group I:

200............................ 893,262 kilograms.

218............................ 15,000,000 square meters.

219............................ 4,764,064 square meters.

300............................ 3,573,048 kilograms.

301-P\2\....................... 3,573,048 kilograms.

301-O\3\....................... 714,610 kilograms.

313............................ 16,674,224 square meters.

314............................ 38,112,512 square meters.

315............................ 23,820,320 square meters.

317/326........................ 10,000,000 square meters.

363............................ 15,483,208 numbers.

369-D\4\....................... 170,316 kilograms.

369-S\5\....................... 238,203 kilograms.

604............................ 557,315 kilograms of which not more

than 375,305 kilograms shall be in

Category 604-A.\6\

607............................ 2,382,032 kilograms.

611............................ 12,363,612 square meters.

613/614/615.................... 36,000,000 square meters of which not

more than 20,961,882 square meters

shall be in Category 614 and not

more than 20,961,882 square meters

shall be in Categories 613/615.

617............................ 13,000,000 square meters.

619............................ 5,359,572 square meters.

620............................ 5,359,572 square meters.

625/626/627/628/629............ 10,500,000 square meters of which not

more than 8,337,112 square meters

shall be in Category 625.

669-P\7\....................... 5,023,900 kilograms.

Group II:

237, 330-359, 431-459, 630-659 208,248,000 square meters equivalent.

and 831-859, as a group..

Sublevels in Group II:

331/631........................ 1,300,130 dozen pairs.

334/634........................ 464,496 dozen.

335/635/835.................... 369,215 dozen.

336/636........................ 238,203 dozen.

338/339........................ 1,574,810 dozen.

340............................ 214,383 dozen.

341/641........................ 506,182 dozen.

342/642........................ 440,676 dozen.

345............................ 226,293 dozen.

347/348/847.................... 622,306 dozen.

351/651........................ 178,652 dozen.

359-H/659-H\8\................. 1,045,016 kilograms.

433............................ 9,181 dozen.

435............................ 51,500 dozen.

434............................ 11,333 dozen.

438............................ 17,000 dozen.

442............................ 19,741 dozen.

638/639........................ 1,856,026 dozen.

640............................ 393,035 dozen.

645/646........................ 238,203 dozen.

647/648........................ 848,003 dozen.

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\1\The limits have not been adjusted to account for any imports exported

after December 31, 1993.

\2\Category 301-P: only HTS numbers 5206.21.0000, 5206.22.0000,

5206.23.0000, 5206.24.0000, 5206.25.0000, 5206.41.0000, 5206.42.0000,

5206.43.0000, 5206.44.0000 and 5206.45.0000.

\3\Category 301-O: only HTS numbers 5205.21.0000, 5205.22.0000,

5205.23.0000, 5205.24.0000, 5205.25.0000, 5205.41.0000, 5205.42.0000,

5205.43.0000, 5205.44.0000 and 5205.45.0000.

\4\Category 369-D: only HTS numbers 6302.60.0010, 6302.91.0005 and

6302.91.0045.

\5\Category 369-S: only HTS number 6307.10.2005.

\6\Category 604-A: only HTS number 5509.32.0000.

\7\Category 669-P: only HTS numbers 6305.31.0010, 6305.31.0020 and

6305.39.0000.

\8\Category 359-H: only HTS numbers 6505.90.1540 and 6505.90.2060;

Category 659-H: only HTS numbers 6502.00.9030, 6504.00.9015,

6504.00.9060, 6505.90.5090, 6505.90.6090, 6505.90.7090 and

6505.90.8090.

Imports charged to these category limits, except Category 218,

for the period January 1, 1993 through December 31, 1993 shall be

charged against those levels of restraint to the extent of any

unfilled balances. In the event the limits established for that

period have been exhausted by previous entries, such goods shall be

subject to the levels set forth in this directive.

Goods in Category 239 which are exported in excess of the 1993

Group II limit shall be charged to the 1994 limit for Category 239.

In a subsequent directive, CITA will direct the Commissioner of

Customs to deduct these charges from the 1994 limit for Category 239

and charge these same amounts to the 1994 Group II limit.

Import charges already made to Group II for Category 239 for the

1994 monitoring period (see directive dated December 2, 1993) shall

be deducted from Group II and charged to the limit established in

this directive for Category 239.

For goods exported and imported during the period January 1,

1994 through February 28, 1994, you are directed to charge 231,566

square meters to the limit established in this directive for

Category 218.

The conversion factors for merged Categories 359-H/659-H and

638/639 are 11.5 and 12.96, respectively.

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 of the rulemaking provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1).

Sincerely,

Ronald I. Levin,

Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile

Agreements.

[FR Doc. 94-10162 Filed 4-26-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-M