Request for Public Comments on Bilateral Textile Consultations With the Government of El Salvador on Certain Cotton and Man-Made Fiber Textile Products

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Request for Public Comments on Bilateral Textile Consultations

With the Government of El Salvador on Certain Cotton and Man-Made Fiber

Textile Products

May 3, 1994.

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

ACTION: Notice.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicole Bivens Collinson, International

Trade Specialist, Office of Textiles and Apparel, U.S. Department of

Commerce, (202) 482-4212. For information on categories for which

consultations have been requested, call (202) 482-3740.

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).

On April 25, 1994, under the terms of Article 3 of the Arrangement

Regarding International Trade in Textiles, done at Geneva on December

20, 1973, as further extended on December 9, 1993, the Government of

the United States requested consultations with the Government of El

Salvador with respect to men's and boys' cotton and man-made fiber

woven shirts in Categories 340/640, produced or manufactured in El

Salvador.

The purpose of this notice is to advise the public that, if no

solution is agreed upon in consultations with the Government of El

Salvador, the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

may later establish a limit for the entry and withdrawal from warehouse

for consumption of cotton and man-made fiber textile products in

Categories 340/640, produced or manufactured in El Salvador and

exported during the twelve-month period which began on April 25, 1994

and extends through April 24, 1995, at a level of not less than 373,803

dozen.

A summary market statement concerning Categories 340/640 follows

this notice.

Anyone wishing to comment or provide data or information regarding

the treatment of Categories 340/640, or to comment on domestic

production or availability of products included in Categories 340/640,

is invited to submit 10 copies of such comments or information to Rita

D. Hayes, Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile

Agreements, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230; ATTN:

Helen L. LeGrande. The comments received will be considered in the

context of the consultations with the Government of El Salvador.

Because the exact timing of the consultations is not yet certain,

comments should be submitted promptly. Comments or information

submitted in response to this notice will be available for public

inspection in the Office of Textiles and Apparel, room H3100, U.S.

Department of Commerce, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,

DC.

Further comments may be invited regarding particular comments or

information received from the public which the Committee for the

Implementation of Textile Agreements considers appropriate for further

consideration.

The solicitation of comments regarding any aspect of the agreement

or the implementation thereof is not a waiver in any respect of the

exemption contained in 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1) relating to matters which

constitute ``a foreign affairs function of the United States.''

The United States remains committed to finding a solution

concerning Categories 340/640. Should such a solution be reached in

consultations with the Government of El Salvador, further notice will

be published in the Federal Register.

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).

Rita D. Hayes,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

Market Statement--El Salvador

Category 340/640--Men's and Boys' Cotton and Manmade Fiber Woven Shirts

April 1994

Import Situation and Conclusion

U.S. imports of men's and boys' cotton and manmade fiber woven

shirts, Category 340/640, from El Salvador reached 373,803 dozen for

the year ending January 1994, more than nine times the 41,246 dozen

imported a year earlier. Imports from El Salvador were 35,803 dozen in

1992.

The sharp and substantial increase in Category 340/640 imports from

El Salvador is disrupting the U.S. market for men's and boys' cotton

and manmade fiber woven shirts.

U.S. Production, Import Penetration, and Market Share

U.S. production and imports of men's and boys' cotton and manmade

fiber woven shirts, Category 340/640, declined during the recession

years 1990 and 1991. Production recovered slightly in 1992, while

imports surged. In 1993, U.S. production fell 2 percent below the 1992

level and was 26 percent below the pre-recession 1989 level. In

contrast, 1993 imports increased by five percent over the 1992 level,

and were 19 percent above the 1989 pre-recession level.

The ratio of imports to domestic production increased from 157

percent in 1989 to 253 percent in 1993. The U.S. producer's share of

the domestic market fell from 39 percent in 1989 to 28 percent in 1993,

a decline of 11 percentage points.

Duty-Paid Value and U.S. Producers' Price

Approximately 70 percent of Category 340/640 imports from El

Salvador during the year ending January 1994 entered under HTSUSA

numbers 6205.20.2025--men's cotton dress shirts, other than yarn dyed;

6205.20.2065--men's woven cotton shirts, other than dress and corduroy,

with one color in the warp and/or the filling; and 6205.20.2075--boys'

woven cotton shirts, other than dress and corduroy, with one color in

the warp and/or the filling, other than imported as a part of a

playsuit. These shirts entered the U.S. at landed duty-paid values

below U.S. producers' prices for comparable shirts.

[FR Doc. 94-11127 Filed 5-6-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F