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

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Announcement of Import Restraint Limits for Certain Cotton, Man-

Made Fiber, Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Textiles and Textile

Products Produced or Manufactured in India

December 20, 1996.

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: January 1, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janet Heinzen, 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) 927-6705. 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

[[Page 68244]]

Agricultural Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1854); Uruguay Round

Agreements Act.

The import restraint limits for textile products, produced or

manufactured in India and exported during the period January 1, 1997

through December 31, 1997 are based on limits notified to the Textiles

Monitoring Body pursuant to the Uruguay Round Agreements Act and the

Uruguay Round Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC).

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

Commissioner of Customs to establish the 1997 limits. The limit for

Categories 369-S has been reduced for carryforward applied in 1996.

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 61 FR 66263, published on December 17, 1996).

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 Uruguay Round Agreements Act and the ATC, but are designed to

assist only in the implementation of certain of their provisions.

D. Michael Hutchinson,

Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile

Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

December 20, 1996.

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), the Uruguay Round

Agreements Act and the Uruguay Round Agreement on Textiles and

Clothing (ATC); and in accordance with the provisions of Executive

Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended, you are directed to

prohibit, effective on January 1, 1997, entry into the United States

for consumption and withdrawal from warehouse for consumption of

cotton, man-made fiber, silk blend and other vegetable fiber

textiles and textile products in the following categories, produced

or manufactured in India and exported during the twelve-month period

beginning on January 1, 1997 and extending through December 31,

1997, in excess of the following levels of restraint:

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Category Twelve-month restraint limit

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Levels in Group I

218....................................... 12,989,042 square meters.

219....................................... 60,956,651 square meters.

313....................................... 34,753,868 square meters.

314....................................... 7,256,744 square meters.

315....................................... 12,188,423 square meters.

317....................................... 37,810,040 square meters.

326....................................... 8,593,191 square meters.

334/634................................... 129,709 dozen.

335/635................................... 577,464 dozen.

336/636................................... 804,052 dozen.

338/339................................... 3,723,716 dozen.

340/640................................... 1,860,590 dozen.

341....................................... 3,996,788 dozen of which not

more than 2,398,072 dozen

shall be in Category 341-Y

\1\.

342/642................................... 1,169,365 dozen.

345....................................... 173,647 dozen.

347/348................................... 558,678 dozen.

351/651................................... 247,181 dozen.

363....................................... 40,591,446 numbers.

369-D \2\................................. 1,209,925 kilograms.

369-S \3\................................. 622,938 kilograms.

641....................................... 1,361,441 dozen.

647/648................................... 790,576 dozen.

Group II

200, 201, 220-229, 237, 239, 300, 301, 330- 106,168,919 square meters

333, 349, 350, 352, 359-362, 600-607, 611- equivalent.

629, 630-633, 638, 639, 643-646, 649,

650, 652, 659, 665-O \4\, 666, 669, 670,

and 831-859, as a group.

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\1\ Category 341-Y: only HTS numbers 6204.22.3060, 6206.30.3010,

6206.30.3030 and 6211.42.0054.

\2\ Category 369-D: only HTS numbers 6302.60.0010, 6302.91.0005 and

6302.91.0045.

\3\ Category 369-S: only HTS number 6307.10.2005.

\4\ Category 665-O: all HTS numbers except 5702.10.9030, 5702.42.2020,

5702.92.0010 and 5703.20.1000 (rugs).

Imports charged to these category limits for the period January

1, 1996 through December 31, 1996 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.

The limits set forth above are subject to adjustment in the

future pursuant to the provisions of the Uruguay Round Agreements

Act, the ATC and any administrative arrangements notified to the

Textiles Monitoring Body.

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,

D. Michael Hutchinson,

Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile

Agreements.

[FR Doc. 96-32987 Filed 12-26-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F