Implementation of the First Round of Accelerated Tariff Eliminations Under Provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

Implementation of the First Round of Accelerated Tariff

Eliminations Under Provisions of the North American Free Trade

Agreement

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notification of articles proposed for accelerated tariff

elimination under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Section 201(b) of the North American Free Trade Agreement

Implementation Act of 1993 (``the Act'') grants the President, subject

to the consultation and lay-over requirements of section 103(a) of the

Act, the authority to proclaim any accelerated schedule for duty

elimination that may be agreed to by the United States, Mexico and

Canada under Article 302(3) of the North American Free Trade Agreement

(``the NAFTA''). This notice is intended to inform the public of those

articles on which the United States, Canada and Mexico have

provisionally agreed to accelerate the elimination of duties.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Office of the United States Trade

Representative, Room 522, 600 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508;

telephone (202) 395-3412; fax: (202) 395-9675.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following Federal Register notices

provide information on the first round. Request for petitions appeared

December 23, 1993 (58 FR 68186); a request for comments on list of

products to be considered appeared May 23, 1994 (59 FR 26688).

Article 302 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

permits the Parties to consider and agree to accelerate the elimination

of customs duties on goods of a Party. Pursuant to this provision, the

United States, Canada and Mexico solicited requests from interested

parties in early 1994. At the request of the United States Government,

the Parties agreed to consider requests on an expedited basis, and for

that reason also agreed to consider a short list of items in the first

round.

As a result, approximately 207 8-digit tariff subheadings or parts

of subheadings were considered by the three Parties. As a part of the

process, USTR requested the advice of the USITC and the private sector

trade advisory groups. As has been practice under tariff acceleration

rounds conducted under

[[Page 25990]]

the provisions of the United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement, the

United States did not agree to provide accelerated tariff elimination

for those products subject to negative advice. In a similar manner, the

governments of Canada and Mexico declined to agree to acceleration for

products subject to negative comments by their interested parties.

The Parties did agree to accelerated tariff elimination on the

remaining products, involving all or parts of approximately 80 8-digit

tariff lines for which one or more of the Parties have provisionally

agreed to eliminate the duties at the conclusion of the necessary

domestic procedures. Two annexes are attached listing the agreed

products. Annex 1 lists the products for which the United States

proposes to immediately eliminate the remaining tariffs. Annex II also

shows the U.S. reductions, as well as the comparable reductions agreed

to by Canada and Mexico. As a rule, eliminations are being proposed on

a reciprocal basis. For products that do not show such reciprocal

elimination, it is in most cases due to the fact that duties have

already been eliminated. The final column of the annex indicates those

few cases where a Party declined to participate in the reductions.

As noted above, the relevant private sector advisory committees

were consulted throughout this process, and have expressed no objection

to eliminating tariffs for the products appearing in Annex I. In

addition, the ITC provided a report to USTR indicating that the

proposed eliminations would have no harmful impact on the United

States.

The Parties intend to implement the accelerated tariff eliminations

effective July 1, 1997. A separate Federal Register notice will be

published shortly providing information on the initiation of a second

round of NAFTA Accelerated Tariff Eliminations.

Peter F. Allgeier,

Associate U.S. Trade Representative for the Western Hemisphere.

Annex 1.--NAFTA Tariff Acceleration Round One--U.S. Tariff Reductions

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Short product description US HS No. Tariff reduced for Comment

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Processed Artichokes................ 20059080 Mexico..................... ......................

Tahini.............................. 20081990 Canada..................... Acceleration on part

of 8-digit number

only.

Trimethoprim........................ 29335922 Mexico..................... Acceleration on part

of 8-digit number

only.

Hexamethylenetetramine.............. 29339087 Mexico..................... ......................

Sulfamethoxazole.................... 29350048 Mexico..................... Acceleration on part

of 8-digit number

only.

Polyethylene tape laminated with 39219050 Canada..................... Acceleration on part

thermoplastic adhesive. of 8-digit number

only.

Venetian blinds of wood............. 44219040 Canada, Mexico............. Acceleration on part

of 8-digit number

only.

Elastomeric monofilaments of 54041080 Mexico, Canada............. Acceleration on part

polyurethane. of 8-digit number

only.

Imitations of Catgut................ 56049000 Canada..................... ......................

Metallized yarn..................... 56050010 Mexico..................... ......................

56050090

Woven fabrics of polyethylene, 59039025 Mexico..................... Acceleration on part

coated or laminated with plastics of 8-digit number

on one side only. only.

Printed Cotton towels............... 63029100 Mexico..................... Acceleration on part

of 8-digit number

only.

Briquettes for gas fuel barbecues... 68159940 Canada..................... Acceleration on part

of 8-digit number

only.

Briquettes for gas fuel barbecues... 69149080 Canada..................... Acceleration on part

of 8-digit number

only.

Screws and bolts, whether or not 731815xx Canada, Mexico............. Acceleration on parts

with their nuts and washers, for of 6-digit number

aircraft. only.

Screws and bolts, whether or not 750890xx Canada..................... Acceleration on part

with their nuts and washers, for of 8-digit number

aircraft, of nickel. only.

Casting-grade zinc, containing by 79011210 Canada, Mexico............. ......................

weight less than 99.99% of zinc.

Other zinc.......................... 79011250 Canada..................... ......................

Screws and bolts, whether or not 81089030 Canada..................... Acceleration on part

with their nuts and washers, for of 8-digit number

aircraft, of titanium. only.

Electric switches, other than motor 85365080 Mexico,.................... ......................

starter switches.

Other bicycle parts................. 87149190 Mexico, Canada............. ......................

Appliance timers.................... 910700 Canada..................... Acceleration on parts

of 6-digit number

only.

Parts for appliances timers......... 91149030 Canada..................... Acceleration on part

91149050 of 8-digit number

only.

Brushes constituting parts of 96035080 Canada..................... ......................

machines.

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All remaining duties will be eliminated immediately on these products.

ANNEX II.--NAFTA Tariff Acceleration Round One--CONCORDANCE

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Product description US HS No. Cnd HS No. Mex HS No. USA Mexico Canada Comment

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Processed Artichokes.......... 20059080 N/A 20059099 M US ........... US-Mex only.

Tahini........................ 20081990 20081990 20081999 C US, C US, M .................

Sodium Cyanide................ 28371100 28371100 28371101 ............... US, C ........... .................

2-Ethyl-hexanol............... 29051600 29051600 29061602 ............... US, C M .................

Lovastatin and simvastatin.... 29322950 29322900 29322999 ............... US, C M .................

Trimethoprim.................. 29335922 29335900 29335906 M US, C M .................

Enalapril maleate............. 29339053 29339000 29339057 ............... US, C M .................

Hexamethylenetetramine........ 29339087 29339000 29339035 M ........... M .................

Sulfamethoxazole.............. 29350048 29350000 29350028 M US, C M .................

Sulfamerizine................. 29350042 29350000 29350099 ............... US, C M .................

Vitamin C and its derivatives. 29362700 29362700 29362701 ............... US, C ........... .................

Dexamethasone................. 29372200 29372200 29379909 ............... US, C ........... .................

[[Page 25991]]

Tetracycline chlorohydrate.... 29413000 29413000 29413001 ............... US, C M .................

Gentamycin.................... 29419050 29419000 29419016 ............... US, C M .................

Film without sprocket holes, 37023100 37023100 37023101 ............... US, C ........... .................

of a width not exceeding 105

mm, for color photography

(polychrome).

Film without sprocket holes, 37024100 37024100 37024101 ............... US, C ........... .................

of a width exceeding 610 mm

and a length exceeding 200

mm, for color photography

(polychrome).

Film, for color photography 37025300 37025300 37025301 ............... US, C ........... .................

(polychrome), of a width

exceeding 16 mm but not

exceeding 35 mm and a length

not exceeding 30 m, for

slides.

Film, for color photography 37025400 37025400 37025401 ............... US, C ........... .................

(polychrome), of a width

exceeding 16 mm but not

exceeding 35 mm and a length

not exceeding 30 m, other

than for slides.

Film, for color photography 37025500 37025500 37025501 ............... US, C ........... .................

(polychrome), of a width

exceeding 16 mm but not

exceeding 35 and of a length

exceeding 30 m.

Black and white motion picture 37029200 27029290 37029201 ............... US, C ........... .................

film, of a width not

exceeding 16 mm and of a

length exceeding 14 m.

Color motion picture film, of 37029400 37029490 37029401 ............... US, C ........... .................

a width exceeding 16 mm but

not exceeding 35 mm and of a

length exceeding 30 m.

Polyethylene tape laminated 39219050 39219090 39219008 C US, C US, M .................

with thermoplastic adhesive.

Venetian blinds of wood....... 44219040 44219040 44219099 C, M US, C US, M .................

Paper of a kind for use in 48083000 48083090 48083002 ............... US, C ........... .................

making masking tape.

Elastomeric monofilaments of 54041080 54041090 54041005 M, C C US, M .................

polyurethane.

Imitations of Catgut.......... 56049000 56049000 56049003, 56049004 C ........... US US-Can only.

Metallized yarn............... 56050010, 56050090 56050000 5605001 M US, C M .................

Woven fabrics of polyethylene, 59039025 59039020 59039002 M US ........... .................

coated or laminated with

plastics on one side only.

Printed Cotton towels......... 63029100 63029100 63029101 M US ........... .................

Briquettes for gas fuel 68159940 68159991, 68159999 68159901, 68159999 C ........... US .................

barbecues.

Ceramic tableware, other than 69120010, 69120000 69120001, 69120099 ............... C M Mex-Can only.

of porcelain or china. 69120020,

69120035,

69120039,

69120041,

69120044,

69120045,

69120046,

69120048,

69120059

Briquettes for gas fuel 69149080 69149000 69149099 C ........... US, M .................

barbecues.

Screws and bolts, whether or 731815xx 73181500 73181501 C, M ........... US, M .................

not with their nuts and

washers, for aircraft.

Screws and bolts, whether or 750890xx 75089020 75089099 C US, C US, M .................

not with their nuts and

washers, for aircraft, of

nickel.

Casting-grade zinc, containing 79011210 79011200 79011201 C, M US, C ........... .................

by weight less than 99.99% of

zinc.

Other zinc.................... 79011250 .................. .................. C ........... ........... .................

Screws and bolts, whether or 81089030 81089090 81089099 C US, C US, M .................

not with their nuts and

washers, for aircraft, of

titanium.

Scissors & Shears--Blanks and 82130030, 82130020, 82130030 82130001 ............... ........... US .................

blades. 82130060,

82130090

Tobacco drying machines....... 84199090 84193190 84193105 ............... US, C ........... .................

Parts of tobacco drying .................. 84199080 84199099 ............... US, C M .................

machines.

Dishwashers................... 84221100 N/A 84221101 ............... US ........... Mex-US only.

Parts of dishwashers.......... 84229002, N/A 84229002, ............... US ........... .................

84229004, 84229003,

84220006 84229004

Machines for cleaning by 84243010, 84243090 84243000 84243001 ............... US, C M .................

pressure.

[[Page 25992]]

Excavating machines........... 84295950 84295910, 84295901 ............... US, C ........... .................

84295920,

84295990

Parts for excavating machines. 84314100, 84214990 84314190 84314101, ............... US, C M .................

84314103,

84314199

Other parts for excavating .................. 84314990 84314902, 84314999 ............... US, C M .................

machines.

Clothes dryers................ 84512100 N/A 84512101, 84512199 ............... US ........... US-Mex only.

Metal casting machines........ 84543000 84543010, 84543090 84543001 ............... US, C ........... .................

Metal processing machines..... 84798100 84798110, 84798190 84798101 ............... US, C ........... .................

Electric switches, other than 85365080 85365010, 85365001, M ........... ........... US-Mex only.

motor starter switches. 85365080, 85365010,

85365091, 85365011

85365099

Other bicycle parts........... 87149190 .................. .................. M, C ........... ........... .................

Bicycle Hubs, other than 87149305, 87149300 87149301 ............... ........... M .................

coaster braking hubs and hub 84719315,

brakes, and free-wheel 84719324,

sprocket-wheels. 84719328,

84719335,

84719370

Bicycle parts, other than of 87149910, 87149920 87149901 ............... ........... M Can-Mex only.

subheading No. 8714.91, 87149950,

8714.92, 8714.93, 8714.94, 87149960,

8714.95 or 8714.96. 87149980,

87149990

Appliance timers.............. 91070040, 91070080 91070010, 91070001 C ........... US, M .................

91070020,

91070090

Parts for appliance timers.... 91149030, 91149050 91149020, 91149001, 91149099 C ........... US .................

91149030,

91149090

Brushes constituting parts of 96035080 96035090 96035001 C ........... US, M .................

machines.

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All remaining tariffs will be eliminated immediately. The 3rd, 4th and 5th columns show the reductions each county provides for the other NAFA parties.

[FR Doc. 97-12405 Filed 5-9-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3190-01-M