Proclamation 2715—Imposing Quota on Imports of Short Harsh or Rough Cotton

Whereas, pursuant to section 22 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 as amended by section 31 of the act of August 24, 1935, 49 Stat. 750, 773, as amended by section 5 of the act of February 29, 1936, 49 Stat. 1148, 1152, and as reenacted by section 1 of the act of the President issued a proclamation on September 5, 1939 (No. 2351, 54 Stat. 2640), limiting the quantities of certain cotton and cotton waste which might be entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, which proclamation was suspended in part by the President's proclamations of December 19, 1940 (No. 2450, 54 Stat. 2769), March 31, 1942 (No. 2544, 56 Stat. 1944), and June 29, 1942 (No. 2560, 56 Stat. 1963); and

Whereas, the said proclamation of September 5, 1939, excepted from the quota limitations specified therein harsh or rough cotton having a staple of less than three-fourths of one inch in length and chiefly used in the manufacture of blankets and blanketing; and

Whereas, pursuant to the said section 22, as further amended by the act of January 25, 1940 (54 Stat. 17), the United States Tariff Commission has made a supplemental investigation to determine whether changed circumstances require the modification of the President's proclamation of September 5, 1939, with respect to harsh or rough cotton having a staple of less than three-fourths of one inch in length, in order to carry out the purposes of the said section 22, and to determine whether such cotton is being or is practically certain to be imported into the United States under such conditions and in sufficient quantities as to render or tend to render ineffective or materially interfere with any program or operation undertaken, or to reduce substantially the amount of any product processed in the United States from cotton subject to and with respect to which any program is in operation under the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, as amended, the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 590a-590q), or section 32 of the act of August 24, 1935, 49 Stat. 774, as amended (7 U.S.C., 612c); and

Whereas, in the course of the investigation, after due notice, a public hearing was held on October 14 and 15, 1946, at which parties interested were given opportunity to be present, to produce evidence, and to be heard, and, in addition to the hearing, the Commission made such investigation as it deemed necessary for a full disclosure and presentation of the facts; and

Whereas, the Commission has made findings of fact and has transmitted to me a report of such findings and its recommendations based thereon, together with a transcript of the evidence submitted at the hearing, and has also transmitted a copy of such report to the Secretary of Agriculture:

Now, Therefore, I, Harry S. Truman, President of the United States of America, do hereby find and declare, on the basis of the investigation and report of the Tariff Commission, that changed circumstances require the modification of the President's proclamation of September 5, 1939, with respect to harsh or rough cotton having a staple of less than three-fourths of one inch in length, to carry out the purposes of section 22 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, as amended, and that such cotton is being imported into the United States under such conditions and in sufficient quantities as to tend to render ineffective the domestic cotton programs undertaken under section 32 of the act of August 24, 1935, 49 Stat. 774, as amended. Accordingly, pursuant to the said section 22 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, as amended, I hereby modify the President's proclamation of September 5, 1939 (No. 2351) by deleting therefrom the words "and chiefly used in the manufacture of blankets and blanketing" wherever they appear therein; and I do hereby proclaim that the total quantity of harsh or rough cotton having a staple of less than three-fourths of one inch in length which may be entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, in the year commencing September 20, 1946, and in any subsequent year commencing September 20, shall not exceed 70 million pounds, which quantity I hereby find and declare shown by the investigation to be necessary to prescribe in order that the entry of such cotton will not tend to render ineffective the programs undertaken with respect to cotton under section 32 of the act of August 24, 1935, 49 Stat. 774, as amended. I further find and declare that the total quantity of harsh or rough cotton having a staple of less than three-fourths of one inch in length which is permitted entry hereunder, is not less than the minimum permissible quantity computed under the proviso to section 22(b) of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, as amended.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington this first day of February in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and forty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and seventy-first.

HARRY S. TRUMAN

By the President:

G. C. MARSHALL,

Secretary of State.