Proclamation 4279—Modification of Trade Agreement Concessions and Adjustment of Duty on Certain Ball Bearings

1. Whereas, pursuant to the authority vested in him by the Constitution and the statutes, including section 350 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, (19 U.S.C. 1351) and section 201 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1821) (TEA), the President, by proclamations, including Proclamation No. 3822 of December 16, 1967 (82 Stat. 1455), proclaimed such modifications of existing duties as were found to be required or appropriate to carry out certain trade agreements into which he had entered;

2. Whereas among the proclaimed modifications were modifications in the rate of duty on ball bearings which are now provided for in item 680.35 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS);

3. Whereas the United States Tariff Commission has submitted to me a report of its Investigation No. TEA—I-27 of July 30, 1973 under section 301 (b) (1) of the TEA (19 U.S.C. 1901) and a supplemental report with respect to such investigation pursuant to my request for additional information under section 351(a) (4) of the TEA (19 U.S.C. 1981 (a) (4)), on the basis of which investigation and a hearing duly held in connection therewith the said Commission has determined in part that radial ball bearings having art outside diameter of 9 mm and over but not over 100 mm, provided for in TSUS item 680.35 are, as a result in major part of concessions granted thereon under trade agreements, being imported in such increased quantities as to cause serious injury to the domestic industry producing like or directly competitive products;

4. Whereas section 302(a) (1) and section 351(a) (1) of the TEA (19 U.S.C. 1902(a) (1) and 19 U.S.C. 1981(a) (1)) authorize the President, upon receiving an affirmative finding of the Tariff Commission under section 301(b) of the TEA with respect to an industry, to proclaim such increase in, or imposition of, any duty or other import restriction on the articles causing or threatening to cause serious injury to such industry as he determines to be necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury to such industry;

5. Whereas section 302(a) (2) and section 302(a) (3), respectively, of the TEA (19 U.S.C. 1902(a) (2) and 19 U.S.C. 1902(a) (3)) authorize the President, upon receiving an affirmative finding of the Tariff Commission under section 301(b) of the TEA with respect to an industry, to provide with respect to such industry that its firms may request the Secretary of Commerce for certifications of eligibility to apply for adjustment assistance under chapter 2 of title III of the TEA (19 U.S.C. Chapter 7, Subchapter III, Part II) and that its workers may request the Secretary of Labor for certifications of eligibility to apply for adjustment assistance under chapter 3 of title III of the TEA (19 U.S.C. Chapter 7, Subchapter III, Part III); and

6. Whereas I have determined that the rates of duty hereinafter proclaimed are, when coupled with the adjustment assistance hereinafter provided, necessary to remedy serious injury to the industry producing radial ball bearings.

Now, Therefore, I, Richard M. Nixon, President of the United States of America, acting under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the statutes, including sections 302(a) (1), (2), (3), and (4) and 351(a) (1) of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, and in accordance with Article XIX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (61 Stat. (pt. 5) A58; 8 UST (pt. 2) 1786), do proclaim that—

1. The tariff concessions on ball bearings for item 680.35 in Part I of Schedule XX to the Geneva (1967) Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (19 UST (pt. 2) 1530 et seq.) are modified in part to conform with the provisions set forth in the annex to this proclamation for such time and to such extent as provided for therein.

2. Subpart A of Part 2 of the Appendix to the Tariff Schedules of the United States is modified by the insertion, in numerical sequence, of such new items as are set forth in the annex to this proclamation.

3. The modifications in rates of duty established by paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be effective as to articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption during the period commencing May 1, 1974 and terminating at the close of April 30, 1978.

4. Provision is hereby made with respect to the industry producing radial ball bearings that its firms may request the Secretary of Commerce for certifications of eligibility to apply for adjustment assistance under chapter 2 of title III of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and that its workers may request the Secretary of Labor for certifications of eligibility to apply for adjustment assistance under chapter 3 of title III of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 29th day of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-four and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred ninety-eighth.

RICHARD NIXON