Proclamation 4632—Temporary Duty Increase on the Importation Into the United States of Certain Bolts, Nuts, and Screws of Iron or Steel

1. Pursuant to section 201 (d) (1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (the Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. 2251(d) (1)), the United States International Trade Commission, hereinafter referred to as the USITC, on November 3, 1978, reported to the President (USITC Report 201-37) the results of its investigation under section 201 (b) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2251(b)). The USITC determined that certain bolts, nuts and screws of iron or steel provided for in items 646.49, 646.54, 646.56, and 646.63 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS) are being imported into the United States in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious injury, or the threat thereof, to the domestic industry producing articles like or directly competitive with the imported articles. The USITC recommended the imposition of additional duties on imports of the above specified articles.

2. On December 22, 1978, pursuant to section 202(h)(1) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2252(b) (1)), and after taking into account the considerations specified in section 202(c) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2252 (c)), I determined to prevent or remedy the injury or threat thereof found to exist by the USITC through the proclamation of a temporary duty increase different from that recommended by the USITC. On December 22, 1978, in accordance with section 203 (b) (1) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2253(b)(1)), I transmitted a report to the Congress setting forth my determination and intention to proclaim a temporary duty increase and stating the reasons why my decision differed from the action recommended by the USITC.

3. The bolts and nuts provided for in items 646.54 and 646.56 of the TSUS are currently eligible for duty-free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), and section 503(c)(2) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 24631 (c) (2)) provides that no article shall be eligible for purposes of the GSP for any period during which such article is the subject of any action proclaimed pursuant to section 203 of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2253).

4. Section 203(e) (1) of the Trade Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2253(e) (1)) requires that import relief be proclaimed and take effect within 15 days after the import relief determination date.

5. Pursuant to sections 203(a) (1), 203 (e) (1), and 503(c) (2) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2253(a) (1), 2253(e) (1), and 2463(c) (2)), I am providing import relief, as hereinafter proclaimed, through the temporary increase of import duty on, and, where applicable, the removal from eligibility for duty-free entry under the GSP, of the bolts, nuts and screws of iron or steel covered by the affirmative finding of the USITC.

Now, Therefore, I, Jimmy Carter, President of the United States of America, acting under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the statutes of the United States, including General Headnote 4 of the TSUS (19 U.S.C. 1202), sections 203, 503 and 604 of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2253, 2463, and 2483), and in accordance with Articles I and XIX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) (61 Stat. (pt. 5) A12 and 61 Stat. (pt. 5) A58; 8 UST (pt. 2) 1786), do proclaim that-

(i) Part I of Schedule XX to the GATT is modified to conform to the action taken in the Annex to this proclamation.

(2) Subpart A, part 2 of the Appendix to the TSUS is modified as set forth in the Annex to this proclamation.

(3) GSP eligibility is removed for the bolts and nuts covered by items 923.51 and 923.52 of the Annex to this proclamation.

(4) This proclamation shall be effective as to articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after January 6, 1979, and before the close of January 5, 1982, unless the period of its effectiveness is earlier expressly modified or terminated.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of January, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and seventy-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and third.

JIMMY CARTER