Proclamation 5679—Specialty Steel Import Relief

Extension of Temporary Duty Increases and Quantitative Limitations on the Importation Into the United States of Certain Stainless Steel and Alloy Tool Steel

1. On July 5, 1983, pursuant to section 202(b)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (the Act) (19 U.S.C. 2252(b)(1)) and after taking into account the considerations specified in section 202(c) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 2252(c)) and the report and recommendations of the United States International Trade Commission (the Commission), I determined to impose additional tariffs and quantitative restrictions on imports of certain bars; wire rods; and plates, sheets and strips, not cut, not pressed, and not stamped to nonrectangular shape; all the foregoing of stainless steel or certain alloy tool steel; and round wire of high-speed tool steel, provided for in specified items of the Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS) (19 U.S.C. 1202). By Proclamation 5074 of July 19, 1983, pursuant to sections 203(a)(1), 203(a)(3), and 203(e)(1) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 2253(a)(1), 2253(a)(3), and 2253(e)(1)), I provided import relief through the temporary imposition of increased tariffs and quantitative restrictions on certain stainless steel and alloy tool steel as set forth in the Annex to that Proclamation.

2. Further, in Proclamation 5074 I directed the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to take such actions and perform such functions for the United States as may be necessary to administer and implement such relief, to negotiate orderly marketing agreements pursuant to section 203 of the Act (19 U.S.C. 2253), to modify such relief pursuant to section 203, and to make any changes in the headnote or TSUS items created in the Annex to that Proclamation that may be necessary to implement the foregoing authority. I also directed the USTR to conduct an annual review of the necessity for and effectiveness of such relief and to recommend any appropriate action under section 203(h)(4) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 2253(h)(4)).

3. On September 18, 1984, I established a national policy for the steel industry and directed the USTR to coordinate and direct the implementation of that policy, including the negotiation of new arrangements with exporting countries and the reaffirmation of existing measures limiting steel exports into the United States. Supplemental authority to enforce the national policy for the steel industry was provided in Title VIII of the Trade and Tariff Act of 1984 (19 U.S.C. 2253 note).

4. Pursuant to the above authority, the USTR concluded agreements with the European Community and 18 other exporting nations and made such modifications to the import relief proclaimed in Proclamation 5074 as were necessary to implement these agreements.

5. I have now determined that the relief provided in Proclamation 5074, as subsequently modified, should be extended through September 30, 1989, as set forth in the Annex to this Proclamation. Finally, I have determined to continue the authority of the USTR under the national policy for the steel industry to take such actions as he determines necessary and appropriate to carry out that policy, including further actions with respect to articles subject to the relief set forth in the Annex to this Proclamation.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, 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 but not limited to sections 203 and 604 of the Act (19 U.S.C. 2253 and 2483), and in accordance with Article XIX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) (16 Stat. [pt. 5] A58; 8 UST [pt. 2] 1786), do proclaim that-

(1) Part I of Schedule XX of the GATE 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) The authority delegated to the USTR by Proclamation 5074 is hereby continued throughout the duration of the relief set forth in the Annex to this Proclamation.

(4) The President's authority to prescribe regulations concerning any restriction proclaimed in Proclamation 5074 and continued by this Proclamation, or governing the entry or withdrawal from warehouse of articles covered by orderly marketing agreements negotiated thereunder or of like articles that are the product of countries not parties to any such agreement, previously delegated by Proclamation 5074 to the Secretary of the Treasury, shall continue to be exercised under the terms provided in such Proclamation for the duration of the relief provided herein.

(5) The Secretary of the Treasury shall take such actions as the USTR shall determine are necessary to implement any import relief under this Proclamation, or modifications thereof.

(6) Nothing in this Proclamation shall limit the authority delegated to the USTR pursuant to the national policy for the steel industry, including the authority to take such further action as he may determine to be necessary and appropriate to carry out that policy.

(7) This Proclamation shall be effective with respect to articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after July 20, 1987, and before the close of September 30, 1989, unless the period of its effectiveness is earlier expressly modified or terminated.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 16th day of July, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eightyseven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twelfth.

RONALD REAGAN