Proclamation 5458—To Designate Aruba as a Beneficiary Country for Purposes of the Generalized System of Preferences and the Caribbean Basin Recovery Act

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

1. Section 502 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. 2462), authorizes the President to designate the countries that will be beneficiary developing countries for purposes of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) pursuant to Title V of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.). Such countries are entitled to duty-free entry of eligible articles imported directly therefrom into the customs territory of the United States. Among the countries previously designated as a GSP beneficiary is the Netherlands Antilles, which was included in the list of non-independent countries and territories eligible for benefits of the GSP. Aruba was a part of the Netherlands Ant files at the time of its designation, but has since become a separate and successor political entity.

2. In light of the independence of Aruba from the Netherlands Antilles, and having due regard for the eligibility criteria set forth in Section 502 of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2462), I hereby designate Aruba as a beneficiary developing country for purposes of the GSP.

3. Section 212 of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) (19 U.S.C. 2702) authorizes the President to designate the countries, territories, or successor political entities thereto that will be beneficiary countries for purposes of the CBERA (19 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.). Such countries are entitled to duty-free entry of eligible articles imported directly therefrom into the customs territory of the United States. Among the countries previously designated as a beneficiary country for purposes of the CBERA is the Netherlands Antilles. Aruba was a part of the Netherlands Antilles at the time of its designation, but has since become a separate and successor political entity.

4. In light of the independence of Aruba from the Netherlands Antilles, and having due regard for the eligibility criteria set forth in Section 212 of the CBERA (19 U.S.C. 2702), I hereby designate Aruba as a beneficiary country for purposes of the CBERA.

5. Section 604 of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2483) confers authority upon the President to embody in the Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS) the substance of the relevant provisions of that Act, of other acts affecting import treatment, and of actions taken thereunder.

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 Title V and Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, and Sections 211 through 213 of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, do proclaim that:

(1) General headnote 3(e)(v)(A) to the TSUS, listing those countries and areas eligible for benefits of the GSP, is amended by inserting in alphabetical sequence, in the list of independent countries, "Aruba".

(2) General headnote 3(e)(vii)(A) to the TSUS, listing those countries designated as beneficiary countries for purposes of the CBERA, is modified by inserting in alphabetical sequence "Aruba".

(3) The amendments made by this proclamation shall be effective with respect to articles both: (a) imported on or after January 1, 1976, and (b) entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after January 1, 1986.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 11th day of April in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and tenth.

RONALD REAGAN

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:02 a.m., April 14, 1986]