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On December 29, 2020, the Federal Register published Presidential Proclamation 10128 of December 22, 2020 – To Take Certain Actions Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act and for Other Purposes, which takes the following actions:

  • Designates the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country for purposes of African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and modifies general note 16(a) to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) to add the DRC;
  • Designates the DRC as a lesser developed beneficiary sub-Saharan African country and modifies note 2(d) to subchapter XIX of chapter 98 of the HTS by inserting “Democratic Republic of Congo” in alphabetical sequence in the list of lesser developed beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries;

The above designations and modifications shall be effective with respect to articles that are entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after January 1, 2021.

  • Modifies the HTS as provided for in Annex I to the proclamation in order to implement United States tariff commitments under the US-Israel Free Trade Agreement’s (USIFTA) 2004 US-Israel Agreement in the trade in agricultural products through December 31, 2021, with effect for eligible agricultural products of Israel that are entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after January 1, 2021 and continue in effect through December 31, 2021.
  • Modifies general note 17(f)(i), HTS, by deleting “September 30, 2020” and inserting, in lieu thereof, “September 30, 2030”. in order to reflect the extension of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA).
  • Modifies the HTS as set forth in Annex II to the proclamation in order to modify duties on certain goods to carry out the agreement regarding tariff barriers with the European Union. Modifications for subheadings listed in paragraphs 1(a)-(f) of Annex II shall be effective with respect to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after August 1, 2020, for which entry is unliquidated or otherwise not final as of that date, and with respect to subheadings listed in paragraphs 2(a)-(e) of Annex II with respect to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after August 1, 2021, and remain in effect until the date on which the European Union ceases to carry out the agreement, as determined by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in a notice published in the Federal Register. The HTS shall be modified to revert to the duty rate in effect on July 31, 2020, for each subheading identified in Annex II, effective on that date as determined by the USTR. The USTR shall publish notice of such a determination in the Federal Register.