On January 23, 2020, President Trump signed Proclamation 9979 – to Further Facilitate Positive Adjustment to Competition From Imports of Large Residential Washers (to be published in the Federal Register on January 28, 2020), which modifies the quantitative limitations, established in Proclamation 9694 of January 23, 2018, applicable to imports of washers under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) subheadings 8450.11.00 and 8450.20.00, by allocating the within-quota quantities for the third quota year on a quarterly basis. Accordingly, subchapter III of chapter 99 of the HTS is modified as set forth in the Annex to this proclamation.
The modification is being taken because the President determined that additional action is necessary to eliminate circumvention of the TRQ by ensuring that within-quota quantities of imports of washers are spread throughout the year, thus eliminating the possibility that importers’ concentration of imports of washers in a limited period would distort the quantity of washers in the U.S. market and undermine the positive effect of the TRQ on the domestic industry’s adjustment to import competition. The modifications to the HTS made by Proclamation 9979, including the Annex hereto, shall be effective with respect to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. EST on February 7, 2020, and shall continue in effect as provided in the Annex to the proclamation, unless such actions are earlier expressly reduced, modified, or terminated. One year from the termination of the safeguard measure established in the proclamation, the US note and tariff provisions established in the Annex to the proclamation shall be deleted from the HTS.
