Prepared by the Interdepartmental Trade Agreements Organization Consisting of the Departments of State, Treasury, Defense, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Interior, the U. S. Tariff Commission and the International Cooperation Administration. November 1960 UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF STATE Publication 7105 Commercial Policy Series 176 Released November 1960 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office UNITED STATES PARTICIPATION IN TRADE-AGREEMENT SUPPLEMENTARY NOTICE OF UNITED STATES INTENTION TO NEGOTIATE, The Interdepartmental Committee on Trade Agreements (TAC), with the approval of the President, today supplemented its notice officially published on May 28, 1960 (Department of State Publication 6986) that the United States Government intends to participate, under the authority of the Trade Agreements Act of 1934 as amended and extended, in multilateral tariff negotiations within the framework of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The notice issued today has attached to it a supplementary list of products on which the United States may consider offering tariff concessions for the purpose of obtaining from other countries concessions of benefit to United States export trade. Issuance of the list of products attached to the supplementary notice provides an opportunity for all interested persons to submit any information they may wish on whether or not the United States Government should offer concessions on individual products. No decision has been reached regarding the possibility of offering a tariff concession on any article on the list. Such a decision will be made only after there has been an opportunity to appraise all information obtained from the public during the supplementary hearing process now being started, as well as that otherwise available to the agencies of the Government. A number of so-called basket categories of products have been included in the list. The extent to which offers of concessions on items included in these basket categories may be made will depend on the information that is developed with regard to the content of the categories. An opportunity will be provided for importers and other interested persons to submit detailed information on specific articles included in those categories. The negotiations, which are sponsored by the GATT, began in Geneva, Switzerland in September 1960. The conference is being held in two phases, with the first being concerned principally with two types of renegotiations and the second with negotiations for an exchange of new concessions. During the second phase of the conference, scheduled to begin in January 1961, a number of the contracting parties, as well as the Commission of the European Economic Community, expect to negotiate with each other for an exchange of new concessions. Several countries will also be negotiating for the purpose of acceding to the GATT. The |