the Implementation of Textile Agreements, concerning restriction on entry of wool textile products in category 443 manufactured or produced in Colombia. This directive cancels and supersedes that Committee's directive of June 30, 1977 (T.D. 77-186).

This directive was published in the FEDERAL REGISTER on December 22, 1977 (42 FR 64142), by the Committee.

This directive cancels and supersedes the directive of June 30, 1977 from the Chairman of the Committee for tht Implementation of Textile Agreements which established levels of restraint for certain categories of cotton, wool and man-made fiber textile products, produced or manufactured in Colombia and exported to the United States during the twelve-month period which began on July 1, 1977.

Under the terms of the Arrangement Regarding International Trade in Textiles done at Geneva on December 20, 1973, pursuant to the Bilateral Cotton, Wool and Man-Made Fiber Textile Agreement of May 28, 1975, between the Governments of the United States and Colombia, and in accordance with the provisions of Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, you are directed to prohibit, effective on January 1, 1978 and for the twelve-month period which began on July 1, 1977 and extends through June 30, 1978, entry into the United States for consumption, or withdrawal from warehouse for consumption, of wool textile products in Category 443 (formerly Category 120) in excess of the following level of restraint:

Category
443

Twelve-Month Level of Restraint
134,130 units

In carrying out this directive, entries of wool textile products in Category 120, produced or manufactured in Colombia and exported to the United States prior to January 1, 1978, shall be charged to the level of restraint set forth herein for Category 443.

The levels of restraint set forth above are subject to adjustment pursuant to the provisions of the bilateral agreement of May 28, 1975, between the Governments of the United States and Colombia, which provide, in part, that: (1) within the aggregate and applicable group. limits, specific limits may be exceeded by designated percentages; (2) specific levels of restraint may be increased for carryover and carryforward up to 11 percent of the applicable category limit; and (3) administrative arrangements or adjustments may be made to resolve minor problems arising in the implementation of the agreement. Any appropriate adjustments under the provisions of the bilateral agreement will be made to you by letter.

A detailed description of the categories in terms of T.S.U.S.A. numbers was published in Statistical Headnote 4, Schedule 3 of the TARIFF SCHEDULES OF THE UNITED STATES ANNOTATED (1978).

In carrying out the above directions, entry into the United State for consumption shall be construed to include entry for consumption into the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

The actions taken with respect to the Government of Colombia and with respect to imports of cotton, wool and man-made fiber textile products from Colombia have been determined by the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements to involve foreign affairs functions of the United States. Therefore, the directions of the Commissioner of Customs, being necessary to the implementaion of such actions, fall within the foreign affairs exception to the rulemaking provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553, This letter will be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER.

Sincerely,

EDWARD GOTTFRIED
Acting Chairman, Committee for the
Implementation of Textile Agreements:

(T.D. 78-52)

Foreign Currencies-Daily Rates for Countries Not On Quarterly List

Rates of exchange certified to the Secretary of the Treasury by the Federal Rererve Bank of New York for the Hong Kong dollar, Iran rial, People's Republic of China yuan, Philippines peso, Singapore dollar, Thailand baht (tical)

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY,

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS;

Washington, D.C., February 2, 1978.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, pursuant to section 522 (c), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (31 U.S.C. 372(c)), has certified

buying rates in U.S. dollars for the dates and foreign currencies shown below. These rates of exchange are published for the information and use of Customs officers and others concerned pursuant to Part 159, Subpart C, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 159, Subpart C).

(T.D. 78-53)

Entry of Merchandise-Customs Regulations amended

Part 141, Customs Regulations, relating to the documents and information required to be filed at the time of importation of certain articles of steel, amended

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY,

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS,

Washington, D.C.

TITLE 19-CUSTOMS DUTIES

CHAPTER I-UNITED STATES CUSTOMS SERVICE

PART 141-ENTRY OF MERCHANDISE

AGENCY: United States Customs Service, Department of the Treasury. ACTION: Final rule

SUMMARY: This document amends the Customs Regulations to require that a special invoice be presented to Customs for each shipment of certain articles of steel having an aggregate purchase price over $2,500. The additional information provided on the special invoice will be used in the administration and enforcement of the Antidumping Act, 1921, as amended.

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 21, 1978

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

With respect to the trigger price mechanism (described under "Supplementary Information," below), Peter D. Ehrenhaft, Deputy Assistant Secretary and Special Counsel (Tariff Affairs), Department of the Treasury, Washington, D.C. 20220, 202566-2806. With respect to other aspects of the amendments, Ben L. Irvin, Duty Assessment Division, U.S Customs Service, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, D.C. 20229,

202-566-8121.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

BACKGROUND

On December 30, 1977, notice was published in the FEDERAL REGISTER (42 FR 65214) of a proposal to amend the Customs Regulations to require that a special invoice be presented to Customs for each shipment of certain articles of steel having an aggregate purchase price over $2,500. As explained in the supplementary information to that notice, the additional information provided by the special invoice

would be used in the administration and enforcement of the Antidumping Act, 1921, as amended.

In addition, the notice announced that the Secretary of the Treasury would implement a "trigger price mechanism" (TPM) as recommended to and approved by the President and that "trigger prices" for certain steel mill products would be established as the basis upon which imports of such products would be monitored for the purpose of determining whether investigations under the Antidumping Act, 1921, as amended, would be appropriate.

Written comments were invited from all interested persons on the proposed amendments to be received on or before January 27, 1978. Many comments were received in response to that notice. As explained below, the comments have resulted in minor changes in the proposed amendments.

With respect to the trigger price mechanism, the Department of the Treasury announced the base prices to be used for certain importations of steel mill products in a notice published in the FEDERAL REGISTER on January 9, 1978 (43 FR 1464).

Subsequently, in a notice published in the FEDERAL REGISTER on February 3, 1978 (43 FR 4703), the Department announced "extras" to be used in the trigger price mechanism for 16 of the 17 steel mill products for which base prices were published in the FEDERAL REGISTER of January 9, 1978.

DISCUSSION OF MAJOR COMMENTS

SOME IMPORTERS WILL BE REQUIRED TO FILE BOTH THE NEW SPECIAL SUMMARY STEEL INVOICE (SSSI) AND THE SPECIAL CUSTOMS INVOICE (CF 5515)

Under amended section 141.83, importers of those steel products specified in section 141.83 (b) (2) will be required to file both the SSSI and the Special Customs Invoice (SCI), unless the filing of the SCI is waived by the district director of Customs. Several commenters stated that, when applicable, only the SSSI should be required. One commenter suggested that all the data necessary to the TPM should be included in the SCI without the adoption of a new form.

The reason for retaining the optional requirement of an SCI is that certain information in the SCI is applicable only to a limited number of importations and it is impracticable to incorporate these items into the SSSI because of space limitation on the new form. Therefore, there will be a continuing need for both the SCI and the SSSI in a limited number of cases. District directors will be instructed to require both forms only when necessary. Because of the specialized nature of the information required for purposes of the TPM, the adoption of the new form is essential. Further, importers could not furnish this information readily on the SCI because that form has no space for providing it.