April 11, 1986

Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)

On December 19, 1985, pursuant to Section 502 of the Trade Act of 1974, I informed you of my intent to designate Aruba as a beneficiary of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. Pursuant to Section 212 of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA), I now wish to inform you of my intent to designate Aruba as a beneficiary of the trade-liberalizing measures provided for in the CBERA program.

On January 1, 1986, Aruba became independent of the Netherlands Antilles, a GSP and CBERA beneficiary country. As a developing country and a successor political entity to a former part of the Netherlands Antilles, Aruba is eligible to be designated as a GSP and CBERA beneficiary. Aruba's prior conduct as a beneficiary, together with recent assurances of the government of Aruba, have demonstrated to my satisfaction that its laws, practices, and policies will remain in conformity with the statutory designation criteria of the GSP and CBERA programs.

Designation will entitle Aruba to continue to enjoy in its separate capacity the same duty-free treatment for nonexcluded products that Aruba enjoyed when it was part of the Netherlands Antilles. As a CBERA beneficiary, Aruba will continue to have the opportunity to become eligible for the convention expense tax deduction under Section 274(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, by entering into an exchange of information agreement with the United States on tax matters.

The proclamation will be made retroactive to January 1 to avoid any hiatus in Aruba's benefits. The GSP program expires on July 4, 1993; the CBERA program expires on September 30, 1995.

This Administration looks forward to working closely with the Aruban government and with the private sectors of the United States and Aruba to ensure that the wide-ranging opportunities opened by the CBERA are fully utilized.

Sincerely,

Ronald Reagan

Note: Identical letters were sent to Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Speaker of the House of Representatives, and George Bush, President of the Senate. The original was not available for verification of the content of this letter.

 

Date
04/11/1986