ExecutiveOrdersEO
Proc 6955--ProclamationClinton · D Quiet signal

Proclamation 6955--

To Provide Duty-Free Treatment to Products of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and Qualifying Industrial Zones

Proclamation 6955 grants duty-free treatment to products from the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and qualifying industrial zones under the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation Act of 1985. It modifies the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, treats articles shipped from these areas as if directly from Israel, allows materials and processing costs from these areas to count toward Israeli origin requirements, and delegates authority to the USTR to designate qualifying industrial zones via Federal Register notice.

Federal Register Open PDF 61 FR 58761

Impact dates

  1. HTS modifications effective for goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption

Market exposure

Policy exposure mapping — not investment advice. Illustrative public companies are incomplete and not recommendations.

Sectors

Other industrial

Mechanisms

Tariff

Role pressure

  • ProtectiveImporter — duty-free entry reduces cost for qualifying articles from West Bank, Gaza Strip, and qualifying industrial zones
  • ProtectiveTrading-partner exporter — Israeli and zone-based producers gain preferential access to U.S. market versus non-FTA competitors
  • ProtectiveDownstream manufacturer — inclusion of zone materials/processing in Israeli origin calculations expands qualifying supply chain inputs

Geographies

USOTHER

Exposure dates

  • — HTS modifications effective for goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption

Illustrative public companies

Curated watchlist matches by sector/role — incomplete; not a recommendation.

AAPLApple

Confidence: high · Policy alerts

Key directives

  • Modify HTS to provide duty-free entry for qualifying articles from West Bank, Gaza Strip, or qualifying industrial zones
  • Treat articles from these areas as directly shipped from Israel if Agreement requirements met
  • Include materials and processing costs from these areas in Israeli origin calculations
  • Delegate to USTR authority to specify qualifying industrial zones via Federal Register notice
  • Supersede inconsistent prior proclamations and Executive orders to extent of inconsistency

Who is ordered

Timeline

Immediate

  • Proclamation signed November 13, 1996
  • HTS modifications take effect 3 days after Federal Register publication (November 18, 1996), i.e., November 21, 1996

Near term (90d)

  • USTR may begin designating qualifying industrial zones via Federal Register notice

Long term

  • Ongoing duty-free treatment for qualifying articles
  • Potential expansion of qualifying industrial zones affecting trade patterns

Risks & tensions

  • Political sensitivity of treating West Bank and Gaza Strip products under U.S.-Israel trade framework
  • Potential tension with Palestinian trade autonomy claims
  • Delegation to USTR creates zone-designation process outside direct presidential control
  • Supersession clause may create uncertainty about which prior trade proclamations are affected
Proclamation 6955--: To Provide Duty-Free Treatment to Products of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and Qualifying Industrial Zones · Executive Orders