House Passes AGOA III Bill
On June 14, 2004, the House of Representatives approved, by voice vote, H.R. 4103, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Acceleration Act of 2004. (This bill is
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often referred to as "AGOA III.")
As passed by the House, H.R. 4103 would, among other things (partial list):
extend both the standard Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program (i.e., A, A*, and A) and AGOA-GSP program (i.e, D) for AGOA beneficiary countries through September 30, 2015;
extend through September 30, 2015 and increase the aggregate duty-free cap for AGOA apparel (HTS 9819.11.09 and 9819.11.12);
extend through September 30, 2007 and revise the duty-free sublimit for AGOA apparel made from "third country" fabric/yarn (HTS 9819.11.12);
allow AGOA-qualifying apparel to incorporate nonqualifying collars or cuffs (cut or knit-to-shape), drawstrings, shoulder pads or other padding, waistbands, belt attached to the article, straps containing elastic, and elbow patches, regardless of the country of origin of the item;
provide for retroactive AGOA duty- and quota-free treatment for entries of apparel made on/after October 1, 2000 and before the date of enactment of H.R. 4103 that meet the requirements of AGOA for duty- and quota-free treatment (19 USC 3721(b), as amended by Section 3108 of the Trade Act of 2002 and H.R. 4103); and
expand the "de minimis" special rule threshold to 10% (from 7%).
Senate Version of H.R. 4103 to be Introduced on June 16, 2004
Congressional sources indicate that on June 16, 2004 the leadership of the Senate Finance Committee will introduce an AGOA III bill in the Senate that is expected to be identical to H.R. 4103.
One source opined that S. 1900, a previous AGOA III bill introduced in the Senate in November 2003, is not likely to receive any further action.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 05/10/04, 05/11/04, 05/12/04, and 05/13/04 news, 04051005, 04051105, 04051220, and 04051325 for BP summaries of H.R. 4103 as approved by the House Ways and Means Committee.)
H.R. 4103 as passed by the House on June 14, 2004 available at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=108_cong_bills&docid=f:h4103eh.txt.pdf.H. Rept. 108-501 (dated May 19, 2004) available at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=108_cong_reports&docid=f:hr501.108.pdf.
Senate Finance Committee memorandum (dated 06/14/04) available at http://finance.senate.gov/press/Gpress/2004/prg061404b.pdf.