Details on the House- and Senate-Passed Conference Version of Miscellaneous Trade Bill (Part VI)
On November 19, 2004, the Senate passed the conference version of H.R. 1047, the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004. The House passed the conference version of H.R. 1047 on October 8, 2004. The conference version of H.R. 1047 has now been cleared for the White House.
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This is Part VI of a multi-part series of summaries on the conference version of H.R. 1047 and highlights various African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)- and U.S. Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA)-related technical and other amendments.
AGOA Amendments
The conference version would amend section 8(d) of the AGOA Acceleration Act (AGOA III, Public Law (P.L.) 108-274), which provided retroactive AGOA duty- and quota-free treatment to entries of apparel that meet the requirements of section 112(b) of AGOA, as amended by Section 3108 of the Trade Act of 2002 and AGOA III, in order to apply this retroactive duty- and quota-free treatment to articles of apparel that meet the requirements of section 112 of AGOA (rather than section 112(b)).
As a result of this amendment, entries of apparel eligible for the other provisions in section 112 (e.g., the AGOA III changes i) for certain components (collars and cuffs, drawstrings, shoulder pads or other padding, waistbands, belt attached to the article, straps containing elastic, or elbow patches), and ii) to the de minimis rule threshold) would be entitled to AGOA duty- and quota-free treatment, retroactive to October 1, 2000.
The conference version also indicates that liquidation or reliquidation to obtain this retroactive benefit may occur with respect to an affected entry if a request is filed within 90 days after the date of enactment and the request contains sufficient information to locate the entry or reconstruct the entry if it cannot be located.
CBTPA Amendments
The conference version also contains several technical amendments pertaining to the CBTPA, as follows:
Hybrid (fabric and knit-to-shape) CBTPA apparel. A technical error in 19 USC 2703(b)(2)(A)(i) would be corrected by adding the phrase "or both" to indicate that subject CBTPA apparel articles sewn or otherwise assembled in one or more CBTPA beneficiary countries can be made from fabrics wholly formed and cut in the U.S. and components knit-to-shape in the U.S.
(19 USC 2703(b)(2)(A)(ii), for another type of CBTPA apparel, already contains the phrase "or both" to indicate this.)
Use of CBTPA fabric or yarn in apparel that uses NAFTA Annex 401 or other "commercially unavailable" fabric or yarn. The conference version would amend 19 USC 2703(b)(2)(A)(v)(I), regarding apparel articles assembled from fabrics or yarn listed in NAFTA Annex 401 as not widely available in commercial quantities in the U.S., to indicate that fabrics or yarn formed in a CBTPA beneficiary country may be used.
The amended paragraph would read as follows (deleted language noted by <carrots>):
"Apparel articles that are both cut (or knit-to-shape) and sewn or otherwise assembled in one or more CBTPA beneficiary countries, <from fabrics or yarn that is not formed in the United States or in one or more CBTPA beneficiary countries, > to the extent that apparel articles of such fabrics or yarn would be eligible for preferential treatment, without regard to the source of the fabrics or yarn, under Annex 401 of the NAFTA."
(This change would similarly affect 19 USC 2703(b)(2)(A)(v)(II), a CBTPA provision that pertains to apparel articles containing additional fabrics or yarns that CITA determines cannot be supplied by the domestic industry in commercial quantities in a timely manner.)
Special origin rule. The conference version would amend the special origin rule in 19 USC 2703(b)(2)(A)(vii)(IV) so that it reads as follows (changes noted by <carrots>)
An article otherwise eligible for preferential treatment under clause (i), (ii), <or (ix)> of this subparagraph shall not be ineligible for such treatment because the article contains nylon filament yarn (other than elastomeric yarn) that is classifiable under HTS 5402.10.30, 5402.10.60, 5402.31.30, 5402.31.60, 5402.32.30, 5402.32.60, 5402.41.10, 5402.41.90, 5402.51.00, or 5402.61.00 as duty-free from a country that is party to an agreement with the U.S. establishing a free trade area, which entered into force before January 1, 19951.
(Clause ix, which would be newly referenced in the "special origin rule" covers apparel articles assembled in one or more CBTPA beneficiary countries from certain U.S. and CBTPA beneficiary country components.)
1 These countries are Canada, Mexico, or Israel.
Apparel articles assembled in one or more CBTPA beneficiary countries. The conference version would amend Section 3107(a)(1)(B) of the Trade Act of 2002 (which amended the provision on articles eligible for CBTPA preferential treatment in 19 USC 2703(b)(2)(A)) by striking the phrase "(B) by adding at the end the following:" and replacing it with the phrase "(B) by amending the last two sentences to read as follows:"
See ITT's Online Archives or 10/19/045. 10/20/04, 10/22/04, 11/01/04, and 11/02/04 news, 04101905, 04102005, 04102225, 04110115, and 04110225, for Parts I-V.
Legislative text of the Conference version of H.R. 1047 available at http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/hr1047/HR1047confreptlegtext.pdf.
Joint explanatory statement of the conference committee regarding H.R. 1047 available at
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/hr1047/hr1047confreptexplanstatement.pdf.