To establish an earned import allowance program under Public Law 109-53, and for other purposes.
Latest action · Jul 30, 2008 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJul 22, 2008
- Passed HouseJul 29, 2008
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Amends the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act to direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish an earned import allowance program, which shall provide earned import allowance certificates to any producer or entity controlling production of eligible apparel articles in the Dominican Republic, based on specified elements. Specifies as eligible apparel articles cotton (but not denim) trousers, bib and brace overalls, breeches and shorts, skirts and divided skirts, and pants.
Declares that such apparel articles wholly assembled in, and imported directly from, the Dominican Republic shall enter the United States free of duty, without regard to the source of the fabric or yarns from which the articles are made, if they are accompanied by an earned import allowance certificate that reflects the amount of credits equal to the total square meter equivalents of fabric in such apparel articles.
Requires the issuance of one credit to a producer or an entity controlling production for every two square meter equivalents of qualifying fabric that the producer or entity has purchased for the manufacture in an eligible country (Dominican Republic) of articles like or similar to any article eligible for preferential treatment. Authorizes the redemption of such credits for earned import allowance certificates reflecting the number of earned credits.
Authorizes any textile mill or other entity located in the United States that exports qualifying fabric to an eligible country to submit to the Secretary of Commerce, upon such export or upon request, the Shipper's Export Declaration, or successor documentation: (1) verifying that the qualifying fabric was exported to a producer or entity controlling production in an eligible country; and (2) identifying such producer or entity and the quantity and description of qualifying fabric exported to it.
Defines "qualifying fabric," as woven fabric of cotton wholly formed in the United States from yarns (other than nylon filament yarn) wholly formed in the United States and certified suitable for use in the manufacture of apparel items such as trousers, bib and brace overalls, breeches and shorts, skirts and divided skirts or pants.
Directs the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) to review annually and report to Congress on the effectiveness of such program.
(Sec. 2) Amends the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) with respect to duty-free treatment for certain textile and apparel articles imported directly into the customs territory of the United States from a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country.
Repeals provisions granting preferential treatment for imported apparel articles produced in lesser developed beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries (LDCs) of yarn or fabric that is produced in beneficiary sub-Saharan countries in commercial quantities for use by LDCs.
Adds Mauritius as an LDC for preferential treatment of apparel articles wholly assembled, or knit-to-shape and wholly assembled, or both, in one or more LDCs, regardless of the country of origin of the fabric or the yarn used to make such articles.
Directs the ITC to review and report to the appropriate congressional committees and the U.S. Comptroller General on yarns, fabrics, and other textile and apparel inputs that through new or increased investment or other measures can be produced competitively in an LDC. Requires the Comptroller General, in turn, to report to Congress recommendations for changes to U.S. trade preference programs (including rules of origin requirements) to provide incentives to increase investment and other measures to improve the competitiveness of LDCs in the production of such textiles and apparel identified in the report.
(Sec. 3) Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to extend the duty-free Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Program through December 31, 2009.
(Sec. 4) Amends the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 to extend through January 31, 2018, the authority for certain customs fees for the processing of merchandise entered into the United States.
(Sec. 5) Amends the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 to increase by 1.75% the amount of any estimated tax installment otherwise due in July, August, or September 2013 from a corporation with assets of at least $1 billion.
Cosponsors 1
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Jul 22, 2008.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-LA | Jim McCrery | Original | Jul 22, 2008 |
Actions 10
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jul 30, 2008Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
- Jul 29, 2008Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H7272-7276)
- Jul 29, 2008DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 6560.
- Jul 29, 2008DEBATE - The House resumed debate on H.R. 6560.
- Jul 29, 2008Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance.
- Africa (Sub-Saharan)
- Botswana
- Caribbean area
- Clothing
- Commerce
- Congress
- Congressional investigations
- Congressional reporting requirements
- Corporation taxes
- Customs administration
- Developing countries
- Dominican Republic
- Economics and Public Finance
- Foreign Trade and International Finance
- Free trade
- Imports
- Income tax
- International Affairs
- International competitiveness
- Latin America
- Mauritius
- Namibia
- Tariff
- Tariff preferences
- Tax administration
- Taxation
- Textile fabrics
- Textile industry
- Trade agreements
- User charges
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jul 22, 2008Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.