Extending Incentives for Exporting American Textiles Act of 2013 - Extends duty-free treatment, subject to specified quantitative limitations, for certain imported Nicaraguan woven trousers, breeches, or shorts.
Requires those articles to be accompanied by an earned import allowance certificate indicating the use of fabric and yarns wholly formed in the United States.
Extends such duty-free treatment for 10 years beginning on January 1, 2015.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1883 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1883
To extend duty-free treatment for certain trousers, breeches, or shorts
imported from Nicaragua, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 20, 2013
Mrs. Hagan introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To extend duty-free treatment for certain trousers, breeches, or shorts
imported from Nicaragua, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Extending Incentives for Exporting
American Textiles Act of 2013''.
SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF DUTY-FREE TREATMENT FOR CERTAIN TROUSERS,
BREECHES, OR SHORTS IMPORTED FROM NICARAGUA.
(a) Duty-Free Treatment.--Notwithstanding the termination of the
tariff preference level program for imports of apparel articles from
Nicaragua and subject to subsection (b), eligible apparel articles
shall enter the United States free of duty if such eligible apparel
articles are accompanied by an earned import allowance certificate for
the amount of credits equal to the total square meter equivalents of
fabric in such eligible apparel articles, in accordance with the
program established under subsection (c).
(b) Quantitative Limitation.--
(1) Initial limitation.--Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3),
duty-free treatment under this section shall be extended for a
covered calendar year to an initial limit of not more than
50,000,000 square meter equivalents of eligible apparel
articles unless that amount is increased pursuant to paragraph
(3) for such year.
(2) Export success factor.--If during a covered calendar
year duty-free treatment under this section is extended to 90
percent or more of the initial limit for such year prior to the
end of such year, the President shall--
(A) extend such treatment to an additional amount
of square meter equivalents of eligible apparel
articles that is equal to 10 percent of the initial
limit for such year; and
(B) publish notice of the extension in the Federal
Register.
(3) Export success pattern.--
(A) Three year increase.--Subject to subparagraph
(B), if the President takes the action described in
paragraph (2) for a period of 3 consecutive covered
calendar years, for subsequent covered calendar years
the President shall--
(i) increase the initial limit for
subsequent covered calendar years by an
additional amount of square meter equivalents
of eligible apparel articles that is equal to
10 percent of the initial limit for each
covered calendar year of the previous 3-year
period; and
(ii) publish notice of such increase in the
Federal Register.
(B) Additional increases.--If the initial limit is
increased under subparagraph (A) for a period of 3
consecutive covered calendar years, the initial limit
for each such year--
(i) shall be increased under paragraph (2),
if the requirements of such paragraph are met
for such year; and
(ii) may be eligible for an additional
increase under subparagraph (A) no more
frequently than once every 3 years.
(c) Earned Import Allowance Program.--
(1) Matching requirement.--The aggregate square meter
equivalents of eligible apparel articles of each producer or
entity controlling production that may receive duty-free
treatment under this section during a covered calendar year may
not exceed the aggregate square meter equivalents of fabric
wholly formed in the United States of yarns wholly formed in
the United States that was previously exported from the United
States by such producer or entity and for which the producer or
entity has available credits in its account established under
paragraph (3)(B).
(2) Requirement for program.--The Secretary of Commerce
shall establish a program to provide earned import allowance
certificates to any producer or entity controlling production
of eligible apparel articles for purposes of subsection (a),
based on the elements described in paragraph (3).
(3) Elements.--The elements described in this paragraph are
the following:
(A) Credits.--One credit shall be issued to a
producer or an entity controlling production for every
one square meter equivalent of fabric wholly formed in
the United States from yarns wholly formed in the
United States that such producer or entity demonstrates
has been exported from the customs territory of the
United States.
(B) Accounts.--If requested by a producer or entity
controlling production, the Secretary of Commerce shall
create and maintain an account for such producer or
entity into which credits issued under subparagraph (A)
may be deposited.
(C) Certificates.--A producer or entity controlling
production may redeem credits issued under subparagraph
(A) for earned import allowance certificates for such
number of credits such producer or entity may request
and has available.
(D) Documentation.--The Secretary of Commerce may
require that a producer or entity controlling
production submit documentation to verify the export of
fabric wholly formed in the United States of yarns
wholly formed in the United States.
(E) Verification.--The Secretary of Commerce may
reconcile discrepancies in the information provided
under subparagraph (D) and verify the accuracy of such
information.
(F) Electronic information.--The program shall be
established so as to allow, to the extent feasible, the
submission, storage, retrieval, and disclosure of
information in electronic format, including information
with respect to the earned import allowance
certificates.
(G) Schedule.--The Secretary of Commerce shall
establish procedures to carry out the program under
this subsection by October 1, 2014, and may establish
additional requirements to carry out the program.
(H) Penalties.--If an importer, producer, or entity
controlling production enters into the customs
territory of the United States eligible apparel
articles for which there are insufficient earned
credits, such importer, producer, or entity may be
subject to a penalty equal to the value of such
eligible apparel articles, in addition to existing
penalties under section 592 of the Tariff Act of 1930
(19 U.S.C. 1592), as appropriate.
(4) Determination of quantity of sme.--For purposes of
determining the quantity of ``square meter equivalents'' under
this section, the conversion factors listed in Correlation:
U.S. Textile and Apparel Category System with the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States of America, 2013, or
successor publication of the Office of Textiles and Apparel of
the Department of Commerce, shall apply.
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Covered calendar year.--The term ``covered calendar
year'' means a calendar year during the 10-year period referred
to in subsection (e).
(2) Eligible apparel article.--The term ``eligible apparel
article'' means woven trousers, breeches, or shorts that are
apparel articles described in subdivisions (a) and (b) of U.S.
Note 15 to subchapter XV of chapter 99 of the HTS imported from
Nicaragua.
(3) Enter; entry.--The terms ``enter'' and ``entry''
include a withdrawal from warehouse for consumption.
(4) Entity controlling production.--The term ``entity
controlling production'' means a person or other entity or
group that is not a producer and that controls the production
process in Nicaragua through a contractual relationship or
other indirect means.
(5) Fabric wholly formed in the united states of yarn
wholly formed in the united states.--The term ``fabric wholly
formed in the United States of yarn wholly formed in the United
States'' means fabric--
(A) woven in the United States from fibers or from
yarns, the constituent staple fibers of which are spun
in the United States or the continuous filament of
which is extruded in the United States;
(B) for which any dyeing, printing, or finishing is
performed in the United States; and
(C) exported to Nicaragua on or after April 1,
2014.
(6) HTS.--The term ``HTS'' means the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States as in effect on the day before
the date of the enactment of this Act.
(7) Initial limit.--The term ``initial limit'' means the
quantity of square meter equivalents of eligible apparel
articles that may be extended duty-free treatment under this
section on the first day of a calendar year.
(8) Producer.--The term ``producer'' means a person or
other entity or group that exercises direct, daily operational
control over the production process in Nicaragua.
(9) Tariff preference level program for imports of apparel
articles from nicaragua.--The term ``tariff preference level
program for imports of apparel articles from Nicaragua'' refers
to the preferential tariff treatment for nonoriginating apparel
goods of Nicaragua established pursuant to Article 3.28 of the
Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade
Agreement and the letters described in subparagraphs (A) and
(B) of section 1634(a)(2) of the Miscellaneous Trade and
Technical Corrections Act of 2006 (title XIV of Public Law 109-
280; 120 Stat. 1167).
(e) Effective Period.--Duty-free treatment under this section shall
be in effect for the 10-year period beginning on January 1, 2015.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
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