[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 70 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 70

Expressing the sense of the Congress that there should be parity among 
    the countries that are parties to the North American Free Trade 
Agreement (NAFTA) with respect to the personal allowance for duty-free 
  merchandise purchased abroad by returning residents, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 24, 1999

    Mr. Bonilla (for himself, Mr. Ortiz, Mr. Reyes, Mr. Skeen, Mr. 
   Hinojosa, Mr. Bilbray, Mr. Pastor, Mr. Kolbe, and Mr. Rodriguez) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
                    the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Congress that there should be parity among 
    the countries that are parties to the North American Free Trade 
Agreement (NAFTA) with respect to the personal allowance for duty-free 
  merchandise purchased abroad by returning residents, and for other 
                               purposes.

Whereas the duty-free allowance for returning residents is an important element 
        of trade and tourism;
Whereas the United States provides each United States resident who is returning 
        from Mexico after a stay of any duration a personal exemption from duty 
        on merchandise valued at up to $400 once every 30 days (or up to $200 if 
        the individual has claimed an exemption within 30 days before his or her 
        arrival in the United States), including in both instances 1 liter of 
        liquor, wine, or beer, and 200 cigarettes and 100 cigars;
Whereas Mexico has a 2-tiered duty-free allowance for its returning residents, 
        set at the equivalent of $50 for border zone residents of a 25 kilometer 
        strip along Mexico's northern border and the equivalent of $300 for 
        residents who live in the interior of Mexico;
Whereas interior residents of Mexico are also permitted up to 3 liters of wine, 
        beer, or liquor and up to 20 packs of cigarettes, or 25 cigars, or 200 
        grams of tobacco, while border zone residents of Mexico are only 
        permitted up to 1 liter of beer, wine, or liquor, and 10 packs of 
        cigarettes or 25 cigars;
Whereas border zone residents of Mexico in 1995 were permitted a second 
        allowance that, in addition to the $50 per trip allowance, permitted a 
        $400 duty-free personal exemption that may be used once per month for 
        clothing, footwear, food products, personal and household hygiene 
        products, and medicines, and in any case, personal exemptions may be 
        pooled with other members of the family;
Whereas Canada provides each returning Canadian resident absent for more than 7 
        days a duty-free allowance on merchandise valued at up to the equivalent 
        of $500; after an absence of 48 hours, a returning Canadian resident has 
        a duty-free allowance of the equivalent of $200, and after an absence of 
        24 hours the Canadian allowance is the equivalent of $50; and Canadian 
        residents returning after an absence of at least 48 hours are also 
        provided a duty-free allowance for 1.14 liters of distilled spirits or 
        wine, or 8.5 liters of beer, and up to 200 cigarettes, 200 tobacco 
        sticks, 50 cigars, and 200 grams of manufactured tobacco;
Whereas in 1995 Mexico announced that duty-free stores will be established at 
        multiple locations on the Mexican side of the United States-Mexico 
        border, which will sell their merchandise to United States residents 
        traveling to Mexico and will benefit from the generous United States 
        duty-free allowance afforded to its residents;
Whereas with the advent of duty-free stores on the Mexican side of the border 
        serving United States residents, the inequity between the duty-free 
        allowances of the 2 countries is further exacerbated, placing United 
        States retail establishments which serve Mexican residents at an unfair 
        competitive disadvantage;
Whereas minimal progress has not been made by Mexico to educate Mexican border 
        officials and shoppers and United States retailers about the $400 per 
        person allowance for border zone residents of Mexico and the procedures 
        to follow to take advantage of such allowance;
Whereas Mexico's development of a magnetic card to be used by returning border 
        zone residents to claim their duty-free allowances is not fully 
        operational as had been expected by December 1998;
Whereas the United States entered into the North American Free Trade Agreement 
        (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada with the intent of phasing out tariff 
        barriers among the 3 countries; and
Whereas it violates the spirit of the NAFTA for the countries to maintain 
        restrictive duty-free allowance policies which are not reciprocal: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That--
            (1) the United States Trade Representative and the 
        Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary 
        of Commerce, should--
                    (A) initiate discussions with officials of the 
                Governments of Mexico and Canada to achieve parity in 
                the duty-free allowance structure of the United States, 
                Mexico, and Canada;
                    (B) accelerate negotiations with the Government of 
                Mexico to ensure that the expanded allowance enacted in 
                1995 for border zone residents of Mexico will be given 
                effective implementation; and
            (2) in the event that parity in the duty-free allowances of 
        the 3 countries is not reached within 1 year after the date on 
        which this concurrent resolution is adopted, the United States 
        Trade Representative and the Secretary of the Treasury should 
        submit recommendations to the Congress on whether legislative 
        changes are necessary to bring the United States duty-free 
        allowance to a lower amount to conform to the allowance levels 
        established in the other countries that are parties to the 
        North American Free Trade Agreement.
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