[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1388 Placed on Calendar Senate (PCS)]






                                                       Calendar No. 213
106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1388

            To extend the Generalized System of Preferences.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 16, 1999

    Mr. Roth, from the Committee on Finance, reported the following 
     original bill; which was read twice and placed on the calendar

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
            To extend the Generalized System of Preferences.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF DUTY-FREE TREATMENT UNDER GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF 
              PREFERENCES.

    (a) In General.--Section 505 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 
2465) is amended by striking ``June 30, 1999'' and inserting ``June 30, 
2004''.
    (b) Effective Date.--
            (1) In general.--The amendment made by this section applies 
        to articles entered on or after the date of the enactment of 
        this Act.
            (2) Retroactive application for certain liquidations and 
        reliquidations.--
                    (A) General rule.--Notwithstanding section 514 of 
                the Tariff Act of 1930 or any other provision of law, 
                and subject to paragraph (3), any entry--
                            (i) of an article to which duty-free 
                        treatment under title V of the Trade Act of 
                        1974 would have applied if such entry had been 
                        made on June 30, 1999, and
                            (ii) that was made--
                                    (I) after June 30, 1999, and
                                    (II) before the date of enactment 
                                of this Act,
                shall be liquidated or reliquidated as free of duty, 
                and the Secretary of the Treasury shall refund any duty 
                paid with respect to such entry.
                    (B) Entry.--As used in this paragraph, the term 
                ``entry'' includes a withdrawal from warehouse for 
                consumption.
            (3) Requests.--Liquidation or reliquidation may be made 
        under paragraph (2) with respect to an entry only if a request 
        therefor is filed with the Customs Service, within 180 days 
        after the date of enactment of this Act, that contains 
        sufficient information to enable the Customs Service--
                    (A) to locate the entry, or
                    (B) to reconstruct the entry if it cannot be 
                located.

SEC. 2. ENTRY PROCEDURES FOR FOREIGN TRADE ZONE OPERATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Section 484 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 
1484) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(i) Special Rule For Foreign Trade Zone Operations.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law and except as provided in paragraph (3), all merchandise 
        (including merchandise of different classes, types, and 
        categories), withdrawn from a foreign trade zone during any 7-
        day period, shall, at the option of the operator or user of the 
        zone, be the subject of a single estimated entry or release 
        filed on or before the first day of the 7-day period in which 
        the merchandise is to be withdrawn from the zone. The estimated 
        entry or release shall be treated as a single entry and a 
        single release of merchandise for purposes of section 
        13031(a)(9)(A) of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget 
        Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c(a)(9)(A)) and all fee 
        exclusions and limitations of such section 13031 shall apply, 
        including the maximum and minimum fee amounts provided for 
        under subsection (b)(8)(A)(i) of such section. The entry 
        summary for the estimated entry or release shall cover only the 
        merchandise actually withdrawn from the foreign trade zone 
        during the 7-day period.
            ``(2) Other requirements.-- The Secretary of the Treasury 
        may require that the operator or user of the zone--
                    ``(A) use an electronic data interchange approved 
                by the Customs Service--
                            ``(i) to file the entries described in 
                        paragraph (1); and
                            ``(ii) to pay the applicable duties, fees, 
                        and taxes with respect to the entries; and
                    ``(B) satisfy the Customs Service that accounting, 
                transportation, and other controls over the merchandise 
                are adequate to protect the revenue and meet the 
requirements of other Federal agencies.
            ``(3) Exception.--The provisions of paragraph (1) shall not 
        apply to merchandise the entry of which is prohibited by law or 
        merchandise for which the filing of an entry summary is 
        required before the merchandise is released from customs 
        custody.
            ``(4) Foreign trade zone; zone.--In this subsection, the 
        terms `foreign trade zone' and `zone' mean a zone established 
        pursuant to the Act of June 18, 1934, commonly known as the 
        Foreign Trade Zones Act (19 U.S.C. 81a et seq.).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall take 
effect on the date that is 60 days after the date of enactment of this 
Act.

SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF INSTALLMENT METHOD AND REPEAL OF INSTALLMENT 
              METHOD FOR ACCRUAL METHOD TAXPAYERS.

    (a) Repeal of Installment Method for Accrual Basis Taxpayers.--
            (1) In general.--Subsection (a) of section 453 of the 
        Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to installment method) 
        is amended to read as follows:
    ``(a) Use of Installment Method.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as otherwise provided in this 
        section, income from an installment sale shall be taken into 
        account for purposes of this title under the installment 
        method.
            ``(2) Accrual method taxpayer.--The installment method 
        shall not apply to income from an installment sale if such 
        income would be reported under an accrual method of accounting 
        without regard to this section. The preceding sentence shall 
        not apply to a disposition described in subparagraph (A) or (B) 
        of subsection (l)(2).''
            (2) Conforming amendments.--Sections 453(d)(1), 453(i)(1), 
        and 453(k) of such Code are each amended by striking ``(a)'' 
        each place it appears and inserting ``(a)(1)''.
    (b) Modification of Pledge Rules.--Paragraph (4) of section 453A(d) 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to pledges, etc., of 
installment obligations) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
``A payment shall be treated as directly secured by an interest in an 
installment obligation to the extent an arrangement allows the taxpayer 
to satisfy all or a portion of the indebtedness with the installment 
obligation.''
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to sales or other dispositions occurring on or after the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
                                                       Calendar No. 213

106th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                S. 1388

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

            To extend the Generalized System of Preferences.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             July 16, 1999

                   Read twice placed on the calendar