[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6560 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6560

 To establish an earned import allowance program under Public Law 109-
                      53, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 22, 2008

Mr. Rangel (for himself and Mr. McCrery) introduced the following bill; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish an earned import allowance program under Public Law 109-
                      53, 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. EARNED IMPORT ALLOWANCE PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Title IV of the Dominican Republic-Central 
America-United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (Public 
Law 109-53; 119 Stat. 495) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``SEC. 404. EARNED IMPORT ALLOWANCE PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Preferential Treatment.--
            ``(1) In general.--Eligible apparel articles wholly 
        assembled in an eligible country and imported directly from an 
        eligible country 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 such apparel articles 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, in accordance with the 
        program established under subsection (b).
            ``(2) Determination of quantity of sme.--For purposes of 
        determining the quantity of square meter equivalents under 
        paragraph (1), the conversion factors listed in `Correlation: 
        U.S. Textile and Apparel Industry Category System with the 
        Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States of America, 
        2008', or its successor publications, of the United States 
        Department of Commerce, shall apply.
    ``(b) Earned Import Allowance Program.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--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 in an eligible country for 
        purposes of subsection (a), based on the elements described in 
        paragraph (2).
            ``(2) Elements.--The elements referred to in paragraph (1) 
        are the following:
                    ``(A) One credit shall be issued to a producer or 
                an entity controlling production for every two square 
                meter equivalents of qualifying fabric that the 
                producer or entity controlling production can 
                demonstrate that it has purchased for the manufacture 
                in an eligible country of articles like or similar to 
                any article eligible for preferential treatment under 
                subsection (a). The Secretary of Commerce shall, if 
                requested by a producer or entity controlling 
                production, create and maintain an account for such 
                producer or entity controlling production, into which 
                such credits may be deposited.
                    ``(B) Such producer or entity controlling 
                production may redeem credits issued under subparagraph 
                (A) for earned import allowance certificates reflecting 
                such number of earned credits as the producer or entity 
                may request and has available.
                    ``(C) Any textile mill or other entity located in 
                the United States that exports qualifying fabric to an 
                eligible country may submit, upon such export or upon 
                request, the Shipper's Export Declaration, or successor 
                documentation, to the Secretary of Commerce--
                            ``(i) verifying that the qualifying fabric 
                        was exported to a producer or entity 
                        controlling production in an eligible country; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) identifying such producer or entity 
                        controlling production, and the quantity and 
                        description of qualifying fabric exported to 
                        such producer or entity controlling production.
                    ``(D) The Secretary of Commerce may require that a 
                producer or entity controlling production submit 
                documentation to verify purchases of qualifying fabric.
                    ``(E) The Secretary of Commerce may make available 
                to each person or entity identified in the 
                documentation submitted under subparagraph (C) or (D) 
                information contained in such documentation that 
                relates to the purchase of qualifying fabric involving 
                such person or entity.
                    ``(F) 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 required under 
                subsection (a)(1).
                    ``(G) The Secretary of Commerce may reconcile 
                discrepancies in the information provided under 
                subparagraph (C) or (D) and verify the accuracy of such 
                information.
                    ``(H) The Secretary of Commerce shall establish 
                procedures to carry out the program under this section 
                by September 30, 2008, and may establish additional 
                requirements to carry out the program.
    ``(c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) the term `appropriate congressional committees' means 
        the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives 
        and the Committee on Finance of the Senate;
            ``(2) the term `eligible apparel articles' means the 
        following articles classified in chapter 62 of the HTS (and 
        meeting the requirements of the rules relating to chapter 62 of 
        the HTS contained in general note 29(n) of the HTS) of cotton 
        (but not of denim): trousers, bib and brace overalls, breeches 
        and shorts, skirts and divided skirts, and pants;
            ``(3) the term `eligible country' means the Dominican 
        Republic; and
            ``(4) the term `qualifying fabric' means woven fabric of 
        cotton wholly formed in the United States from yarns wholly 
        formed in the United States and certified by the producer or 
        entity controlling production as being 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, all the foregoing of cotton, except that--
                    ``(A) fabric otherwise eligible as qualifying 
                fabric shall not be ineligible as qualifying fabric 
                because the fabric contains nylon filament yarn with 
                respect to which section 213(b)(2)(A)(vii)(IV) of the 
                Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act applies;
                    ``(B) fabric that would otherwise be ineligible as 
                qualifying fabric because the fabric contains yarns not 
                wholly formed in the United States shall not be 
                ineligible as qualifying fabric if the total weight of 
                all such yarns is not more than 10 percent of the total 
                weight of the fabric, except that any elastomeric yarn 
                contained in an eligible apparel article must be wholly 
                formed in the United States; and
                    ``(C) fabric otherwise eligible as qualifying 
                fabric shall not be ineligible as qualifying fabric 
                because the fabric contains yarns or fibers that have 
                been designated as not commercially available pursuant 
                to--
                            ``(i) article 3.25(4) or Annex 3.25 of the 
                        Agreement;
                            ``(ii) Annex 401 of the North American Free 
                        Trade Agreement;
                            ``(iii) section 112(b)(5) of the African 
                        Growth and Opportunity Act;
                            ``(iv) section 204(b)(3)(B)(i)(III) or (ii) 
                        of the Andean Trade Preference Act;
                            ``(v) section 213(b)(2)(A)(v) or 
                        213A(b)(5)(A) of the Caribbean Basin Economic 
                        Recovery Act; or
                            ``(vi) any other provision, relating to 
                        determining whether a textile or apparel 
                        article is an originating good eligible for 
                        preferential treatment, of a law that 
                        implements a free trade agreement entered into 
                        by the United States that is in effect at the 
                        time the claim for preferential treatment is 
                        made.
    ``(d) Review and Report.--
            ``(1) Review.--The United States International Trade 
        Commission shall carry out a review of the program under this 
        section annually for the purpose of evaluating the 
        effectiveness of, and making recommendations for improvements 
        in, the program.
            ``(2) Report.--The United States International Trade 
        Commission shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
        committees annually a report on the results of the review 
        carried out under paragraph (1).
    ``(e) Effective Date and Applicability.--
            ``(1) Effective date.--The program under this section shall 
        be in effect for the 10-year period beginning on the date on 
        which the President certifies to the appropriate congressional 
        committees that sections A, B, C, and D of the Annex to 
        Presidential Proclamation 8213 (December 20, 2007) have taken 
        effect.
            ``(2) Applicability.--The program under this section shall 
        apply with respect to qualifying fabric exported to an eligible 
        country on or after August 1, 2007.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the Dominican 
Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement 
Implementation Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
section 403 the following:

``Sec. 404. Earned import allowance program.''.

SEC. 2. TECHNICAL CORRECTION.

    Section 15402(d) of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 
(Public Law 110-246) is amended by striking ``231A(b)'' and inserting 
``213A(b)''.
                                 <all>