TREATMENT OF CERTAIN TEXTILES AND APPAREL.

SEC. 112. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN TEXTILES AND APPAREL. (a) Preferential Treatment.—Textile and apparel articles described in subsection (b) that are imported directly into the customs territory of the United States from a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country described in section 506A(c) of the Trade Act of 1974, shall enter the United States free of duty and free of any quantitative limitations in accordance with the provisions set forth in subsection (b), if the country has satisfied the requirements set forth in section 113. (b) Products Covered.—The preferential treatment described in subsection (a) shall apply only to the following textile and apparel products: (1) Apparel articles assembled in beneficiary sub-saharan african countries.—Apparel articles assembled in one or more beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries from fabrics wholly formed and cut in the United States, from yarns wholly formed in the United States, (including fabrics not formed from yarns, if such fabrics are classifiable under heading 114 STAT. 259 5602 or 5603 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States and are wholly formed and cut in the United States) that are— (A) entered under subheading 9802.00.80 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States; or (B) entered under chapter 61 or 62 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, if, after such assembly, the articles would have qualified for entry under subheading 9802.00.80 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States but for the fact that the articles were embroidered or subjected to stone-washing, enzyme-washing, acid washing, perma-pressing, oven-baking, bleaching, garment-dyeing, screen printing, or other similar processes. (2) Apparel articles cut and assembled in beneficiary sub-saharan african countries.—Apparel articles cut in one or more beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries from fabric wholly formed in the United States from yarns wholly formed in the United States, (including fabrics not formed from yarns, if such fabrics are classifiable under heading 5602 or 5603 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States and are wholly formed in the United States) if such articles are assembled in one or more beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries with thread formed in the United States. (3) Apparel articles assembled from regional and other fabric.—Apparel articles wholly assembled in one or more beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries from fabric wholly formed in one or more beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries from yarn originating either in the United States or one or more beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries (including fabrics not formed from yarns, if such fabrics are classifiable under heading 5602 or 5603 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States and are wholly formed and cut in one or more beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries), subject to the following: (A) Limitations on benefits.— (i) In general.—Preferential treatment under this paragraph shall be extended in the 1-year period beginning on October 1, 2000, and in each of the seven succeeding 1-year periods, to imports of apparel articles in an amount not to exceed the applicable percentage of the aggregate square meter equivalents of all apparel articles imported into the United States in the preceding 12-month period for which data are available. (ii) Applicable percentage.—For purposes of this subparagraph, the term “applicable percentage” means 1.5 percent for the 1-year period beginning October 1, 2000, increased in each of the seven succeeding 1-year periods by equal increments, so that for the period beginning October 1, 2007, the applicable percentage does not exceed 3.5 percent. (B) Special rule for lesser developed countries.— (i) In general.—Subject to subparagraph (A), preferential treatment shall be extended through September 30, 2004, for apparel articles wholly assembled 114 STAT. 260 in one or more lesser developed beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries regardless of the country of origin of the fabric used to make such articles. (ii) Lesser developed beneficiary sub-saharan african country.—For purposes of this subparagraph the term “lesser developed beneficiary sub-Saharan African country” means a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country that had a per capita gross national product of less than $1,500 a year in 1998, as measured by the World Bank. (C) Surge mechanism.— (i) Import monitoring.—The Secretary of Commerce shall monitor imports of articles described in this paragraph on a monthly basis to determine if there has been a surge in imports of such articles. In order to permit public access to preliminary international trade data and to facilitate the early identification of potentially disruptive import surges, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget may grant an exception to the publication dates established for the release of data on United States international trade in covered articles, if the Director notifies Congress of the early release of the data. (ii) Determination of damage or threat thereof.—Whenever the Secretary of Commerce determines, based on the data described in clause (i), or pursuant to a written request made by an interested party, that there has been a surge in imports of an article described in this paragraph from a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country, the Secretary shall determine whether such article from such country is being imported in such increased quantities as to cause serious damage, or threat thereof, to the domestic industry producing a like or directly competitive article. If the Secretary's determination is affirmative, the President shall suspend the duty-free treatment provided for such article under this paragraph. If the inquiry is initiated at the request of an interested party, the Secretary shall make the determination within 60 days after the date of the request. (iii) Factors to consider.—In determining whether a domestic industry has been seriously damaged, or is threatened with serious damage, the Secretary shall examine the effect of the imports on relevant economic indicators such as domestic production, sales, market share, capacity utilization, inventories, employment, profits, exports, prices, and investment. (iv) Procedure.— (I) Initiation.—The Secretary of Commerce shall initiate an inquiry within 10 days after receiving a written request and supporting information for an inquiry from an interested party. Notice of initiation of an inquiry shall be published in the Federal Register. 114 STAT. 261 (II) Participation by interested parties.—The Secretary of Commerce shall establish procedures to ensure participation in the inquiry by interested parties. (III) Notice of determination.—The Secretary shall publish the determination described in clause (ii) in the Federal Register. (IV) Information available.—If relevant information is not available on the record or any party withholds information that has been requested by the Secretary, the Secretary shall make the determination on the basis of the facts available. When the Secretary relies on information submitted in the inquiry as facts available, the Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, corroborate the information from independent sources that are reasonably available to the Secretary. (v) Interested party.—For purposes of this subparagraph, the term “interested party” means any producer of a like or directly competitive article, a certified union or recognized union or group of workers which is representative of an industry engaged in the manufacture, production, or sale in the United States of a like or directly competitive article, a trade or business association representing producers or sellers of like or directly competitive articles, producers engaged in the production of essential inputs for like or directly competitive articles, a certified union or group of workers which is representative of an industry engaged in the manufacture, production, or sale of essential inputs for the like or directly competitive article, or a trade or business association representing companies engaged in the manufacture, production, or sale of such essential inputs. (4) Sweaters knit-to-shape from cashmere or merino wool.— (A) Cashmere.—Sweaters, in chief weight of cashmere, knit-to-shape in one or more beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries and classifiable under subheading 6110.10 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. (B) Merino wool.—Sweaters, 50 percent or more by weight of wool measuring 18.5 microns in diameter or finer, knit-to-shape in one or more beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries. (5) Apparel articles wholly assembled from fabric or yarn not available in commercial quantities in the united states.— (A) In general.—Apparel articles that are both cut (or knit-to-shape) and sewn or otherwise assembled in one or more beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries, from fabric or yarn that is not formed in the United States or a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country, to the extent that apparel articles of such fabrics or yarns would be eligible for preferential treatment, without regard to the source of the fabric or yarn, under Annex 401 to the NAFTA. 114 STAT. 262 (B) Additional apparel articles.—At the request of any interested party and subject to the following requirements, the President is authorized to proclaim the treatment provided under subparagraph (A) for yarns or fabrics not described in subparagraph (A) if— (i) the President determines that such yarns or fabrics cannot be supplied by the domestic industry in commercial quantities in a timely manner; (ii) the President has obtained advice regarding the proposed action from the appropriate advisory committee established under section 135 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2155) and the United States International Trade Commission; (iii) within 60 calendar days after the request, the President has submitted a report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate that sets forth— (I) the action proposed to be proclaimed and the reasons for such action; and (II) the advice obtained under clause (ii); (iv) a period of 60 calendar days, beginning with the first day on which the President has met the requirements of subclauses (I) and (II) of clause (iii), has expired; and (v) the President has consulted with such committees regarding the proposed action during the period referred to in clause (iii). (6) Handloomed, handmade, and folklore articles.—A handloomed, handmade, or folklore article of a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country or countries that is certified as such by the competent authority of such beneficiary country or countries. For purposes of this paragraph, the President, after consultation with the beneficiary sub-Saharan African country or countries concerned, shall determine which, if any, particular textile and apparel goods of the country (or countries) shall be treated as being handloomed, handmade, or folklore articles. (c) Treatment of Quotas on Textile and Apparel Imports from Kenya and Mauritius.—The President shall eliminate the existing quotas on textile and apparel articles imported into the United States— (1) from Kenya within 30 days after that country adopts an effective visa system to prevent unlawful transshipment of textile and apparel articles and the use of counterfeit documents relating to the importation of the articles into the United States; and (2) from Mauritius within 30 days after that country adopts such a visa system. The Customs Service shall provide the necessary technical assistance to Kenya and Mauritius in the development and implementation of the visa systems. (d) Special Rules.— (1) Findings and trimmings.— (A) General rule.—An article otherwise eligible for preferential treatment under this section shall not be ineligible for such treatment because the article contains 114 STAT. 263 findings or trimmings of foreign origin, if the value of such findings and trimmings do not exceed 25 percent of the cost of the components of the assembled article. Examples of findings and trimmings are sewing thread, hooks and eyes, snaps, buttons, “bow buds”, decorative lace trim, elastic strips, and zippers, including zipper tapes and labels. Elastic strips are considered findings or trimmings only if they are each less than 1 inch in width and used in the production of brassieres. (B) Certain interlinings.— (i) General rule.—An article otherwise eligible for preferential treatment under this section shall not be ineligible for such treatment because the article contains certain interlinings of foreign origin, if the value of such interlinings (and any findings and trimmings) does not exceed 25 percent of the cost of the components of the assembled article. (ii) Interlinings described.—Interlinings eligible for the treatment described in clause (i) include only a chest type plate, a “hymo” piece, or “sleeve header”, of woven or weft-inserted warp knit construction and of coarse animal hair or man-made filaments. (iii) Termination of treatment.—The treatment described in this subparagraph shall terminate if the President makes a determination that United States manufacturers are producing such interlinings in the United States in commercial quantities. (C) Exception.—In the case of an article described in subsection (b)(2), sewing thread shall not be treated as findings or trimmings under subparagraph (A). (2) De minimis rule.—An article otherwise eligible for preferential treatment under this section shall not be ineligible for such treatment because the article contains fibers or yarns not wholly formed in the United States or one or more beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries if the total weight of all such fibers and yarns is not more than 7 percent of the total weight of the article. (e) Definitions.—In this section and section 113: (1) Agreement on textiles and clothing.—The term “Agreement on Textiles and Clothing” means the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing referred to in section 101(d)(4) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3511(d)(4)). (2) Beneficiary sub-saharan African country, etc.—The terms “beneficiary sub-Saharan African country” and “beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries” have the same meaning as such terms have under section 506A(c) of the Trade Act of 1974. (3) NAFTA.—The term “NAFTA” means the North American Free Trade Agreement entered into between the United States, Mexico, and Canada on December 17, 1992. (f) Effective Date.—This section takes effect on October 1, 2000, and shall remain in effect through September 30, 2008.