[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 240 (Monday, December 15, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74067-74068]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-29253]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
Limitation of Duty-Free Imports of Apparel Articles Assembled in
Haiti Under the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity Through Partnership for
Encouragement Act (HOPE)
AGENCY: International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notification of Annual Quantitative Limit on Certain Apparel
under HOPE.
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SUMMARY: HOPE provides for duty-free treatment for certain apparel
articles imported directly from Haiti. One of the preferences under
HOPE is known as the ``value-added'' program, which requires that
apparel meet a minimum threshold percentage of value added in Haiti,
the United States, and/or certain beneficiary countries. The program is
subject to a quantitative limitation, which is calculated as a
percentage of total apparel imports into the United States for each 12-
month annual period. For the annual period from December 20, 2014
through December 19, 2015, the quantity of imports eligible for
preferential treatment under the value-added program is 332,915,916
square meters equivalent.
DATES: Effective Date: December 20, 2014.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maria Dybczak, International Trade
Specialist, Office of Textiles and Apparel, U.S. Department of
Commerce, (202) 482-3651.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Authority: The Caribbean Basin Recovery Act (``CBERA''), as
amended by the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity Through Partnership
for Encouragement Act of 2006 (``HOPE''), Title V of the Tax Relief
and Health Care Act of 2006 and the Food, Conservation, and Energy
Act of 2008 (``HOPE II''); the Haiti Economic Lift Program Act of
2010 (``HELP''); and implemented by Presidential Proc. No. 8114, 72
FR 13655, 13659 (March 22, 2007), and No. 8596, 75 FR 68153
(November 4, 2010).
HOPE provides for duty-free treatment for certain apparel articles
imported directly from Haiti. Section 213A(b)(1)(B) of HOPE outlines
the requirements for certain apparel articles to qualify for duty-free
treatment under a ``value-added'' program. In order to qualify for
duty-free treatment, apparel articles must be wholly assembled, or
knit-to-shape, in Haiti from any combination of fabrics, fabric
components, components knit-to-shape, and yarns, as long as the sum of
the cost or value of materials produced in Haiti or one or more
countries, as described in HOPE, or any combination thereof, plus the
direct costs of processing operations performed in Haiti or one or more
countries, as described in HOPE, or any combination thereof, is not
less than an applicable percentage of the declared customs value of
such apparel articles. Pursuant to HELP, the applicable percentage for
the period December 20, 2014 through December 19, 2015, is 50 percent.
For every twelve month period following the effective date of HOPE,
duty-free treatment under the value-added program is subject to a
quantitative limitation. HOPE provides that the quantitative limitation
will be recalculated for each subsequent 12-month period. Section
213A(b)(1)(C) of HOPE, as amended by HOPE II and HELP, requires that,
for the twelve-month period beginning on December 20, 2014, the
quantitative limitation for qualifying apparel imported from Haiti
under the value-added program will be an amount equivalent to 1.25
percent of the aggregate square meter equivalent of all apparel
articles imported into the United States in the most recent 12-month
period for which data are available. The aggregate square meters
equivalent of all apparel articles imported into the United States is
derived from the set of Harmonized System lines listed in the Annex to
the World Trade Organization Agreement on Textiles and Clothing
(``ATC''), and
[[Page 74068]]
the conversion factors for units of measure into square meter
equivalents used by the United States in implementing the ATC. For
purposes of this notice, the most recent 12-month period for which data
are available as of December 20, 2014 is the 12-month period ending on
October 31, 2014.
Therefore, for the one-year period beginning on December 20, 2014
and extending through December 19, 2015, the quantity of imports
eligible for preferential treatment under the value-added program is
332,915,916 square meters equivalent. Apparel articles entered in
excess of these quantities will be subject to otherwise applicable
tariffs.
Dated: December 9, 2014.
Joshua Teitelbaum,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Textiles, Consumer Goods and Materials.
[FR Doc. 2014-29253 Filed 12-12-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-P