Requires the President, in determining whether to designate a country a beneficiary country, to take into account, among other things, the extent to which such country adheres to democratic principles and the rule of law.
[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2823 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2823
To amend the Andean Trade Preference Act to grant certain benefits with
respect to textile and apparel, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 29, 2000
Mr. Graham (for himself, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Moynihan, Mr. Grassley, Mr.
Dodd, Mr. Coverdell, and Mr. Biden) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Andean Trade Preference Act to grant certain benefits with
respect to textile and apparel, 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. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Plan Colombia Trade Act''.
SEC. 2. TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF ADDITIONAL TRADE BENEFITS TO CERTAIN
ANDEAN COUNTRIES.
(a) In General.--Section 204(b) of the Andean Trade Preference Act
(19 U.S.C. 3203(b)) is amended to read as follows:
``(b) Exceptions to Duty-Free Treatment.--
``(1) In General.--Subject to paragraphs (2), the duty-free
treatment provided under this title shall not apply to--
``(A) textile and apparel articles which are subject
to textile agreements;
``(B) footwear not designated at the time of the
effective date of this Act as eligible for the purpose
of the generalized system of preferences under title V
of the Trade Act of 1974;
``(C) tuna, prepared or preserved in any manner, in
airtight containers;
``(D) petroleum, or any product derived from
petroleum, provided for in headings 2709 and 2710 of
the HTS;
``(E) watches and watch parts (including cases,
bracelets and straps), of whatever type including, but
not limited to, mechanical, quartz digital or quartz
analog, if such watches or watch parts contain any
material which is the product of any country with
respect to which HTS column 2 rates of duty apply;
``(F) articles to which reduced rates of duty apply
under subsection (c);
``(G) sugars, syrups, and molasses classified in
subheadings 1701.11.03, 1701.12.02, 1701.99.02,
1702.90.32, 1806.10.42, and 2106.90.12 of the HTS; or
``(H) rum and tafia classified in subheading
2208.40.00 of the HTS.
``(2) Transition period treatment of certain textile and
apparel articles.--
``(A) Articles covered.--During the transition
period, the preferential treatment described in
subparagraph (B) shall apply to the following articles:
``(i) Apparel articles assembled in one or
more beneficiary countries.--Apparel articles
assembled in one or more beneficiary countries
from fabrics wholly formed and cut in the
United States, from yarns wholly formed in the
United States, that are--
``(I) entered under subheading
9802.00.80 of the HTS; or
``(II) entered under chapter 61 or
62 of the HTS, if, after such assembly,
the articles would have qualified for
entry under subheading 9802.00.80 of
the HTS 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.
``(ii) Apparel articles cut and assembled
in one or more beneficiary countries.--Apparel
articles cut in one or more beneficiary
countries from fabric wholly formed in the
United States from yarns wholly formed in the
United States, if such articles are assembled
in one or more such countries with thread
formed in the United States.
``(iii) Special rules.--
``(I) Exception for findings and
trimmings.--(aa) An article otherwise
eligible for preferential treatment
under this paragraph shall not be
ineligible for such treatment because
the article contains findings or
trimmings of foreign origin, if such
findings and trimmings do not exceed 25
percent of the cost of the components
of the assembled product. Examples of
findings and trimmings are sewing
thread, hooks and eyes, snaps, buttons,
`bow buds', decorative lace, trim,
elastic strips, zippers, including
zipper tapes and labels, and other
similar products. Elastic strips are
considered findings or trimmings only
if they are each less than 1 inch in
width and are used in the production of
brassieres.
``(bb) In the case of an article
described in clause (ii) of this
subparagraph, sewing thread shall not
be treated as findings or trimmings
under this subclause.
``(II) Certain interlining.--(aa)
An article otherwise eligible for
preferential treatment under this
paragraph 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.
``(bb) Interlinings eligible for
the treatment described in division
(aa) include only a chest type plate,
`hymo' piece, or `sleeve header', of
woven or weft-inserted warp knit
construction and of coarse animal hair
or man-made filaments.
``(cc) The treatment described in
this subclause shall terminate if the
President makes a determination that
United States manufacturers are
producing such interlinings in the
United States in commercial quantities.
``(III) De minimis rule.--An
article that would otherwise be
ineligible for preferential treatment
under this paragraph because the
article contains fibers or yarns not
wholly formed in the United States or
in one or more beneficiary countries
shall not be ineligible for such
treatment if the total weight of all
such fibers or yarns is not more than 7
percent of the total weight of the
good. Notwithstanding the preceding
sentence, an apparel article containing
elastomeric yarns shall be eligible for
preferential treatment under this
paragraph only if such yarns are wholly
formed in the United States.
``(IV) Special origin rule.--An
article otherwise eligible for
preferential treatment under clause (i)
or (ii) of this subparagraph shall not
be ineligible for such treatment
because the article contains nylon
filament yarn (other than elastomeric
yarn) that is classifiable under
subheading 5402.10.30, 5402.10.60,
5402.31.30, 5402.31.60, 5402.32.30,
5402.32.60, 5402.41.10, 5402.41.90,
5402.51.00, or 5402.61.00 of the HTS
duty-free from a country that is a
party to an agreement with the United
States establishing a free trade area,
which entered into force before January
1, 1995.
``(iv) Special rule for fabrics not formed
from yarns.--
``(I) Application to clause (i).--
An article otherwise eligible for
preferential treatment under clause (i)
of this subparagraph shall not be
ineligible for such treatment because
the article is assembled in one or more
beneficiary countries from fabrics not
formed from yarns, if such fabrics are
classifiable under heading 5602 or 5603
of the HTS and are wholly formed and
cut in the United States.
``(II) Application to clause
(ii).--An article otherwise eligible
for preferential treatment under clause
(ii) of this subparagraph shall not be
ineligible for such treatment because
the article is assembled in one or more
beneficiary countries from fabrics not
formed from yarns, if such fabrics are
classifiable under heading 5602 or 5603
of the HTS and are wholly formed in the
United States.
``(B) Preferential treatment.--During the
transition period, the articles to which this paragraph
applies shall enter the United States free of duty and
free of any quantitative restrictions, limitations, or
consultation levels.
``(C) Transition period.--In this paragraph, the
term `transition period' means, with respect to a
beneficiary country, the period that begins on the date
of enactment of the Plan Colombia Trade Act or October
1, 2000, whichever is later, and ends on the date that
duty-free treatment ends under this title.''.
(b) Factors Affecting Designation.--
(1) In general.--Section 203(d) of the Andean Trade
Preference Act (19 U.S.C. 3202(d)) is amended--
(A) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph
(11);
(B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph
(12) and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(13) the extent to which such country adheres to
democratic principles and the rule of law.''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection
take effect on the earlier of--
(A) October 1, 2000; or
(B) the date of enactment of the Plan Colombia
Trade Act.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6134-6136)
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S6136-6137)
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