E7-5566. Limitation of Duty-free Imports of Apparel Articles Assembled in Haiti under the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity Through Partnership for Encouragement Act (HOPE)

March 22, 2007.

AGENCY:

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA).

ACTION:

Publishing the 12-Month Cap on Duty-Free Benefits.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

March 26, 2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Richard Stetson, International Trade Specialist, Office of Textiles and Apparel, U.S. Department of Commerce, [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Authority: The Caribbean Basin Recovery Act (CBERA), as amended by the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity Through Partnership for Encouragement Act of 2006 (collectively HOPE), Title V of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006.

HOPE provides for duty-free treatment for certain apparel articles imported directly from Haiti. Section 213A (b)(2) of HOPE provides duty- free treatment for apparel articles wholly assembled, or knit-to-shape, in Haiti from any combination of fabrics, fabric components, components knit-to-shape, and yarns, if 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, subject to quantitative limitation.

Section 213A (a)(1)(B) of HOPE provides that the initial applicable one-year period of quantitative limitation means the one-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of HOPE, beginning on December 20, 2006. Section 213A (b)(3) of HOPE provides that the quantitative limitations for qualifying apparel imported from Haiti under this provision for the twelve-month period beginning on December 20, 2006 will be an amount not to exceed 1 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. For purposes of this notice, the most recent 12-month period for which data are available as of December 20, 2006 was the 12-month period ending on October 31, 2006.

For the initial applicable one-year period, beginning on December 20, 2006 and extending through December 19, 2007, the quantity of imports eligible for preferential treatment under this provision is 238,785,275 square meters equivalent. Section 213A (b)(3) of HOPE provides that these quantities will be recalculated for each subsequent 12-month period. Apparel articles entered in excess of these quantities will be subject to otherwise applicable tariffs.

These quantities are calculated using the aggregate square meters equivalent of all apparel articles imported into the United States, derived from the set of Harmonized System lines listed in the Annex to the World Trade Organization Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC), and the conversion factors for units of measure into square meter equivalents used by the United States in implementing the ATC.

R. Matthew Priest,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.