I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3976 

To provide exporting assistance to small business concerns, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 8, 2012 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Small 

Business, Financial Services, and Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of 

such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide exporting assistance to small business concerns, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Enhancing Exports 

5 Through Entrepreneurship Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS TAX CREDIT FOR COSTS ASSOCI7 ATED WITH EXPANDING EXPORT MARKETS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub9 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 


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1 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

2 section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 45S. CREDIT FOR SMALL BUSINESS COSTS OF EX4 PANDING EXPORT MARKETS. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, in 

6 the case of a qualified small business, the small business 

7 export expansion credit for any taxable year is an amount 

8 equal to 25 percent of the export expansion expenses of 

9 the taxpayer paid or incurred during the taxable year. 

10 ‘‘(b) EXPORT EXPANSION EXPENSES.—For purposes 

11 of this section, the term ‘export expansion expenses’ 

12 means amounts paid or incurred by the taxpayer for the 

13 purpose of increasing the amount of goods sold for con14 sumption, or services provided, outside the United States. 

15 Such term shall not include the cost of goods sold (and 

16 similar amounts with respect to services provided). 

17 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED SMALL BUSINESS.—For purposes of 

18 this section, the term ‘qualified small business’ means a 

19 small business concern within the meaning of section 3 

20 of the Small Business Act.’’. 

21 (b) CREDIT TO BE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

22 CREDIT.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of section 38 

24 of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the 

25 end of paragraph (35), by striking the period at the 


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1 end of paragraph (36) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and 

2 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(37) in the case of a qualified small business 

4 (as defined in section 45S(c)), the small business ex5 port expansion credit determined under section 

6 45S(a).’’. 

7 (2) CREDIT ALLOWABLE AGAINST ALTERNATIVE

8 MINIMUM TAX.—Subparagraph (B) of section 

9 38(c)(4) of such Code is amended by redesignating 

10 clauses (vii) through (ix) as clauses (viii) through 

11 (x), respectively, and by inserting after clause (vi) 

12 the following new clause: 

13 ‘‘(vii) the credit determined under sec14 tion 45S,’’. 

15 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

16 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

17 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol18 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45S. Credit for small business costs of expanding export markets.’’. 

19 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

20 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

22 SEC. 3. AVAILABILITY OF ESSENTIAL TRADE INFORMA23 TION. 

24 Section 22(c)(7) of the Small Business Act (15 

25 U.S.C. 649(c)(7)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (C) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

2 the end; 

3 (2) in subparagraph (D) by inserting ‘‘and’’ 

4 after the semicolon; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(E) compiling in a format that is acces7 sible and able to be understood by the owners 

8 of small business concerns, making available to 

9 appropriate partner entities (including small 

10 business development centers, women’s business 

11 centers, chapters of the Service Corps of Re12 tired Executives, Veterans Business Outreach 

13 Centers, and Export Assistance Centers), and 

14 updating each year a document that contains— 

15 ‘‘(i) the tariff schedules of all foreign 

16 countries (organized by industry sector); 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(ii) for each of the 50 foreign coun19 tries to which the highest total value of 

20 United States goods and services are ex21 ported (as determined by the Associate Ad22 ministrator), information on the demand 

23 for goods and services in the country, in24 cluding an identification of the 10 industry 

25 sectors with respect to which the highest 


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1 total value of United States goods and 

2 services are exported to the country (as de3 termined by the Associate Adminis4 trator);’’. 

5 SEC. 4. FOREIGN CUSTOMER MATCHMAKING. 

6 Section 22(c) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

7 649(c)) is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (12) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

9 end; 

10 (2) in paragraph (13) by striking the period 

11 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(14) in coordination with the Department of 

14 Commerce and other appropriate Federal depart15 ments and agencies, identify and advertise to small 

16 business concerns programs and services that facili17 tate the matching of foreign customers to small 

18 business concerns, including— 

19 ‘‘(A) any program administered by a Fed20 eral department or agency that assists small 

21 business concerns to identify and meet with for22 eign buyers, partners, or sales representatives; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(B) any service of a Federal department 

25 or agency that assists small business concerns 


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1 to participate in personalized business match2 making, trade missions, reverse trade missions, 

3 or trade shows.’’. 

4 SEC. 5. LOANS TO SMALL BUSINESSES BY THE EXPORT-IM5 PORT BANK. 

6 Section 2(b)(1)(E)(v) of the Export-Import Bank Act 

7 of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 635(b)(1)(E)(v)) is amended— 

8 (1) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘, and 

9 from the aggregate loan authority available to it, an 

10 amount to so finance such exports which shall be not 

11 less than 30 percent of such authority for each fiscal 

12 year’’ before the period; and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following new sen14 tence: ‘‘The Bank shall charge interest and fees to 

15 the extent necessary to fully offset the costs of mak16 ing loans under this clause.’’. 

17 SEC. 6. INCREASE IN SMALL BUSINESS INVESTMENT BY 

18 OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT CORPORA19 TION. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of chapter 2 of part I 

21 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended— 

22 (1) in section 231(e)(2) (22 U.S.C. 2191(e)(2)), 

23 by striking ‘‘30 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘40 per24 cent’’; 


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1 (2) in section 233(b) (22 U.S.C. 2193(b)), by 

2 striking ‘‘two of the eight’’ and inserting ‘‘three of 

3 the eight’’; and 

4 (3) in section 240(a) (22 U.S.C. 2200(a)), by 

5 striking ‘‘50 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘60 percent’’. 

6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

7 subsection (a) take effect on the date of the enactment 

8 of this Act and apply with respect each fiscal year begin9 ning on or after such date of enactment. 

10 SEC. 7. LIMITATIONS ON DUTIES THAT APPLY TO CERTAIN 

11 GOODS AND SERVICES IMPORTED INTO THE 

12 UNITED STATES FOR USE BY SMALL BUSI13 NESS CONCERNS. 

14 (a) LIMITATION ON HTS DUTIES.—Notwithstanding 

15 any other provision of law, the rate of duty under the HTS 

16 that applies to a covered good or covered service that is 

17 imported into the United States shall not exceed the lesser 

18 of— 

19 (1) the rate of duty that applies to the good or 

20 service on the date on which the good or service is 

21 purchased by a small business concern; or 

22 (2) the rate of duty that applies to the good or 

23 service at the time of entry. 

24 (b) LIMITATION ON ADDITIONAL DUTIES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

2 provision of law, no additional duty described in 

3 paragraph (2) shall apply with respect to a covered 

4 good or covered service that is imported into the 

5 United States. 

6 (2) ADDITIONAL DUTIES.—An additional duty 

7 described in this paragraph is— 

8 (A) a countervailing duty imposed under 

9 subtitle A of title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 

10 (19 U.S.C. 1671 et seq.); 

11 (B) an antidumping duty imposed under 

12 subtitle B of title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 

13 (19 U.S.C. 1673 et seq.); and 

14 (C) any other additional duty imposed 

15 under any other provision of law. 

16 (c) DOCUMENTATION.—The Secretary shall require 

17 the importer of a good or service who, for purposes of this 

18 section, claims the good or service to be a covered good 

19 or covered service, as the case may be, to submit such 

20 documentation or other information to the Secretary as 

21 may be necessary to verify the accuracy of such claims. 

22 (d) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to 

23 prescribe such rules and regulations as are necessary to 

24 carry out the provisions of this section. 

25 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) COVERED GOOD.—The term ‘‘covered good’’ 

2 or ‘‘good’’ means a good that is purchased by a 

3 small business concern for use in its regular busi4 ness operations. 

5 (2) COVERED SERVICE.—The term ‘‘covered 

6 service’’ or ‘‘service’’ means a service that is pur7 chased by a small business concern for use in its 

8 regular business operations. 

9 (3) HTS.—The term ‘‘HTS’’ means the Har10 monized Tariff Schedule of the United States. 

11 (4) IMPORTER.—The term ‘‘importer’’ means— 

12 (A) as such term relates to imports of 

13 goods, one of the parties eligible to file the re14 quired customs entry documentation or infor15 mation pursuant to section 484(a)(2)(B) of the 

16 Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1484(a)(2)(B)); 

17 and 

18 (B) as such term relates to imports of 

19 services, the importer of the service as defined 

20 by the Secretary in rules and regulations pro21 mulgated by the Secretary. 

22 (5) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term 

23 ‘‘small business concern’’ has the meaning given 

24 such term for purposes of the Small Business Act 

25 (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.). 


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1 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

3 (7) TIME OF ENTRY.—The term ‘‘time of 

4 entry’’ means— 

5 (A) as relates to imports of covered goods, 

6 the time generally specified in section 

7 484(a)(2)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 

8 U.S.C. 1484(a)(2)(A)) and prescribed in regula9 tions (19 C.F.R. 141.68); and 

10 (B) as relates to imports of services, the 

11 time specified by the Secretary in rules and reg12 ulations promulgated by the Secretary. 

13 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section takes effect on 

14 the date of the enactment of this Act and applies to cov15 ered goods and covered services entered, or withdrawn 

16 from warehouse for consumption, on or after the 15th day 

17 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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