I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3496

To extend trade benefits to certain tents imported into the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 17, 2003

Mr. BLUNT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Ways and Means 

A BILL

To extend trade benefits to certain tents imported into the 

United States.

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

3 SECTION 1. DUTY-FREE TREATMENT FOR TENTS FROM 

4 CERTAIN MIDDLE EASTERN COUNTRIES. 

5 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 

6 President shall provide duty-free treatment for any article 

7 classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 

8 6306.22.90 from the beneficiary countries eligible for des9 ignation under section 2 of this Act. 
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1 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall designate any 

3 country listed in subsection (c) as a beneficiary country. 

4 After one year of enactment of this Act, the President 

5 shall conduct a review to determine if a basis exists for 

6 the withdrawal of duty-free treatment, taking into consid7 eration whether or not each beneficiary country—

8 (1) has established, or is making continual 

9 progress toward establishing—

10 (A) a market-based economy that protects 

11 private property rights, incorporates an open 

12 rules-based trading system, and minimizes gov13 ernment interference in the economy through 

14 measures such as price controls, subsidies, and 

15 government ownership of economic assets; 

16 (B) the rule of law and the right to due 

17 process, a fair trial, and equal protection under 

18 the law; 

19 (C) political pluralism, a climate free of 

20 political intimidation and restrictions on peace21 ful political activity, and democratic elections 

22 that meet international standards of fairness, 

23 transparency, and participation; 

24 (D) the elimination of barriers to United 

25 States trade and investment, including by—
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1 (i) providing national treatment and 

2 measures to create an environment condu3 cive to domestic and foreign investment; 

4 (ii) protecting intellectual property; 

5 and 

6 (iii) resolving bilateral trade and in7 vestment disputes; 

8 (E) economic policies that reduce poverty, 

9 increase the availability of health care and edu10 cational opportunities, expand physical infra11 structure, promote the development of private 

12 enterprise, and encourage the formation of cap13 ital markets through micro-credit or other pro14 grams;

15 (F) a system to combat corruption and 

16 bribery, such as signing and implementing the 

17 OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of 

18 Foreign Public Officials in International Busi19 ness Transactions; 

20 (G) protection of internationally recognized 

21 worker rights, including the right of association, 

22 the right to organize and bargain collectively, a 

23 prohibition on the use of any form of forced or 

24 compulsory labor, a minimum age for the em-
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1 ployment of children, and acceptable conditions 

2 of work; and 

3 (H) policies that provide a high level of en4 vironmental protection; 

5 (2) does not engage in activities that undermine 

6 United States national security or foreign policy in7 terests, and supports a peaceful resolution of the 

8 Israeli-Palestinian conflict; 

9 (3) is a signatory of the United Nations Dec10 laration of Human Rights, does not engage in gross 

11 violations of internationally recognized human 

12 rights, and is making continuing and verifiable 

13 progress on the protection of internationally recog14 nized human rights, including freedom of speech and 

15 press, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, 

16 and freedom of religion; 

17 (4) is not listed by the United States Depart18 ment of State as a state sponsor of terrorism and 

19 cooperates fully in international efforts to combat 

20 terrorism; 

21 (5) does not participate in the primary, sec22 ondary, or tertiary economic boycott of Israel; and 

23 (6) otherwise meets the eligibility criteria set 

24 forth in section 502(b)(2) of the Trade Act of 1974 
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1 (19 U.S.C. 2462(b)(2)), other than section 

2 502(b)(2)(B). 

3 (b) CONTINUING COMPLIANCE.—If the President de4 termines that a designated beneficiary country no longer 

5 meets the requirements described in subsection (a), the 

6 President shall terminate the designation of the country 

7 made pursuant to subsection (a) and inform Congress of 

8 the President’s determination and the reasons therefor. 

9 (c) COUNTRIES ELIGIBLE FOR DESIGNATION.—In 

10 designating countries as beneficiary countries under this 

11 Act, the President shall consider only the following coun12 tries of the greater Middle East or their successor political 

13 entities: 

14 (1) Afghanistan. 

15 (2) Algeria. 

16 (3) Azerbaijan. 

17 (4) Bahrain. 

18 (5) Bangladesh. 

19 (6) Egypt. 

20 (7) Iraq. 

21 (8) Kuwait. 

22 (9) Lebanon. 

23 (10) Morocco. 

24 (11) Oman. 

25 (12) Pakistan. 
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1 (13) Qatar. 

2 (14) Saudi Arabia. 

3 (15) Tunisia. 

4 (16) Turkey. 

5 (17) United Arab Emirates. 

6 (18) Yemen. 

7 (d) THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY.—The President 

8 is also authorized to designate the Palestinian Authority 

9 or its successor political entity as a beneficiary political 

10 entity which, if so designated, shall be accorded benefits 

11 under this Act as if it were a beneficiary country, if the 

12 President determines that the Palestinian Authority—

13 (1) satisfies the conditions of subsection (a) (1) 

14 and (2); 

15 (2) does not participate in acts of terrorism, 

16 and takes active measure to combat terrorism; 

17 (3) cooperates fully in international efforts to 

18 combat terrorism; 

19 (4) does not engage in gross violations of inter20 nationally recognized human rights, and is making 

21 continuing and verifiable progress on the protection 

22 of internationally recognized human rights, including 

23 freedom of speech and the press, freedom of peaceful 

24 assembly and association, and freedom of religion; 

25 and 
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1 (5) accepts Israel’s right to exist in peace with2 in secure borders. 

3 SEC. 3. RULE OF ORIGIN. 

4 (a) GENERAL RULE.—The duty-free treatment pro5 vided under this Act shall apply to any article which is 

6 the growth, product, or manufacture of 1 or more bene7 ficiary countries if—

8 (1) that article is imported directly from a ben9 eficiary country into the customs territory of the 

10 United States; and 

11 (2) the sum of—

12 (A) the cost or value of the materials pro13 duced in 1 or more beneficiary countries, plus 

14 (B) the direct cost of processing operations 

15 performed in such beneficiary country or coun16 tries, 

17 is not less than 35 percent of the appraised value of 

18 such article at the time it is entered. 

19 For purposes of determining the percentage referred 

20 to in subparagraph (2), if the cost or value of materials 

21 produced in the customs territory of the United States is 

22 included with respect to an article to which this paragraph 

23 applies, an amount not to exceed 15 percent of the ap24 praised value of the article at the time it is entered that 

25 is attributed to such U.S. cost or value may be applied 
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1 toward determining the percentage referred to in subpara2 graph (2).

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