II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1883 

To extend duty-free treatment for certain trousers, breeches, or shorts 

imported from Nicaragua, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 20, 2013 

Mrs. HAGAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To extend duty-free treatment for certain trousers, breeches, 

or shorts imported from Nicaragua, 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 ‘‘Extending Incentives 

5 for Exporting American Textiles Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF DUTY-FREE TREATMENT FOR CER7 TAIN TROUSERS, BREECHES, OR SHORTS IM8 PORTED FROM NICARAGUA. 

9 (a) DUTY-FREE TREATMENT.—Notwithstanding the 

10 termination of the tariff preference level program for imVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:33 Dec 26, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1883.IS S1883

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1 ports of apparel articles from Nicaragua and subject to 

2 subsection (b), eligible apparel articles shall enter the 

3 United States free of duty if such eligible apparel articles 

4 are accompanied by an earned import allowance certificate 

5 for the amount of credits equal to the total square meter 

6 equivalents of fabric in such eligible apparel articles, in 

7 accordance with the program established under subsection 

8 (c). 

9 (b) QUANTITATIVE LIMITATION.— 

10 (1) INITIAL LIMITATION.—Subject to para11 graphs (2) and (3), duty-free treatment under this 

12 section shall be extended for a covered calendar year 

13 to an initial limit of not more than 50,000,000 

14 square meter equivalents of eligible apparel articles 

15 unless that amount is increased pursuant to para16 graph (3) for such year. 

17 (2) EXPORT SUCCESS FACTOR.—If during a 

18 covered calendar year duty-free treatment under this 

19 section is extended to 90 percent or more of the ini20 tial limit for such year prior to the end of such year, 

21 the President shall— 

22 (A) extend such treatment to an additional 

23 amount of square meter equivalents of eligible 

24 apparel articles that is equal to 10 percent of 

25 the initial limit for such year; and 


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1 (B) publish notice of the extension in the 

2 Federal Register. 

3 (3) EXPORT SUCCESS PATTERN.— 

4 (A) THREE YEAR INCREASE.—Subject to 

5 subparagraph (B), if the President takes the 

6 action described in paragraph (2) for a period 

7 of 3 consecutive covered calendar years, for 

8 subsequent covered calendar years the Presi9 dent shall— 

10 (i) increase the initial limit for subse11 quent covered calendar years by an addi12 tional amount of square meter equivalents 

13 of eligible apparel articles that is equal to 

14 10 percent of the initial limit for each cov15 ered calendar year of the previous 3-year 

16 period; and 

17 (ii) publish notice of such increase in 

18 the Federal Register. 

19 (B) ADDITIONAL INCREASES.—If the ini20 tial limit is increased under subparagraph (A) 

21 for a period of 3 consecutive covered calendar 

22 years, the initial limit for each such year— 

23 (i) shall be increased under paragraph 

24 (2), if the requirements of such paragraph 

25 are met for such year; and 


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1 (ii) may be eligible for an additional 

2 increase under subparagraph (A) no more 

3 frequently than once every 3 years. 

4 (c) EARNED IMPORT ALLOWANCE PROGRAM.— 

5 (1) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The aggregate 

6 square meter equivalents of eligible apparel articles 

7 of each producer or entity controlling production 

8 that may receive duty-free treatment under this sec9 tion during a covered calendar year may not exceed 

10 the aggregate square meter equivalents of fabric 

11 wholly formed in the United States of yarns wholly 

12 formed in the United States that was previously ex13 ported from the United States by such producer or 

14 entity and for which the producer or entity has 

15 available credits in its account established under 

16 paragraph (3)(B). 

17 (2) REQUIREMENT FOR PROGRAM.—The Sec18 retary of Commerce shall establish a program to 

19 provide earned import allowance certificates to any 

20 producer or entity controlling production of eligible 

21 apparel articles for purposes of subsection (a), based 

22 on the elements described in paragraph (3). 

23 (3) ELEMENTS.—The elements described in 

24 this paragraph are the following: 


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1 (A) CREDITS.—One credit shall be issued 

2 to a producer or an entity controlling produc3 tion for every one square meter equivalent of 

4 fabric wholly formed in the United States from 

5 yarns wholly formed in the United States that 

6 such producer or entity demonstrates has been 

7 exported from the customs territory of the 

8 United States. 

9 (B) ACCOUNTS.—If requested by a pro10 ducer or entity controlling production, the Sec11 retary of Commerce shall create and maintain 

12 an account for such producer or entity into 

13 which credits issued under subparagraph (A) 

14 may be deposited. 

15 (C) CERTIFICATES.—A producer or entity 

16 controlling production may redeem credits 

17 issued under subparagraph (A) for earned im18 port allowance certificates for such number of 

19 credits such producer or entity may request and 

20 has available. 

21 (D) DOCUMENTATION.—The Secretary of 

22 Commerce may require that a producer or enti23 ty controlling production submit documentation 

24 to verify the export of fabric wholly formed in 


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1 the United States of yarns wholly formed in the 

2 United States. 

3 (E) VERIFICATION.—The Secretary of 

4 Commerce may reconcile discrepancies in the 

5 information provided under subparagraph (D) 

6 and verify the accuracy of such information. 

7 (F) ELECTRONIC INFORMATION.—The pro8 gram shall be established so as to allow, to the 

9 extent feasible, the submission, storage, re10 trieval, and disclosure of information in elec11 tronic format, including information with re12 spect to the earned import allowance certifi13 cates. 

14 (G) SCHEDULE.—The Secretary of Com15 merce shall establish procedures to carry out 

16 the program under this subsection by October 

17 1, 2014, and may establish additional require18 ments to carry out the program. 

19 (H) PENALTIES.—If an importer, pro20 ducer, or entity controlling production enters 

21 into the customs territory of the United States 

22 eligible apparel articles for which there are in23 sufficient earned credits, such importer, pro24 ducer, or entity may be subject to a penalty 

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1 cles, in addition to existing penalties under sec2 tion 592 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 

3 1592), as appropriate. 

4 (4) DETERMINATION OF QUANTITY OF SME.— 

5 For purposes of determining the quantity of ‘‘square 

6 meter equivalents’’ under this section, the conversion 

7 factors listed in Correlation: U.S. Textile and Ap8 parel Category System with the Harmonized Tariff 

9 Schedule of the United States of America, 2013, or 

10 successor publication of the Office of Textiles and 

11 Apparel of the Department of Commerce, shall 

12 apply. 

13 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) COVERED CALENDAR YEAR.—The term 

15 ‘‘covered calendar year’’ means a calendar year dur16 ing the 10-year period referred to in subsection (e). 

17 (2) ELIGIBLE APPAREL ARTICLE.—The term 

18 ‘‘eligible apparel article’’ means woven trousers, 

19 breeches, or shorts that are apparel articles de20 scribed in subdivisions (a) and (b) of U.S. Note 15 

21 to subchapter XV of chapter 99 of the HTS im22 ported from Nicaragua. 

23 (3) ENTER; ENTRY.—The terms ‘‘enter’’ and 

24 ‘‘entry’’ include a withdrawal from warehouse for 

25 consumption. 


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1 (4) ENTITY CONTROLLING PRODUCTION.—The 

2 term ‘‘entity controlling production’’ means a person 

3 or other entity or group that is not a producer and 

4 that controls the production process in Nicaragua 

5 through a contractual relationship or other indirect 

6 means. 

7 (5) FABRIC WHOLLY FORMED IN THE UNITED

8 STATES OF YARN WHOLLY FORMED IN THE UNITED

9 STATES.—The term ‘‘fabric wholly formed in the 

10 United States of yarn wholly formed in the United 

11 States’’ means fabric— 

12 (A) woven in the United States from fibers 

13 or from yarns, the constituent staple fibers of 

14 which are spun in the United States or the con15 tinuous filament of which is extruded in the 

16 United States; 

17 (B) for which any dyeing, printing, or fin18 ishing is performed in the United States; and 

19 (C) exported to Nicaragua on or after 

20 April 1, 2014. 

21 (6) HTS.—The term ‘‘HTS’’ means the Har22 monized Tariff Schedule of the United States as in 

23 effect on the day before the date of the enactment 

24 of this Act. 


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1 (7) INITIAL LIMIT.—The term ‘‘initial limit’’ 

2 means the quantity of square meter equivalents of 

3 eligible apparel articles that may be extended duty4 free treatment under this section on the first day of 

5 a calendar year. 

6 (8) PRODUCER.—The term ‘‘producer’’ means a 

7 person or other entity or group that exercises direct, 

8 daily operational control over the production process 

9 in Nicaragua. 

10 (9) TARIFF PREFERENCE LEVEL PROGRAM FOR

11 IMPORTS OF APPAREL ARTICLES FROM NICA12 RAGUA.—The term ‘‘tariff preference level program 

13 for imports of apparel articles from Nicaragua’’ re14 fers to the preferential tariff treatment for nonorigi15 nating apparel goods of Nicaragua established pur16 suant to Article 3.28 of the Dominican Republic17 Central America-United States Free Trade Agree18 ment and the letters described in subparagraphs (A) 

19 and (B) of section 1634(a)(2) of the Miscellaneous 

20 Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2006 (title 

21 XIV of Public Law 109–280; 120 Stat. 1167). 

22 (e) EFFECTIVE PERIOD.—Duty-free treatment under 

23 this section shall be in effect for the 10-year period begin24 ning on January 1, 2015. 

Æ 


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