II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2032 

To make certain footwear eligible for duty-free treatment under the 

Generalized System of Preferences, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 30, 2017 

Ms. CANTWELL (for herself and Mr. ROBERTS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To make certain footwear eligible for duty-free treatment 

under the Generalized System of Preferences, 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 ‘‘GSP Footwear Act 

5 of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The Generalized System of Preferences 

9 under title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

10 2461 et seq.) was enacted to promote economic deVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:49 Oct 31, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2032.IS S2032

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1 velopment in developing and least-developed coun2 tries by expanding trade opportunities. 

3 (2) Articles referred to as footwear and classi4 fied under chapter 64 of the Harmonized Tariff 

5 Schedule of the United States may not be designated 

6 as eligible articles for purposes of the Generalized 

7 System of Preferences. 

8 (3) Global trade and manufacturing dynamics 

9 have evolved since the enactment of the Generalized 

10 System of Preferences in 1974, and many footwear 

11 articles may no longer be import-sensitive to indus12 tries in the United States. Companies in the United 

13 States benefit when sourcing options are increased, 

14 which is key goal of the Generalized System of Pref15 erences. 

16 (4) By removing certain footwear articles from 

17 the list of articles excluded from eligibility under the 

18 Generalized System of Preferences, Congress is not 

19 changing rates in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 

20 the United States, but instead is allowing those arti21 cles access to the annual review process under the 

22 Generalized System of Preferences, which relies on 

23 investigations and recommendations from the inde24 pendent United States International Trade CommisVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:49 Oct 31, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2032.IS S2032

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1 sion, among other agencies of the United States 

2 Government. 

3 (5) As of 2015, 66 of the 124 countries des4 ignated as beneficiary developing countries under the 

5 Generalized System of Preferences export to the 

6 United States articles classified under Chapter 64 of 

7 the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 

8 States. Fifteen of those countries have been des9 ignated as least-developed beneficiary developing 

10 countries for purposes of the Generalized System of 

11 Preferences. 

12 (6) Countries designated as beneficiary devel13 oping countries under the Generalized System of 

14 Preferences account for only 6.7 percent of imports 

15 of footwear into the United States. 

16 (7) The provision of duty-free treatment under 

17 the Generalized System of Preferences for certain 

18 footwear articles imported into the United States 

19 may result in a shift in the production of those arti20 cles to countries designated as beneficiary developing 

21 countries or least-developed beneficiary developing 

22 countries under the Generalized System of Pref23 erences, and thereby promote economic growth in 

24 such countries. 


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1 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this Act is— 

3 (1) to provide duty-free treatment for certain 

4 footwear in a manner that provides as broad a ben5 efit to all participating countries as possible; and 

6 (2) to give all countries eligible for such duty7 free treatment an opportunity to manufacture that 

8 footwear if a review determines that such duty-free 

9 treatment is warranted. 

10 SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN FOOTWEAR FOR DUTY11 FREE TREATMENT UNDER THE GENERAL12 IZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES. 

13 Section 503(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

14 2463(b)) is amended— 

15 (1) by designating the second paragraph (5) as 

16 paragraph (6); 

17 (2) in paragraph (1)— 

18 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

19 ‘‘paragraphs (4) and (5)’’ and inserting ‘‘para20 graphs (4) and (6)’’; and 

21 (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘in 

22 paragraph (5)’’ and inserting ‘‘in paragraphs 

23 (6) and (7)’’; and 

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


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1 ‘‘(7) CERTAIN FOOTWEAR.—Notwithstanding 

2 paragraph (1)(E), the President may designate the 

3 following as eligible articles under subsection (a): 

4 ‘‘(A) Articles classifiable under subheading 

5 6402.91.42, 6402.99.21, 6402.99.31, 

6 6402.99.32, 6404.11.79, 6404.19.79, or 

7 6404.19.90 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule 

8 of the United States. 

9 ‘‘(B) Articles classifiable under statistical 

10 reporting number 6404.11.8930, 6404.11.8960, 

11 6404.11.8990, 6404.19.3715, 6404.19.3730, 

12 6404.19.3760, 6404.19.5730, 6404.19.5760, 

13 6404.19.7730, 6404.19.7760, 6404.19.8930, 

14 6404.19.8960, or 6404.19.8990 of the Har15 monized Tariff Schedule of the United States, 

16 as such statistical reporting numbers are in ef17 fect on the date of the enactment of the GSP 

18 Footwear Act of 2017. 

19 ‘‘(C) The following footwear articles: 

20 ‘‘(i) Footwear for men or for women, 

21 with outer soles and uppers of rubber or 

22 plastics (except vulcanized footwear and 

23 footwear with waterproof molded or vul24 canized bottoms, including bottoms com25 prising an outer sole and all or part of the 


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1 upper, and except footwear designed to be 

2 protective that is incomplete in its condi3 tion as imported), valued at more than $25 

4 per pair, whose height from the bottom of 

5 the outer sole to the top of the upper does 

6 not exceed 10 inches (25.4 centimeters), 

7 designed to be worn in lieu of, but not 

8 over, other footwear as a protection 

9 against water, oil, grease, or chemicals or 

10 cold or inclement weather where such pro11 tection includes protection against water 

12 that is imparted by the use of a laminated 

13 textile fabric (provided for in subheading 

14 6402.91.50 of the Harmonized Tariff 

15 Schedule of the United States). 

16 ‘‘(ii) Footwear for persons other than 

17 men or women, with outer soles and up18 pers of rubber or plastics (except vulcan19 ized footwear and footwear with waterproof 

20 molded or vulcanized bottoms, including 

21 bottoms comprising an outer sole and all 

22 or part of the upper, and except footwear 

23 designed to be protective that is incomplete 

24 in its condition as imported), valued at 

25 more than $16 per pair, designed to be 


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1 worn in lieu of, but not over, other foot2 wear as a protection against water, oil, 

3 grease, or chemicals or cold or inclement 

4 weather where such protection includes 

5 protection against water that is imparted 

6 by the use of a laminated textile fabric 

7 (provided for in subheading 6402.91.50 of 

8 the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 

9 United States). 

10 ‘‘(iii) Footwear for persons other than 

11 men or women, with outer soles and up12 pers of rubber or plastics (other than 

13 sports footwear described in Subheading 

14 Note 1 to chapter 64 of the Harmonized 

15 Tariff Schedule of the United States) that 

16 is designed for outdoor activities, such as 

17 hiking shoes, trekking shoes, running 

18 shoes, and trail running shoes, which pro19 vides protection against water that is im20 parted by the use of a laminated textile 

21 fabric, with or without insulation, valued 

22 at more than $16 per pair (provided for in 

23 subheading 6402.91.50 of the Harmonized 

24 Tariff Schedule of the United States). 


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1 ‘‘(iv) Footwear for men or for women, 

2 with outer soles and uppers of rubber or 

3 plastics (other than sports footwear de4 scribed in Subheading Note 1 to chapter 

5 64 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 

6 the United States) that is designed for out7 door activities, such as hiking shoes, trek8 king shoes, running shoes and trail run9 ning shoes, valued at more than $25 per 

10 pair, which provides protection against 

11 water that is imparted by the use of a lam12 inated textile fabric, with or without insu13 lation, whose height from the bottom is at 

14 least 6 inches (15.35 centimeters) and does 

15 not exceed 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) 

16 (provided for in subheading 6402.91.50 of 

17 the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 

18 United States). 

19 ‘‘(v) Footwear for men or for women, 

20 with outer soles and uppers of rubber or 

21 plastics (except vulcanized footwear and 

22 footwear with waterproof molded bottoms 

23 or vulcanized bottoms, including bottoms 

24 comprising an outer sole and all or part of 

25 the upper, and except footwear designed to 


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1 be protective that is incomplete in its con2 dition as imported), not covering the ankle 

3 or having a protective metal-toe cap, val4 ued at more than $25 per pair, designed to 

5 be worn in lieu of, but not over, other foot6 wear as a protection against water, oil, 

7 grease, or chemicals or cold or inclement 

8 weather where such protection includes 

9 protection against water that is imparted 

10 by the use of a laminated textile fabric 

11 (provided for in subheading 6402.99.33 of 

12 the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 

13 United States). 

14 ‘‘(vi) Footwear for persons other than 

15 men or women, with outer soles and up16 pers of rubber or plastics (except vulcan17 ized footwear and footwear with waterproof 

18 molded bottoms or vulcanized bottoms, in19 cluding bottoms comprising an outer sole 

20 and all or part of the upper, and except 

21 footwear designed to be protective that is 

22 incomplete in its condition as imported), 

23 not covering the ankle or having a protec24 tive metal-toe cap, valued at more than 

25 $16 per pair, designed to be worn in lieu 


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1 of, but not over, other footwear as a pro2 tection against water, oil, grease, or chemi3 cals or cold or inclement weather where 

4 such protection includes protection against 

5 water that is imparted by the use of a lam6 inated textile fabric (provided for in sub7 heading 6402.99.33 of the Harmonized 

8 Tariff Schedule of the United States). 

9 ‘‘(vii) Sports footwear for men or for 

10 women with outer soles of rubber or plas11 tics and uppers of textile, valued at more 

12 than $20 per pair, other than ski boots, 

13 cross country ski footwear, and snowboard 

14 boots, designed to be worn in lieu of, but 

15 not over, other footwear as a protection 

16 against water, oil, grease, or chemicals or 

17 cold or inclement weather where such pro18 tection is imparted by the use of a lami19 nated textile and with openings in the bot20 tom or side of the sole, or covered openings 

21 in the upper above the sole unit, or a com22 bination thereof, designed to permit mois23 ture vapor transport from under the foot 

24 (provided for in subheading 6404.11.90 of 


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1 the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 

2 United States). 

3 ‘‘(viii) Golf footwear for men, youths, 

4 or boys with outer soles of rubber, plastics, 

5 leather, or composition leather and uppers 

6 of leather, not pigskin or welt, designed to 

7 be worn in lieu of, but not over, other foot8 wear as a protection against water, oil, 

9 grease, or chemicals or cold or inclement 

10 weather where such protection is imparted 

11 by the use of a laminated textile and with 

12 openings in the bottom or side of the sole, 

13 or covered openings in the upper above the 

14 sole unit, or a combination thereof, de15 signed to permit moisture vapor transport 

16 from under the foot (as provided for under 

17 subheading 6403.19.30 of the Harmonized 

18 Tariff Schedule of the United States). 

19 ‘‘(ix) Footwear for men, with uppers 

20 of leather other than of pigskin (other than 

21 work footwear, tennis shoes, basketball 

22 shoes, gym shoes, training shoes and the 

23 like, and other than slip-on footwear), cov24 ering the ankle, valued at more than $27 

25 per pair, designed to be worn in lieu of, 


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1 but not over, other footwear as a protec2 tion against water, oil, grease, or chemicals 

3 or cold or inclement weather where such 

4 protection includes protection against 

5 water that is imparted by the use of a lam6 inated textile fabric (provided for in sub7 heading 6403.91.60 of the Harmonized 

8 Tariff Schedule of the United States). 

9 ‘‘(x) Footwear for women, with uppers 

10 of leather other than of pigskin (other than 

11 work footwear, tennis shoes, basketball 

12 shoes, gym shoes, training shoes and the 

13 like, and other than slip-on footwear), cov14 ering the ankle, valued at more than $27 

15 per pair, designed to be worn in lieu of, 

16 but not over, other footwear as a protec17 tion against water, oil, grease, or chemicals 

18 or cold or inclement weather where such 

19 protection includes protection against 

20 water that is imparted by the use of a lam21 inated textile fabric (provided for in sub22 heading 6403.91.90 of the Harmonized 

23 Tariff Schedule of the United States). 

24 ‘‘(xi) Footwear for persons other than 

25 men or women, with uppers of leather 


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1 other than of pigskin (other than work 

2 footwear, tennis shoes, basketball shoes, 

3 gym shoes, training shoes and the like, and 

4 other than slip-on footwear), covering the 

5 ankle, valued at more than $18 per pair, 

6 designed to be worn in lieu of, but not 

7 over, other footwear as a protection 

8 against water, oil, grease, or chemicals or 

9 cold or inclement weather where such pro10 tection includes protection against water 

11 that is imparted by the use of a laminated 

12 textile fabric (provided for in subheading 

13 6403.91.90 of the Harmonized Tariff 

14 Schedule of the United States). 

15 ‘‘(xii) Footwear for men, with uppers 

16 of leather other than of pigskin (other than 

17 house slippers, work footwear, tennis 

18 shoes, basketball shoes, gym shoes, train19 ing shoes and the like, and other than slip20 on footwear), not covering the ankle, val21 ued at more than $27 per pair, designed to 

22 be worn in lieu of, but not over, other foot23 wear as a protection against water, oil, 

24 grease, or chemicals or cold or inclement 

25 weather where such protection includes 


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1 protection against water that is imparted 

2 by the use of a laminated textile fabric 

3 (provided for in subheading 6403.99.60 of 

4 the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 

5 United States). 

6 ‘‘(xiii) Footwear for women, with up7 pers of leather other than of pigskin (other 

8 than house slippers, work footwear, tennis 

9 shoes, basketball shoes, gym shoes, train10 ing shoes and the like, and other than slip11 on footwear), not covering the ankle, val12 ued at more than $27 per pair, designed to 

13 be worn in lieu of, but not over, other foot14 wear as a protection against water, oil, 

15 grease, or chemicals or cold or inclement 

16 weather where such protection includes 

17 protection against water that is imparted 

18 by the use of a laminated textile fabric 

19 (provided for in subheading 6403.99.90 of 

20 the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 

21 United States). 

22 ‘‘(xiv) Footwear for persons other 

23 than men or women, with uppers of leather 

24 other than of pigskin (other than house 

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1 ketball shoes, gym shoes, training shoes 

2 and the like, and other than slip-on foot3 wear), not covering the ankle, valued at 

4 more than $18 per pair, designed to be 

5 worn in lieu of, but not over, other foot6 wear as a protection against water, oil, 

7 grease, or chemicals or cold or inclement 

8 weather where such protection includes 

9 protection against water that is imparted 

10 by the use of a laminated textile fabric 

11 (provided for in subheading 6403.99.90 of 

12 the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 

13 United States). 

14 ‘‘(xv) Footwear for men or for women, 

15 with outer soles of rubber, plastics, leather, 

16 or composition leather and uppers of tex17 tile materials (except vulcanized footwear 

18 and footwear with waterproof molded or 

19 vulcanized bottoms, including bottoms 

20 comprising an outer sole and all or part of 

21 the upper, work footwear, and except foot22 wear designed to be protective that is in23 complete in its condition as imported), val24 ued at more than $25 per pair, not cov25 ering the ankle, designed to be worn in lieu 


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1 of, but not over, other footwear as a pro2 tection against water, oil, grease, or chemi3 cals or cold or inclement weather where 

4 such protection includes protection against 

5 water that is imparted by the use of a lam6 inated textile fabric (provided for in sub7 heading 6404.19.20 of the Harmonized 

8 Tariff Schedule of the United States). 

9 ‘‘(xvi) Footwear for men or for 

10 women, with outer soles of rubber, plastics, 

11 leather, or composition leather and uppers 

12 of textile materials (except vulcanized foot13 wear and footwear with waterproof molded 

14 or vulcanized bottoms, including bottoms 

15 comprising an outer sole and all or part of 

16 the upper, work footwear, and except foot17 wear designed to be protective that is in18 complete in its condition as imported), val19 ued at more than $25 per pair, whose 

20 height from the bottom of the outer sole to 

21 the top of the upper does not exceed 10 

22 inches (25.4 centimeters), designed to be 

23 worn in lieu of, but not over, other foot24 wear as a protection against water, oil, 

25 grease, or chemicals or cold or inclement 


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1 weather where such protection includes 

2 protection against water that is imparted 

3 by the use of a laminated textile fabric 

4 (provided for in subheading 6404.19.20 of 

5 the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 

6 United States). 

7 ‘‘(xvii) Footwear for persons other 

8 than men or women, with outer soles of 

9 rubber, plastics, leather, or composition 

10 leather and uppers of textile materials (ex11 cept vulcanized footwear and footwear with 

12 waterproof molded or vulcanized bottoms, 

13 including bottoms comprising an outer sole 

14 and all or part of the upper, work foot15 wear, and except footwear designed to be 

16 protective that is incomplete in its condi17 tion as imported), valued at more than $16 

18 per pair, designed to be worn in lieu of, 

19 but not over, other footwear as a protec20 tion against water, oil, grease, or chemicals 

21 or cold or inclement weather where such 

22 protection includes protection against 

23 water that is imparted by the use of a lam24 inated textile fabric (provided for in subVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:49 Oct 31, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2032.IS S2032

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1 heading 6404.19.20 of the Harmonized 

2 Tariff Schedule of the United States).’’. 

3 SEC. 5. STUDIES ON STATE OF DOMESTIC FOOTWEAR IN4 DUSTRY AND PROBABLE EFFECT OF EX5 PANDED DUTY-FREE TREATMENT OF FOOT6 WEAR ARTICLES. 

7 (a) STUDY ON STATE OF DOMESTIC FOOTWEAR IN8 DUSTRY.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall include 

10 in each of the first 6 annual reports under section 

11 504 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2464) sub12 mitted after the date of the enactment of this Act 

13 the results of a study on the state of the footwear 

14 manufacturing industry in the United States during 

15 the year preceding the submission of the report. 

16 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each study required under 

17 paragraph (1) shall focus on changes to the cat18 egories of footwear manufactured in the United 

19 States during the year covered by the study for the 

20 purpose of accurately determining which footwear 

21 categories are manufactured in the United States. 

22 (b) STUDY ON PROBABLE ECONOMIC EFFECT OF

23 EXPANDED DUTY-FREE TREATMENT.—To support ef24 forts by manufacturers in the United States to expand 

25 production of footwear, in conducting any study of the 


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1 probable economic effect of providing duty-free treatment 

2 under title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 

3 et seq.) to footwear articles, the United States Trade Rep4 resentative shall request that the United States Inter5 national Trade Commission not only examine current do6 mestic production of like or directly competitive articles, 

7 but also identify any articles for which domestic produc8 tion at a commercial level is likely to occur within the next 

9 year. 

Æ 


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