II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2823

To amend the Andean Trade Preference Act to grant certain benefits with

respect to textile and apparel, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 29, 2000

Mr. GRAHAM (for himself, Mr. DEWINE, Mr. MOYNIHAN, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr.

DODD, Mr. COVERDELL, and Mr. BIDEN) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To amend the Andean Trade Preference Act to grant certain

benefits with respect to textile and apparel, 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 ‘‘Plan Colombia Trade

5 Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF ADDITIONAL TRADE

2 BENEFITS TO CERTAIN ANDEAN COUNTRIES.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 204(b) of the Andean

4 Trade Preference Act (19 U.S.C. 3203(b)) is amended to

5 read as follows:

6 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS TO DUTY-FREE TREATMENT.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2),

8 the duty-free treatment provided under this title

9 shall not apply to—

10 ‘‘(A) textile and apparel articles which are

11 subject to textile agreements;

12 ‘‘(B) footwear not designated at the time of

13 the effective date of this Act as eligible for the

14 purpose of the generalized system of pref15 erences under title V of the Trade Act of 1974;

16 ‘‘(C) tuna, prepared or preserved in any

17 manner, in airtight containers;

18 ‘‘(D) petroleum, or any product derived from

19 petroleum, provided for in headings 2709 and

20 2710 of the HTS;

21 ‘‘(E) watches and watch parts (including

22 cases, bracelets and straps), of whatever type

23 including, but not limited to, mechanical, quartz

24 digital or quartz analog, if such watches or

25 watch parts contain any material which is the
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1 product of any country with respect to which

2 HTS column 2 rates of duty apply;

3 ‘‘(F) articles to which reduced rates of duty

4 apply under subsection (c);

5 ‘‘(G) sugars, syrups, and molasses classified

6 in subheadings 1701.11.03, 1701.12.02,

7 1701.99.02, 1702.90.32, 1806.10.42, and

8 2106.90.12 of the HTS; or

9 ‘‘(H) rum and tafia classified in subheading

10 2208.40.00 of the HTS.

11 ‘‘(2) TRANSITION PERIOD TREATMENT OF CER12 TAIN TEXTILE AND APPAREL ARTICLES.—

13 ‘‘(A) ARTICLES COVERED.—During the

14 transition period, the preferential treatment de15 scribed in subparagraph (B) shall apply to the

16 following articles:

17 ‘‘(i) APPAREL ARTICLES ASSEMBLED

18 IN ONE OR MORE BENEFICIARY COUN19 TRIES.—Apparel articles assembled in one

20 or more beneficiary countries from fabrics

21 wholly formed and cut in the United

22 States, from yarns wholly formed in the

23 United States, that are—

24 ‘‘(I) entered under subheading

25 9802.00.80 of the HTS; or
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1 ‘‘(II) entered under chapter 61

2 or 62 of the HTS, if, after such as3 sembly, the articles would have quali4 fied for entry under subheading

5 9802.00.80 of the HTS but for the

6 fact that the articles were embroi7 dered or subjected to stone-washing,

8 enzyme-washing, acid washing, perma9 pressing, oven-baking, bleaching, gar10 ment-dyeing, screen printing, or other

11 similar processes.

12 ‘‘(ii) APPAREL ARTICLES CUT AND AS13 SEMBLED IN ONE OR MORE BENEFICIARY

14 COUNTRIES.—Apparel articles cut in one

15 or more beneficiary countries from fabric

16 wholly formed in the United States from

17 yarns wholly formed in the United States,

18 if such articles are assembled in one or

19 more such countries with thread formed in

20 the United States.

21 ‘‘(iii) SPECIAL RULES.—

22 ‘‘(I) EXCEPTION FOR FINDINGS

23 AND TRIMMINGS.—(aa) An article oth24 erwise eligible for preferential treat25 ment under this paragraph shall not
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1 be ineligible for such treatment be2 cause the article contains findings or

3 trimmings of foreign origin, if such

4 findings and trimmings do not exceed

5 25 percent of the cost of the compo6 nents of the assembled product. Ex7 amples of findings and trimmings are

8 sewing thread, hooks and eyes, snaps,

9 buttons, ‘bow buds’, decorative lace,

10 trim, elastic strips, zippers, including

11 zipper tapes and labels, and other

12 similar products. Elastic strips are

13 considered findings or trimmings only

14 if they are each less than 1 inch in

15 width and are used in the production

16 of brassieres.

17 ‘‘(bb) In the case of an article

18 described in clause (ii) of this sub19 paragraph, sewing thread shall not be

20 treated as findings or trimmings

21 under this subclause.

22 ‘‘(II) CERTAIN INTERLINING.—

23 (aa) An article otherwise eligible for

24 preferential treatment under this

25 paragraph shall not be ineligible for
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1 such treatment because the article

2 contains certain interlinings of foreign

3 origin, if the value of such interlinings

4 (and any findings and trimmings)

5 does not exceed 25 percent of the cost

6 of the components of the assembled

7 article.

8 ‘‘(bb) Interlinings eligible for the

9 treatment described in division (aa)

10 include only a chest type plate, ‘hymo’

11 piece, or ‘sleeve header’, of woven or

12 weft-inserted warp knit construction

13 and of coarse animal hair or man14 made filaments.

15 ‘‘(cc) The treatment described in

16 this subclause shall terminate if the

17 President makes a determination that

18 United States manufacturers are pro19 ducing such interlinings in the United

20 States in commercial quantities.

21 ‘‘(III) DE MINIMIS RULE.—An

22 article that would otherwise be ineli23 gible for preferential treatment under

24 this paragraph because the article

25 contains fibers or yarns not wholly
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1 formed in the United States or in one

2 or more beneficiary countries shall not

3 be ineligible for such treatment if the

4 total weight of all such fibers or yarns

5 is not more than 7 percent of the

6 total weight of the good. Notwith7 standing the preceding sentence, an

8 apparel article containing elastomeric

9 yarns shall be eligible for preferential

10 treatment under this paragraph only

11 if such yarns are wholly formed in the

12 United States.

13 ‘‘(IV) SPECIAL ORIGIN RULE.—

14 An article otherwise eligible for pref15 erential treatment under clause (i) or

16 (ii) of this subparagraph shall not be

17 ineligible for such treatment because

18 the article contains nylon filament

19 yarn (other than elastomeric yarn)

20 that is classifiable under subheading

21 5402.10.30, 5402.10.60, 5402.31.30,

22 5402.31.60, 5402.32.30, 5402.32.60,

23 5402.41.10, 5402.41.90, 5402.51.00,

24 or 5402.61.00 of the HTS duty-free

25 from a country that is a party to an
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1 agreement with the United States es2 tablishing a free trade area, which en3 tered into force before January 1,

4 1995.

5 ‘‘(iv) SPECIAL RULE FOR FABRICS

6 NOT FORMED FROM YARNS.—

7 ‘‘(I) APPLICATION TO CLAUSE

8 (i).—An article otherwise eligible for

9 preferential treatment under clause (i)

10 of this subparagraph shall not be in11 eligible for such treatment because the

12 article is assembled in one or more

13 beneficiary countries from fabrics not

14 formed from yarns, if such fabrics are

15 classifiable under heading 5602 or

16 5603 of the HTS and are wholly

17 formed and cut in the United States.

18 ‘‘(II) APPLICATION TO CLAUSE

19 (ii).—An article otherwise eligible for

20 preferential treatment under clause

21 (ii) of this subparagraph shall not be

22 ineligible for such treatment because

23 the article is assembled in one or

24 more beneficiary countries from fab25 rics not formed from yarns, if such
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1 fabrics are classifiable under heading

2 5602 or 5603 of the HTS and are

3 wholly formed in the United States.

4 ‘‘(B) PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT.—Dur5 ing the transition period, the articles to which

6 this paragraph applies shall enter the United

7 States free of duty and free of any quantitative

8 restrictions, limitations, or consultation levels.

9 ‘‘(C) TRANSITION PERIOD.—In this para10 graph, the term ‘transition period’ means, with

11 respect to a beneficiary country, the period that

12 begins on the date of enactment of the Plan Co13 lombia Trade Act or October 1, 2000, which14 ever is later, and ends on the date that duty15 free treatment ends under this title.’’.

16 (b) FACTORS AFFECTING DESIGNATION.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 203(d) of the Ande18 an Trade Preference Act (19 U.S.C. 3202(d)) is

19 amended—

20 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para21 graph (11);

22 (B) by striking the period at the end of

23 paragraph (12) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

24 (C) by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(13) the extent to which such country adheres

2 to democratic principles and the rule of law.’’.

3 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made

4 by this subsection take effect on the earlier of—

5 (A) October 1, 2000; or

6 (B) the date of enactment of the Plan Co7 lombia Trade Act.

Æ