I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4101 

To amend the African Growth and Opportunity Act and the Trade Act 

of 1974 to provide improved duty-free treatment for certain articles 

from certain least-developed countries, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 18, 2009 

Mr. MCDERMOTT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend the African Growth and Opportunity Act and 

the Trade Act of 1974 to provide improved duty-free 

treatment for certain articles from certain least-developed 

countries, 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 AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘New Partnership for Trade Development Act of 2009’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Expanded benefits and alternative rule of origin for articles of sub-Saharan African countries. 


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Sec. 3. Expanded benefits and rule of origin for articles of other least-developed 

beneficiary countries. 

Sec. 4. Review of import-restricted articles under Generalized System of Preferences. 

Sec. 5. Factors affecting country designation under Generalized System of 

Preferences. 

Sec. 6. Rule of origin under Generalized System of Preferences. 

Sec. 7. Extension of Generalized System of Preferences. 

Sec. 8. Office of Trade and Competitiveness for Least Developed and African 

Countries. 

1 SEC. 2. EXPANDED BENEFITS AND ALTERNATIVE RULE OF 

2 ORIGIN FOR ARTICLES OF SUB-SAHARAN AF3 RICAN COUNTRIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The African Growth and Oppor5 tunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.) is amended by insert6 ing after section 112 the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 112A. EXPANDED BENEFITS AND ALTERNATIVE RULE 

8 OF ORIGIN FOR ARTICLES OF SUB-SAHARAN 

9 AFRICAN COUNTRIES. 

10 ‘‘(a) DUTY-FREE TREATMENT.—The President shall, 

11 subject to section 503(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 

12 U.S.C. 2463(b)), provide duty-free treatment in accord13 ance with this section for all articles from qualified bene14 ficiary sub-Saharan African countries designated under 

15 subsection (b), and such articles shall not be subject to 

16 any quantitative limitation. 

17 ‘‘(b) DESIGNATED COUNTRIES.—The President shall 

18 designate as a qualified beneficiary sub-Saharan African 

19 country for purposes of this section any country that is 


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1 designated as an eligible sub-Saharan African country 

2 under section 104 of this Act. 

3 ‘‘(c) RULE OF ORIGIN.—The rule of origin require4 ments described in section 503(a)(2) of the Trade Act of 

5 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2463(a)(2)) shall apply with respect to 

6 a determination to provide duty-free treatment under this 

7 section to any article from a qualified beneficiary sub-Sa8 haran African country designated under subsection (b) to 

9 the same extent and in the same manner as the rule of 

10 origin requirements described in such section 503(a)(2) 

11 apply with respect to a determination to provide duty-free 

12 treatment under title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 

13 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) to any article from a beneficiary de14 veloping country. 

15 ‘‘(d) TERMINATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The preferential treatment 

17 under this section shall terminate— 

18 ‘‘(A) at the close of December 31, 2015; or 

19 ‘‘(B) except as provided in paragraph (2), 

20 if the President makes a determination and cer21 tification to Congress that there is a successful 

22 conclusion to the World Trade Organization’s 

23 Doha Development Agenda Round of Negotia24 tions on or before the date specified in subpara25 graph (A), at the close of December 31, 2019. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The preferential treatment 

2 under this section shall apply with respect to all arti3 cles from a qualified beneficiary sub-Saharan Afri4 can country designated under subsection (b) after 

5 December 31, 2019, as follows: 

6 ‘‘(A) For the 5-year period beginning on 

7 January 1, 2020, such country is determined by 

8 the Economic and Social Council of the United 

9 Nations to be ‘Least Developed’, as of March 

10 31, 2019. 

11 ‘‘(B) For each successive 5-year period 

12 thereafter, such country is determined by the 

13 Economic and Social Council of the United Na14 tions to be ‘Least Developed’, as of March 31 

15 of the last year of the preceding 5-year pe16 riod.’’. 

17 (b) LESSER DEVELOPED COUNTRIES.—Section 

18 112(c)(1) of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (19 

19 U.S.C. 3721(c)(1)) is amended— 

20 (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘SEPTEMBER 30, 

21 2012’’ and inserting ‘‘SEPTEMBER 30, 2015’’; 

22 (2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘Sep23 tember 30, 2012’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30, 

24 2015’’; and 


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1 (3) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘Sep2 tember 30, 2012’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30, 

3 2015’’. 

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION RULE.— 

5 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

6 by subsection (a) and (b) take effect on the date of 

7 the enactment of this Act. 

8 (2) TRANSITION RULE.—During the period be9 ginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and 

10 ending at the close of September 30, 2015, any arti11 cle to which section 112A of the African Growth and 

12 Opportunity Act (as added by subsection (a) of this 

13 section) applies may be entered, at the option of the 

14 importer, pursuant to— 

15 (A) section 112A of the African Growth 

16 and Opportunity Act; or 

17 (B) section 503 or 506A of the Trade Act 

18 of 1974 or section 112 of the African Growth 

19 and Opportunity Act, as the case may be. 

20 (d) REPEAL.—Effective October 1, 2015, section 112 

21 of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C. 

22 3721) is repealed. 

23 (e) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The table of contents for the 

25 Trade and Development Act of 2000 is amended by 


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1 inserting after the item relating to section 112 the 

2 following: 

‘‘112A. Expanded benefits and alternative rule of origin for articles of sub-Saharan African countries.’’. 

3 (2) REPEALS.—Effective October 1, 2015, the 

4 item relating to section 112 of the African Growth 

5 and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3721) in the table 

6 of contents for that Act is repealed. 

7 SEC. 3. EXPANDED BENEFITS AND RULE OF ORIGIN FOR 

8 ARTICLES OF OTHER LEAST-DEVELOPED 

9 BENEFICIARY COUNTRIES. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title V of the Trade Act of 1974 

11 (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

12 section 506B the following new section: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 506C. EXPANDED BENEFITS AND RULE OF ORIGIN 

14 FOR ARTICLES OF OTHER LEAST-DEVELOPED 

15 BENEFICIARY COUNTRIES. 

16 ‘‘(a) DUTY-FREE TREATMENT.—The President shall, 

17 subject to section 503(b), provide duty-free treatment in 

18 accordance with this section for all articles from qualified 

19 least-developed beneficiary countries designated under 

20 subsection (b), and such articles shall not be subject to 

21 any quantitative limitation. 

22 ‘‘(b) DESIGNATED COUNTRIES.—The President shall 

23 designate as a qualified beneficiary country for purposes 


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1 of this section any country that meets the following re2 quirements: 

3 ‘‘(1) For the period beginning on the date of 

4 the enactment of this section and ending at the close 

5 of December 31, 2014, the country is determined by 

6 the Economic and Social Council of the United Na7 tions to be ‘Least Developed’, as of March 31, 2009. 

8 For the period beginning on January 1, 2015, and 

9 ending at the close of December 31, 2019, the coun10 try is determined by the Economic and Social Coun11 cil of the United Nations to be ‘Least Developed’, as 

12 of March 31, 2014. 

13 ‘‘(2) The country is not eligible for designation 

14 as an eligible sub-Saharan African country under 

15 section 104 of the African Growth and Opportunity 

16 Act because the country is not listed under section 

17 107 of that Act, but otherwise meets the require18 ments of such section 104. 

19 ‘‘(3) The country otherwise meets the eligibility 

20 criteria set forth in section 502, subject to the au21 thority granted to the President under subsections 

22 (a), (d), and (e) of such section. 

23 ‘‘(c) RULE OF ORIGIN.—The rule of origin require24 ments described in section 503(a)(2) shall apply with re25 spect to a determination to provide duty-free treatment 


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1 under this section to any article from a qualified least2 developed beneficiary country designated under subsection 

3 (b) to the same extent and in the same manner as the 

4 rule of origin requirements described in such section 

5 503(a)(2) apply with respect to a determination to provide 

6 duty-free treatment under this title to any article from a 

7 beneficiary developing country. 

8 ‘‘(d) ADJUSTMENT RULE FOR DUTY-FREE TREAT9 MENT FOR ARTICLES OF SIGNIFICANT APPAREL SUP10 PLIERS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In each applicable 1-year 

12 period, in the case of an article described in para13 graph (2) that is the growth, product, or manufac14 ture of a qualified least-developed beneficiary coun15 try that is a significant apparel supplier, the pref16 erential treatment under subsection (a) shall be lim17 ited to 50 percent of the aggregate square meter 

18 equivalent of the combined product categories of 

19 such products that entered from that country in cal20 endar year 2007. 

21 ‘‘(2) ARTICLES.—The articles referred to in 

22 paragraph (1) are the following: 

23 ‘‘(A) Men’s and boys’ trousers, breeches, 

24 and shorts made with cotton or manmade fibers 


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1 (textile and apparel category numbers 347 and 

2 647). 

3 ‘‘(B) Women’s and girls’ trousers, slacks, 

4 breeches, and shorts made with cotton or man5 made fibers (textile and apparel category num6 bers 348 and 648). 

7 ‘‘(C) Men’s and boys’ knit shirts made 

8 from cotton or man-made fibers (textile and ap9 parel category numbers 338 and 638). 

10 ‘‘(D) Women’s and girls’ knit shirts and 

11 blouses made from cotton or man-made fibers 

12 (textile and apparel category numbers 339 and 

13 639). 

14 ‘‘(E) Men’s and boys’ shirts, not knit, 

15 made from cotton or man-made fibers (textile 

16 and apparel category numbers 340 and 640). 

17 ‘‘(F) Women’s and girls’ shirts and 

18 blouses, non-knit, made from cotton or man19 made fibers (textile and apparel category num20 bers 341 and 641). 

21 ‘‘(G) Men’s and boys’ coats made from cot22 ton or man-made fibers (textile and apparel cat23 egory numbers 333, 334, 633, 634, and 643). 


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1 ‘‘(H) Women’s and girls’ coats made from 

2 cotton or man-made fibers (textile and apparel 

3 category numbers 335, 635, and 644). 

4 ‘‘(3) ALTERNATIVE ADJUSTMENT RULE FOR

5 SIGNIFICANT APPAREL SUPPLIERS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a qualified least-de7 veloped beneficiary country that is a significant 

8 apparel supplier qualifies under subparagraph 

9 (B) for the integration incentive for a fiscal 

10 year after fiscal year 2010, then the quan11 titative limitation under paragraph (1) for that 

12 calendar year shall be increased by 10 percent13 age points over the quantitative limitation that 

14 applied to that country in the preceding fiscal 

15 year. 

16 ‘‘(B) INTEGRATION INCENTIVE.—A signifi17 cant apparel supplier qualifies for the integra18 tion incentive if not less than 50 percent of the 

19 aggregate square meter equivalents of the arti20 cles listed in paragraph (2)(A) that entered 

21 from that country in the preceding fiscal year 

22 are composed of yarns or fabrics or components 

23 made of yarns or fabrics that originate in bene24 ficiary developing countries under this title or 


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1 are in countries that are party to a free trade 

2 agreement with the United States. 

3 ‘‘(C) REPORT.—The International Trade 

4 Commission shall submit to Congress annually 

5 by December 31 of each year a report on the 

6 aggregate textile and apparel imports of each 

7 qualified least-developed beneficiary country 

8 that is a significant apparel supplier from each 

9 country that is ‘Least Developed’ (as deter10 mined by the Economic and Social Council of 

11 the United Nations) and publish such report in 

12 the Federal Register. 

13 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

14 ‘‘(A) APPLICABLE 1-YEAR PERIOD.—The 

15 term ‘applicable 1-year period’ means the 1- 

16 year period beginning January 1, 2010, and 

17 each 1-year period thereafter until December 

18 31, 2019. 

19 ‘‘(B) SIGNIFICANT APPAREL SUPPLIER.— 

20 The term ‘significant apparel supplier’ means a 

21 qualified least-developed beneficiary country 

22 from which total apparel imports in a calendar 

23 year exceed 2 percent of the aggregate square 

24 meter equivalents of all apparel imports in such 

25 year. 


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1 ‘‘(C) TEXTILE AND APPAREL CATEGORY

2 NUMBER.—The term ‘textile and apparel cat3 egory number’ means the number assigned 

4 under the U.S. Textile and Apparel Category 

5 System of the Office of Textiles and Apparel of 

6 the Department of Commerce, as listed in the 

7 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 

8 States under the applicable heading or sub9 heading (as in effect on September 1, 2007). 

10 ‘‘(5) TERMINATION.—The adjustment rule pro11 visions of this subsection shall terminate— 

12 ‘‘(A) at the close of December 31, 2015; or 

13 ‘‘(B) if the President makes a determina14 tion and certification to Congress in accordance 

15 with subsection (e)(1)(B), at the close of De16 cember 31, 2019. 

17 ‘‘(e) TERMINATION.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The preferential treatment 

19 under this section shall terminate— 

20 ‘‘(A) at the close of December 31, 2015; or 

21 ‘‘(B) except as provided in paragraph (2), 

22 if the President makes a determination and cer23 tification to Congress that there is a successful 

24 conclusion to the World Trade Organization’s 

25 Doha Development Agenda Round of NegotiaVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:20 Nov 19, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4101.IH H4101

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1 tions on or before the date specified in subpara2 graph (A), at the close of December 31, 2019. 

3 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The preferential treatment 

4 under this section shall apply with respect to all arti5 cles from a qualified least-developed beneficiary 

6 country designated under subsection (b) after De7 cember 31, 2019, as follows: 

8 ‘‘(A) For the 5-year period beginning on 

9 January 1, 2020, such country is determined by 

10 the Economic and Social Council of the United 

11 Nations to be ‘Least Developed’, as of March 

12 31, 2019. 

13 ‘‘(B) For each successive 5-year period 

14 thereafter, such country is determined by the 

15 Economic and Social Council of the United Na16 tions to be ‘Least Developed’, as of March 31 

17 of the last year of the preceding 5-year pe18 riod.’’. 

19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

20 for the Trade Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after 

21 the item relating to section 506B the following: 

‘‘506C. Expanded benefits and rule of origin for articles of other least-developed 

beneficiary countries.’’. 

22 SEC. 4. REVIEW OF IMPORT-RESTRICTED ARTICLES UNDER 

23 GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES. 

24 (a) TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW PANEL.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish 

2 a Trade and Development Review Panel (in this sec3 tion referred to as the ‘‘Panel’’). 

4 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Panel shall be com5 prised of not more than ten members, including the 

6 heads of the United States Agency for International 

7 Development, the Department of State, the United 

8 States Trade Representative, the International 

9 Trade Commission, and such other individuals se10 lected pursuant to paragraph (3). 

11 (3) OTHER MEMBERS.—The President shall se12 lect members of the Panel (other than the heads of 

13 the agencies referred to in paragraph (2)), from 

14 among individuals of the general public with sub15 stantive expertise in the matters to be carried out by 

16 the Panel, after consultation with the Chairman and 

17 Ranking Member of the Committees on Ways and 

18 Means and Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep19 resentatives and the Committees on Finance and 

20 Foreign Relations of the Senate. 

21 (4) CHAIRPERSONS.—The Panel shall be co22 chaired by the United States Trade Representative 

23 and the Administrator of the United States Agency 

24 for International Development. 

25 (5) DUTIES.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Panel shall carry 

2 out the duties described in subparagraph (C) of 

3 section 503(d)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 

4 U.S.C. 2463(d)(1)), as amended by subsection 

5 (b)(1) of this section. 

6 (B) METHODOLOGY.—The Panel shall em7 ploy procedures that provide a maximum 

8 amount of transparency into the decisionmaking 

9 process of the Panel, and to the extent prac10 ticable establish quantitative benchmarks that 

11 are used for decisionmaking purposes. 

12 (6) TERMS.—Members shall serve five-year 

13 terms and may be reappointed. 

14 (7) COOPERATION.—The Panel, at its request, 

15 is authorized to request and obtain information and 

16 analysis from any Federal department or agency. 

17 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE PRESIDENT.—Sec18 tion 503(d) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2463(d)) 

19 is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

21 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

22 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

23 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 

24 subparagraph (E); 


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1 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 

2 the following new subparagraphs: 

3 ‘‘(C) receives the advice of the Trade and De4 velopment Review Panel established in accordance 

5 with section 4(a) of the New Partnership for Trade 

6 Development Act on whether denying such waiver 

7 would improve the development, with an emphasis 

8 on job creation, in beneficiary developing countries 

9 with lower indicators of development, as determined 

10 by the President, 

11 ‘‘(D) determines, based on the advice described 

12 in subparagraph (C), that denying such waiver is in 

13 the national economic interest of the United States 

14 or in the economic interest of such other beneficiary 

15 developing countries, and’’; and 

16 (D) in subparagraph (E), as redesignated 

17 pursuant to subparagraph (B) of this para18 graph, by striking ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’ and in19 serting ‘‘subparagraphs (B) and (D)’’; 

20 (2) by striking paragraph (4); and 

21 (3) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para22 graph (4). 

23 (c) DESIGNATION OF ARTICLES AS ELIGIBLE FOR

24 PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT.—Section 503(b) of the 

25 Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2463(b)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘The Presi2 dent’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in para3 graph (5), the President’’; 

4 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘No quantity’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (5), 

6 no quantity’’; and 

7 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

8 paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(5) DESIGNATION OF ARTICLES AS ELIGIBLE

10 FOR PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The President may 

12 designate an article described in paragraph (1) 

13 or (3) as an eligible article under subsection (a) 

14 if the article meets the requirements of sub15 paragraph (B). 

16 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—An article meets 

17 the requirements of this subparagraph if the 

18 Secretary of Commerce and the International 

19 Trade Commission determine, not later than 

20 three years after the date of the enactment of 

21 this paragraph, that— 

22 ‘‘(i) the application of duty-free treat23 ment under this title to the article would 

24 not cause or threaten to cause material 

25 harm to a United States producer of the 


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1 same or a like article or to a United States 

2 supplier of inputs or components to the 

3 same or a like article; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) not applying such duty-free 

5 treatment to the article would cause or 

6 threaten to cause material harm to pro7 ducers of the article in any of the countries 

8 described in clauses (i) through (iv) of sub9 paragraph (A).’’. 

10 SEC. 5. FACTORS AFFECTING COUNTRY DESIGNATION 

11 UNDER GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREF12 ERENCES. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 502(c) of the Trade Act 

14 of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2462(c)) is amended— 

15 (1) in paragraph (6)(B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

16 the end; 

17 (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at 

18 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(8) with respect to a country that is des22 ignated as ‘Upper Middle-Income’ by the Inter23 national Bank for Reconstruction and Development 

24 and the International Development Association or 

25 that has a gross national income of at least 


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1 $1,000,000,000,000, the extent to which such coun2 try provides meaningful preferential market access 

3 to articles from countries that are ‘Least Developed’ 

4 (as determined by the Economic and Social Council 

5 of the United Nations) or are designated as an eligi6 ble sub-Saharan African country under section 104 

7 of the African Growth and Opportunity Act.’’. 

8 (b) BENCHMARKS AND PUBLIC TRANSPARENCY.—In 

9 making a determination of whether or not to designate 

10 a country as a beneficiary developing country under sec11 tion 502 of the Trade Act of 1974, or as an eligible sub12 Saharan African country under section 104 of the African 

13 Growth and Opportunity Act, the President shall establish 

14 and publish in the Federal Register clear and consistent 

15 benchmarks that will be used to determine the basis of 

16 eligibility for a country at issue, as well as a timeline for 

17 regular reviews. The President shall also implement proce18 dures to ensure that the analysis and decisionmaking be19 hind any such determination is transparent to the public. 

20 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

21 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to the designation 

22 of a country as a ‘‘beneficiary developing country’’ under 

23 title V of the Trade Act of 1974 on or after the date of 

24 the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 6. RULE OF ORIGIN UNDER GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF 

2 PREFERENCES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 503(a) 

4 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2463(a) is amended 

5 to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(2) RULE OF ORIGIN.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The duty-free treat8 ment provided under this title shall apply to 

9 any article that is the growth, product, or man10 ufacture of a beneficiary developing country 

11 if— 

12 ‘‘(i) the article is imported directly 

13 from such country into the customs terri14 tory of the United States; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the sum of— 

16 ‘‘(I) the cost or value of the ma17 terials produced in 1 or more bene18 ficiary developing countries, plus 

19 ‘‘(II) the direct costs of proc20 essing operations performed in 1 or 

21 more beneficiary developing countries, 

22 is not less than 35 percent of the ap23 praised value of the article at the time it 

24 is entered. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION OF PERCENTAGE.— 

2 For purposes of determining the percentage re3 ferred to in subparagraph (A)(ii)— 

4 ‘‘(i) with respect to a textile or ap5 parel article, the cost or value of materials 

6 produced in a beneficiary developing coun7 try includes the full value of any material, 

8 regardless of the origin of the material, if 

9 the material is both cut (or knit to shape) 

10 and sewn or otherwise assembled into such 

11 article in one or more beneficiary devel12 oping countries; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘beneficiary developing 

14 country’ includes the Commonwealth of 

15 Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin 

16 Islands. If the cost or value of materials 

17 produced in the customs territory of the 

18 United States (other than the Common19 wealth of Puerto Rico) is included with re20 spect to an article to which this paragraph 

21 applies, an amount not to exceed 15 per22 cent of the appraised value of the article at 

23 the time it is entered that is attributed to 

24 such United States cost or value may be 


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1 applied toward determining the percentage 

2 referred to in subparagraph (A)(ii). 

3 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—An article shall not be 

4 treated as the growth, product, or manufacture 

5 of a beneficiary developing country by virtue of 

6 having merely undergone— 

7 ‘‘(i) simple combining or packaging 

8 operations; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) mere dilution with water or mere 

10 dilution with another substance that does 

11 not materially alter the characteristics of 

12 the article. 

13 ‘‘(D) SETS.—Notwithstanding the other 

14 provisions of this paragraph, textile or apparel 

15 articles classifiable under General Rule of Inter16 pretation 3 of the Harmonized Schedule of the 

17 United States as articles put up in sets for re18 tail sale shall not be eligible for duty-free treat19 ment under this title unless each of the articles 

20 in the set is an eligible article for purposes of 

21 this title or the total value of the ineligible arti22 cles in the set does not exceed ten percent of 

23 the appraised value of the set. 

24 ‘‘(E) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(i) DIRECT COSTS OF PROCESSING

2 OPERATIONS.—The term ‘direct costs of 

3 processing operations’— 

4 ‘‘(I) includes— 

5 ‘‘(aa) all actual labor costs 

6 involved in the growth, produc7 tion, manufacture, or assembly of 

8 the article concerned, including 

9 fringe benefits, on-the-job train10 ing, and the cost of engineering, 

11 supervisory, quality control, and 

12 similar personnel; and 

13 ‘‘(bb) dies, molds, tooling, 

14 and depreciation on machinery 

15 and equipment that are allocable 

16 to the article; and 

17 ‘‘(II) does not include costs that 

18 are not directly attributable to the ar19 ticle concerned or are not costs of 

20 manufacturing the article, such as— 

21 ‘‘(aa) profit; and 

22 ‘‘(bb) general expenses of 

23 doing business that are either not 

24 allocable to the article or are not 

25 related to the growth, production, 


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1 manufacture, or assembly of the 

2 article, such as administrative 

3 salaries, casualty and liability in4 surance, advertising, interest, 

5 and salaries, commissions, or ex6 penses of sales personnel. 

7 ‘‘(ii) TEXTILE OR APPAREL ARTI8 CLE.—The term ‘textile or apparel article’ 

9 means any article classifiable under any of 

10 the following provisions of the Harmonized 

11 Tariff Schedule of the United States: 

12 ‘‘(I) Chapters 50 through 63. 

13 ‘‘(II) Headings 6501, 6502, 

14 6503, or 6504. 

15 ‘‘(III) Subheadings 6406.99 or 

16 6505.90.’’. 

17 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

18 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to the entry, or 

19 withdrawal from warehouse for consumption, of eligible 

20 articles from a beneficiary developing country on or after 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 7. EXTENSION OF GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREF2 ERENCES. 

3 Section 505 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

4 2465) is amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 2009’’ and 

5 inserting ‘‘December 31, 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 8. OFFICE OF TRADE AND COMPETITIVENESS FOR 

7 LEAST DEVELOPED AND AFRICAN COUN8 TRIES. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be established 

11 within the Executive Office of the President an Of12 fice of Trade and Competitiveness for Least Devel13 oped and African Countries (hereafter referred to as 

14 the ‘‘Office’’) that will be responsible for planning, 

15 developing, and coordinating trade capacity building 

16 and private sector competitiveness programs for 

17 Least Developed and African countries. 

18 (2) LEAST DEVELOPED AND AFRICAN COUN19 TRIES DEFINED.—For purposes of this section, the 

20 term ‘‘Least Developed and African countries’’ 

21 means a qualified beneficiary sub-Saharan African 

22 country designated under section 112A of the Afri23 can Growth and Opportunity Act (as added by sec24 tion 2 of this Act) or a qualified least-developed ben25 eficiary country designated under section 506C of 


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1 the Trade Act of 1974 (as added by section 3 of this 

2 Act). 

3 (b) DIRECTOR AND STAFF.—The head of the Office 

4 shall be a Director of Trade and Competitiveness for Least 

5 Developed and African Countries who shall report to the 

6 President. The Director may hire staff with expertise on 

7 international development, foreign aid, and international 

8 trade. The President shall appoint the Director to be a 

9 member of the National Security Council. 

10 (c) DUTIES.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than June 30, 

12 2010, and not less often than once every three years 

13 thereafter, the Director, in consultation with the 

14 heads of appropriate Federal departments and agen15 cies and nongovernmental organizations, donor gov16 ernments, and private enterprise located within each 

17 Least Developed and African country, shall submit 

18 to Congress a study on the private sector competi19 tiveness of Least Developed and African countries. 

20 (2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The study re21 quired under paragraph (1) shall include a detailed 

22 description for each Least Developed and African 

23 country that identifies the barriers that exist to— 


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1 (A) economic growth and poverty reduc2 tion, in part through utilization of the tariff 

3 preferences; 

4 (B) women fully participating in the for5 mal economy of each such country; and 

6 (C) small farmers, food producers, and 

7 small and medium enterprises to expanding 

8 their businesses in each such country, in part 

9 for the purpose of increasing exports. 

10 (d) COORDINATING COMMITTEE.—The President 

11 shall establish a Trade Capacity Coordinating Committee 

12 for Least Developed and African Countries (referred to 

13 in this section as the ‘‘Committee’’) for the purpose of co14 ordinating implementation of trade capacity building pro15 grams that are carried out by Federal departments and 

16 agencies in Least Developed and African countries. The 

17 committee shall be composed of the following individuals 

18 or their designees: 

19 (1) The Director, who shall serve as the chair20 person of the Committee. 

21 (2) The United States Trade Representative. 

22 (3) The Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, 

23 Treasury, State, and Defense. 


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1 (4) The head of any other Federal department 

2 or agency that the President determines is appro3 priate. 

4 (e) MISSION.— 

5 (1) IDENTIFICATION AND ASSISTANCE.—The 

6 President, acting through the Director and the Com7 mittee, shall provide assistance to the Least Devel8 oped and African countries to dismantle the barriers 

9 identified in the study required under subsection (c). 

10 (2) PURPOSES.—Assistance provided pursuant 

11 to paragraph (1) shall assist in the following: 

12 (A) Developing the necessary infrastruc13 ture needed to foster commerce, with a focus on 

14 regional integration and means to expand value15 added production. 

16 (B) Improving labor conditions and en17 hancing environmental sustainability. 

18 (C) Addressing market barriers such as 

19 trade facilitation and storage of goods, and 

20 complying with international standards such as 

21 sanitary and phytosanitary principles. 

22 (D) Assisting small and medium enter23 prises to increase the capability and capacity of 

24 such enterprises. 


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1 (E) Enhancing economic opportunity for 

2 individuals facing the greatest economic chal3 lenges, such as individuals living in poverty, es4 pecially women and small farmers. 

5 (F) Aligning United States activities to 

6 synchronize with the activities of nongovern7 mental organizations, donor governments, and 

8 the private enterprise located within the country 

9 at issue. 

10 (3) INTERNATIONAL CONSULTATION AND CO11 OPERATION.—The President, acting through the Di12 rector and the Committee, shall consult with African 

13 and American business persons to fully understand 

14 the barriers and opportunities to expanded trade and 

15 investment between the United States and Least De16 veloped and African countries. In doing so, the Di17 rector should consider establishing a private sector 

18 advisory panel that consists of small, medium, and 

19 large African and American businesses. 

Æ 


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