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[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 51 Introduced in House (IH)]

105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 51

Expressing the sense of the Congress that there should be parity among 
    the countries that are parties to the North American Free Trade 
Agreement (NAFTA) with respect to the personal allowance for duty-free 
          merchandise purchased abroad by returning residents.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 20, 1997

 Mr. Bonilla (for himself, Mr. Ortiz, Mr. Skeen, Mr. Baldacci, and Mr. 
    Reyes) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 
Expressing the sense of the Congress that there should be parity among 
    the countries that are parties to the North American Free Trade 
Agreement (NAFTA) with respect to the personal allowance for duty-free 
          merchandise purchased abroad by returning residents.

Whereas the duty-free allowance for returning residents is an important element 
        of trade and tourism;
Whereas the United States provides each United States resident who is returning 
        from Mexico after a stay of any duration a personal exemption from duty 
        on merchandise valued at up to $400 once every 30 days (or up to $200 if 
        the individual has claimed an exemption within 30 days before his or her 
        arrival in the United States), including in both instances one liter of 
        liquor or wine and 200 cigarettes or 100 cigars;
Whereas Mexico has a 2-tiered duty-free allowance for its returning residents, 
        set at the equivalent of $50 for ``frontier'' residents of a 25 
        kilometer strip along Mexico's northern border and the equivalent of 
        $300 for residents who live in the interior of Mexico;
Whereas interior residents of Mexico are also permitted up to 3 liters of wine, 
        beer, or liquor and up to 20 individual boxes of cigarettes or 50 cigars 
        or 250 grams of tobacco;
Whereas Canada provides each returning Canadian resident absent for more than 7 
        days a duty-free allowance on merchandise valued at up to the equivalent 
        of $350; after an absence of 48 hours, a returning Canadian resident has 
        a duty-free allowance of the equivalent of $140 and after an absence of 
        24 hours the Canadian allowance is the equivalent of $35; and Canadian 
        residents returning after an absence of at least 48 hours are also 
        provided a duty-free allowance for 1.14 liters of liquor or wine or 24 
        12-ounce bottles of beer or ale, and 50 cigars, 200 cigarettes, 200 
        grams of manufactured tobacco, or 200 tobacco sticks;
Whereas in 1995 Mexico announced that duty-free stores will be established at 
        multiple locations on the Mexican side of the United States-Mexico 
        border, which will sell their merchandise to United States residents 
        traveling to Mexico and will benefit from the generous United States 
        duty-free allowance afforded to its residents;
Whereas with the advent of duty-free stores on the Mexican side of the border 
        serving United States residents, the inequity between the duty-free 
        allowances of the 2 countries is further exacerbated, placing United 
        States retail establishments who service Mexican residents at an unfair 
        competitive advantage;
Whereas the United States entered into the North American Free Trade Agreement 
        (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada with the intent of phasing out tariff 
        barriers among the 3 countries; and
Whereas it violates the spirit of the NAFTA for the countries to maintain 
        restrictive duty-free allowance policies which are not reciprocal: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That--
            (1) the United States Trade Representative and the 
        Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary 
        of Commerce, should initiate discussions with officials of the 
        Governments of Mexico and Canada to achieve parity in the duty-
        free allowance structure of the United States, Mexico, and 
        Canada; and
            (2) in the event that parity in the duty-free allowances of 
        the 3 countries is not reached within 1 year after the date on 
        which this concurrent resolution is adopted, the United States 
        Trade Representative and the Secretary of the Treasury should 
        submit recommendations to the Congress on whether legislative 
        changes are necessary to bring the United States duty-free 
        allowance to a lower amount to conform to the allowance levels 
        established in the other countries that are parties to the 
        NAFTA.
                                 <all>
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