I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1230 

To extend trade benefits to certain tents imported into the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 10, 2005 

Mr. BLUNT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To extend trade benefits to certain tents imported into the 

United States. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. DUTY FREE TREATMENT FOR TENTS FROM 

4 CERTAIN MIDDLE EASTERN COUNTRIES. 

5 (a) DUTY FREE TREATMENT.—Notwithstanding any 

6 other provision of law, the President shall provide duty7 free treatment for any eligible article from a beneficiary 

8 country designated under section 2. 

9 (b) ELIGIBLE ARTICLE.—For purposes of this Act, 

10 the term ‘‘eligible article’’ means any tent with a sewn 

11 in floor and base size less than 20′ by 20′ classified under 
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1 subheading 6306.22.90 of the Harmonized Tariff Sched2 ule of the United States. 

3 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall, upon the en5 actment of this Act, designate each country listed in sub6 section (d) as a beneficiary country unless, and shall 

7 thereafter withdraw such designation from any such coun8 tries if— 

9 (1) the country is listed by the United States 

10 Department of State as a state sponsor of terrorism; 

11 or 

12 (2) the country engages in activities that under13 mine United States national security or foreign pol14 icy interests. 

15 (b) REVIEWS.—Beginning 1 year after the date of the 

16 enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Presi17 dent shall conduct a review to determine if a basis exists 

18 for withdrawing the designation of a country as a bene19 ficiary country under this Act. In determining whether or 

20 not to withdraw such designation, the President shall con21 sider— 

22 (1) whether or not the country has established, 

23 or is making continual progress toward estab24 lishing— 
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1 (A) a market-based economy that protects 

2 private property rights, incorporates an open 

3 rules-based trading system, and minimizes gov4 ernment interference in the economy through 

5 measures such as price controls, subsidies, and 

6 government ownership of economic assets; 

7 (B) the rule of law and the right to due 

8 process, a fair trial, and equal protection under 

9 the law; 

10 (C) political pluralism, a climate free of 

11 political intimidation and restrictions on peace12 ful political activity, and democratic elections 

13 that meet international standards of fairness, 

14 transparency, and participation; 

15 (D) the elimination of barriers to United 

16 States trade and investment, including by— 

17 (i) providing national treatment and 

18 measures to create an environment condu19 cive to domestic and foreign investment; 

20 (ii) protecting intellectual property; 

21 and 

22 (iii) resolving bilateral trade and in23 vestment disputes; 

24 (E) economic policies that reduce poverty, 

25 increase the availability of health care and edu-
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1 cational opportunities, expand physical infra2 structure, promote the development of private 

3 enterprise, and encourage the formation of cap4 ital markets through micro-credit or other pro5 grams; 

6 (F) a system to combat corruption and 

7 bribery, such as signing and implementing the 

8 OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of 

9 Foreign Public Officials in International Busi10 ness Transactions; 

11 (G) protection of internationally recognized 

12 worker rights, including the right of association, 

13 the right to organize and bargain collectively, a 

14 prohibition on the use of any form of forced or 

15 compulsory labor, a minimum age for the em16 ployment of children, and acceptable conditions 

17 of work; and 

18 (H) policies that provide a high level of en19 vironmental protection; 

20 (2) the country’s record on activities that un21 dermine United States national security or foreign 

22 policy interests, and support of a peaceful resolution 

23 of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; 

24 (3) whether the country is a signatory of the 

25 United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, en-
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1 gages in gross violations of internationally recog2 nized human rights, and is making continuing and 

3 verifiable progress on the protection of internation4 ally recognized human rights, including freedom of 

5 speech and press, freedom of peaceful assembly and 

6 association, and freedom of religion; 

7 (4) the country’s participation in the primary, 

8 secondary, or tertiary economic boycott of Israel; 

9 and 

10 (5) whether the country otherwise meets the in11 eligibility criteria set forth in subsection (b)(2) of 

12 section 502 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

13 2462), other than subparagraph (B) of such sub14 section. 

15 (c) CONTINUING COMPLIANCE.—If the President de16 termines under subsection (b) that a country should no 

17 longer be designated as a beneficiary country, the Presi18 dent shall withdraw such designation. 

19 (d) COUNTRIES ELIGIBLE FOR DESIGNATION.—The 

20 countries referred to in subsection (a) are the following 

21 countries of the greater Middle East or their successor po22 litical entities: 

23 (1) Afghanistan. 

24 (2) Algeria. 

25 (3) Azerbaijan. 
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1 (4) Bahrain. 

2 (5) Bangladesh. 

3 (6) Egypt. 

4 (7) Iraq. 

5 (8) Kuwait. 

6 (9) Lebanon. 

7 (10) Morocco. 

8 (11) Oman. 

9 (12) Pakistan. 

10 (13) Qatar. 

11 (14) Saudi Arabia. 

12 (15) Tunisia. 

13 (16) Turkey. 

14 (17) United Arab Emirates. 

15 (18) Yemen. 

16 (e) THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY.— 

17 (1) DESIGNATION.—The President is author18 ized to designate the Palestinian Authority or its 

19 successor political entity as a beneficiary political en20 tity which, if so designated, shall be eligible for the 

21 duty-free treatment under this Act as if it were a 

22 beneficiary country, if the President determines that 

23 the Palestinian Authority— 

24 (A) does not participate in acts of ter25 rorism, takes active measures to combat ter-
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1 rorism, and cooperates fully in international ef2 forts to combat terrorism; 

3 (B) does not engage in activities that un4 dermine United States national security or for5 eign policy interests; 

6 (C) does not engage in gross violations of 

7 internationally recognized human rights, and is 

8 making continuing and verifiable progress on 

9 the protection of internationally recognized 

10 human rights, including freedom of speech and 

11 the press, freedom of peaceful assembly and as12 sociation, and freedom of religion; and 

13 (D) accepts Israel’s right to exist in peace 

14 within secure borders. 

15 (2) WITHDRAWAL.—The President shall with16 draw the designation of the Palestinian Authority 

17 under paragraph (1) at any time that the President 

18 determines that the Palestinian Authority no longer 

19 meets the requirements of paragraph (1). 

20 (f) NOTIFICATION OF CONGRESS.—In any case in 

21 which the President withdraws the designation of a coun22 try as a beneficiary country under subsection (a) or (c), 

23 or withdraws the designation of the Palestinian Authority 

24 under subsection (d)(2), the President shall notify the 

25 Congress of such withdrawal and the reasons therefor. 
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1 SEC. 3. RULE OF ORIGIN GENERAL RULE. 

2 (a) GENERAL RULE.— 

3 (1) DUTY-FREE TREATMENT.—The duty-free 

4 treatment provided under this Act shall apply to any 

5 article which is the growth, product, or manufacture 

6 of 1 or more beneficiary countries if— 

7 (A) that article is imported directly from a 

8 beneficiary country into the customs territory of 

9 the United States; and 

10 (B) the sum of— 

11 (i) the cost or value of the materials 

12 produced in 1 or more beneficiary coun13 tries, plus 

14 (ii) the direct cost of processing oper15 ations performed in such beneficiary coun16 try or countries, 

17 is not less than 35 percent of the appraised 

18 value of such article at the time it is entered. 

19 (2) U.S. CONTENT.—For purposes of deter20 mining the percentage referred to in paragraph 

21 (1)(B), if the cost or value of materials produced in 

22 the customs territory of the United States is in23 cluded with respect to an article to which this para24 graph applies, an amount not to exceed 15 percent 

25 of the appraised value of the article at the time it 

26 is entered that is attributed to such United States 
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1 cost or value may be applied toward determining the 

2 percentage referred to in paragraph (1)(B). 

3 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘entered’’ 

4 means entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for con5 sumption, in the customs territory of the United States. 

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