I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5264 

To extend certain trade preference programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2008 

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

Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To extend certain trade preference programs, 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 ‘‘Trade Preference Ex5 tension Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) For more than 30 years, United States 

9 trade preference programs, including title V of the 

10 Trade Act of 1974 (relating to the Generalized Sys11 tem of Preferences or ‘‘GSP’’), the Caribbean Basin 


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1 Economic Recovery Act (‘‘CBERA’’), and the Ande2 an Trade Preference Act (‘‘ATPA’’), have played a 

3 vital role in triggering sustainable economic growth 

4 in developing countries, helping to spread the bene5 fits of trade abroad, and advancing United States 

6 trade policy goals. 

7 (2) The eligibility requirements of GSP, 

8 CBERA, and ATPA programs have also provided 

9 important leverage to the United States to promote 

10 improvements in beneficiary countries’ trade policies, 

11 protection of intellectual property rights, and protec12 tion of internationally-recognized worker rights. 

13 (3) The GSP program currently is scheduled to 

14 expire on December 31, 2008. The benefits under 

15 the CBERA program are currently scheduled to ex16 pire on September 30, 2008. The ATPA program is 

17 currently scheduled to expire on February 29, 2008. 

18 (4) It is important that the GSP, CBERA, and 

19 ATPA programs are extended swiftly to ensure the 

20 continuation of benefits that are critical to many de21 veloping countries and to provide United States 

22 trading partners, as well as United States manufac23 turers and retailers, the continuity and predictability 

24 necessary to make business and investment decisions 

25 for the near and longer term future. 


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1 (5) An extension of the GSP, CBERA, and 

2 ATPA programs until September 30, 2010, is appro3 priate in order to provide the necessary continuity 

4 and predictability to affected parties and to align the 

5 termination dates of the programs for ease of use 

6 and administration. 

7 (6) The extension of the GSP, CBERA, and 

8 ATPA programs until September 30, 2010, will also 

9 provide an opportunity for Congress to evaluate the 

10 operation of the programs and make any necessary 

11 changes to the programs and other trade preference 

12 programs to ensure that the programs continue to 

13 promote the interests of both United States workers, 

14 farmers, and businesses and developing countries, 

15 particularly least developed and low income devel16 oping countries, seeking to expand and improve their 

17 economies through increased trade. 

18 SEC. 3. GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES. 

19 (a) EXTENSION.—Section 505 of the Trade Act of 

20 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2465) is amended by striking ‘‘December 

21 31, 2008’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30, 2010’’. 

22 (b) LIMITS ON REVOKING WAIVERS OF COMPETITIVE

23 NEED LIMITATION.—Section 503(d)(4)(B) of the Trade 

24 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2463(d)(4)(B)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘Not later than’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘Subject to clause (iii), not later 

3 than’’; and 

4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(iii) The President may not revoke any 

6 waiver pursuant to clause (ii) with respect to an 

7 article unless the United States International 

8 Trade Commission affirmatively determines 

9 that— 

10 ‘‘(I) revocation of the waiver will not 

11 reduce the level of exports of the article 

12 below the level of exports of the article en13 tered during the calendar year reviewed by 

14 the President under clause (ii) from the 

15 beneficiary developing country to the 

16 United States; and 

17 ‘‘(II) revocation of the waiver will not 

18 benefit one or more countries that are not 

19 designated as beneficiary developing coun20 tries for purposes of this title.’’. 

21 (c) REVIEW OF REVOKED WAIVERS OF COMPETITIVE

22 NEED LIMITATION.—Not later than 60 days after the 

23 date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall— 

24 (1) review any waiver of the application of sub25 section (c)(2) of section 503 of the Trade Act of 


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1 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2463) pursuant to subsection (d) 

2 of such section with respect to any eligible article of 

3 a beneficiary developing country that was revoked 

4 pursuant to subsection (d)(4)(B)(ii) of such section; 

5 and 

6 (2) reinstate the waiver unless the United 

7 States International Trade Commission affirmatively 

8 determines that— 

9 (A) revocation of the waiver will not reduce 

10 the level of exports of the article below the level 

11 of exports of the article entered during the cal12 endar year reviewed by the President under 

13 subsection (d)(4)(B)(ii) of such section from 

14 the beneficiary developing country to the United 

15 States; and 

16 (B) revocation of the waiver will not ben17 efit one or more countries that are not des18 ignated as beneficiary developing countries for 

19 purposes of title V of the Trade Act of 1974 

20 (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.). 

21 (d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con22 gress that— 

23 (1) the gains from a prospective agreement re24 sulting from the World Trade Organization (WTO) 

25 Doha Development Round would far outweigh any 


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1 preference erosion experienced by beneficiaries of 

2 United States trade preference programs; 

3 (2) studies by the World Bank, the Inter4 national Monetary Fund, and several private re5 searchers have consistently found that the overall 

6 impact of preference erosion is limited and that the 

7 benefits of Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) tariff re8 duction under the Doha Development Round far 

9 outweigh any costs in the form of preference erosion; 

10 and 

11 (3) therefore, preference erosion should not be 

12 used as a basis for not agreeing to a comprehensive 

13 Doha Development Round agreement that will de14 liver significant new benefits to all WTO members. 

15 SEC. 4. CARIBBEAN BASIN ECONOMIC RECOVERY ACT. 

16 Section 213(b) of the Caribbean Basin Economic Re17 covery Act (19 U.S.C. 2703(b)) is amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (2)(A)— 

19 (A) in clause (iii)— 

20 (i) in subclause (II)(cc), by striking 

21 ‘‘2008’’ and inserting ‘‘2010’’; and 

22 (ii) in subclause (IV)(dd), by striking 

23 ‘‘2008’’ and inserting ‘‘2010’’; and 

24 (B) in clause (iv)(II), by striking ‘‘6’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘8’’; and 


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1 (2) in paragraph (5)(D)— 

2 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘2008’’ and 

3 inserting ‘‘2010’’; and 

4 (B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘108(b)(5)’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘section 108(b)(5)’’. 

6 SEC. 5. ANDEAN TRADE PREFERENCE ACT. 

7 (a) EXTENSION.—Section 208(a) of the Andean 

8 Trade Preference Act (19 U.S.C. 3206(a)) is amended by 

9 striking ‘‘February 29, 2008’’ and inserting ‘‘September 

10 30, 2010’’. 

11 (b) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN APPAREL ARTICLES.— 

12 Section 204(b)(3) of the Andean Trade Preference Act 

13 (19 U.S.C. 3203(b)(3)(B)) is amended— 

14 (1) in subparagraph (B)— 

15 (A) in clause (iii)— 

16 (i) in subclause (II), by striking ‘‘5 

17 succeeding 1-year periods’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘7 succeeding 1-year periods’’; and 

19 (ii) in subclause (III)(bb), by inserting 

20 ‘‘and for each of the 2 succeeding 1-year 

21 periods’’ after ‘‘for the 1-year period begin22 ning October 1, 2007’’; and 

23 (B) in clause (v)(II), by striking ‘‘4 suc24 ceeding 1-year periods’’ and inserting ‘‘6 suc25 ceeding 1-year periods’’; and 


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1 (2) in subparagraph (E)(ii)(II), by striking 

2 ‘‘December 31, 2006’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30, 

3 2010’’. 

4 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con5 gress that— 

6 (1) the Andean Trade Preference Act 

7 (‘‘ATPA’’) is a critical tool for promoting develop8 ment in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, and 

9 provides important incentives for eligible beneficiary 

10 countries to diversify their economies away from 

11 narcotics; 

12 (2) the eligibility criteria of the ATPA pro13 gram—set out in sections 203(c) and (d) and 

14 204(b)(6)(B) of the Andean Trade Preference Act— 

15 are a fundamental aspect of the program; and 

16 (3) Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru 

17 should fully and rigorously comply with the eligi18 bility criteria of the ATPA program and the United 

19 States should carefully monitor compliance with the 

20 eligibility criteria by these countries to ensure that 

21 the eligibility criteria are being fully and rigorously 

22 satisfied. 


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1 SEC. 6. AFRICAN GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITY ACT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 112(c) of the African 

3 Growth and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3721(c)) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘, and subject 

6 to paragraph (2),’’; 

7 (2) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3); 

8 (3) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para9 graph (2); and 

10 (4) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

13 ‘lesser developed beneficiary sub-Saharan African 

14 country’ means— 

15 ‘‘(A) a beneficiary sub-Saharan African 

16 country that had a per capita gross national 

17 product of less than $1,500 in 1998, as meas18 ured by the International Bank for Reconstruc19 tion and Development; 

20 ‘‘(B) Botswana; 

21 ‘‘(C) Namibia; and 

22 ‘‘(D) Mauritius.’’. 

23 (b) APPLICABILITY.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 

25 subsection (a) apply to goods entered, or withdrawn 


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1 from warehouse for consumption, on or after the 

2 15th day after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 (2) RETROACTIVE APPLICATION.—Notwith4 standing section 514 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 

5 U.S.C. 1514) or any other provision of law, upon 

6 proper request filed with U.S. Customs and Border 

7 Protection before the 90th day after the date of the 

8 enactment of this Act, if— 

9 (A) an entry, or withdrawal from ware10 house for consumption, of a good was made on 

11 or after October 1, 2005, and before the 15th 

12 day after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

13 and 

14 (B) there would have been no duty with re15 spect to such entry or withdrawal if the amend16 ments made by subsection (a) applied to such 

17 entry or withdrawal, 

18 such entry or withdrawal shall be liquidated or reliq19 uidated as if such amendments applied to such entry 

20 or withdrawal. 

21 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 6002(a)(2)(B) 

22 of Public Law 109–432 is amended by striking ‘‘(B) by 

23 striking’’ and inserting ‘‘(B) in paragraph (3), by strik24 ing’’. 

Æ 


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