I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5035 

To modify the special rules for Haiti under the Caribbean Basin Economic 

Recovery Act, to extend preferential duty treatment program for Haiti 

under that Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 27, 2023 

Ms. PLASKETT (for herself, Ms. SEWELL, and Mr. BLUMENAUER) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To modify the special rules for Haiti under the Caribbean 

Basin Economic Recovery Act, to extend preferential 

duty treatment program for Haiti under that Act, 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 ‘‘Hemispheric Oppor5 tunity through Partnership Enhancement for Haitian 

6 Prosperity Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘HOPE for Haitian Pros7 perity Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF SPECIAL RULES FOR HAITI 

2 UNDER THE CARIBBEAN BASIN ECONOMIC 

3 RECOVERY ACT. 

4 (a) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

5 213A(d)(4) of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery 

6 Act (19 U.S.C. 2703a(d)(4)) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘Any interested party’’ and in8 serting the following: 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any interested party’’; 

10 (2) by striking ‘‘paragraph (1),’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘paragraph (1).’’; 

12 (3) by striking ‘‘and the President shall provide 

13 for this purpose’’ and inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(C) APPLICABLE PROCEDURES.—The 

15 President shall provide for the purpose of sub16 paragraph (A) and the purpose of subpara17 graph (B)’’; and 

18 (4) by inserting after subparagraph (A) (as so 

19 designated) the following: 

20 ‘‘(B) COMPLIANCE WITH CORE LABOR

21 STANDARDS AND WITH THE LABOR LAWS OF

22 HAITI.—Any interested party may file a request 

23 to have the status of individual producers re24 viewed with respect to compliance with core 

25 labor standards and with the labor laws of 

26 Haiti that directly relate to and are consistent 


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1 with core labor standards and with the labor 

2 laws of Haiti that relate to acceptable condi3 tions of work with respect to minimum wages 

4 and hours of work.’’. 

5 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMPROVEMENT AND

6 COMPLIANCE NEEDS ASSESSMENT AND REMEDIATION

7 PROGRAM.—Section 213A(e)(4)(B) of the Caribbean 

8 Basin Economic Recovery Act (19 U.S.C. 2703a(e)(4)(B)) 

9 is amended— 

10 (1) in clause (i)— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘a biennial basis’’ and in12 serting ‘‘an annual basis’’; and 

13 (B) by adding at the end before the period 

14 the following: ‘‘or with the labor laws of Haiti 

15 that relate to acceptable conditions of work with 

16 respect to minimum wages and hours of work’’; 

17 (2) in clause (ii)— 

18 (A) in the first sentence, by adding at the 

19 end before the period the following: ‘‘and with 

20 the labor laws of Haiti that relate to acceptable 

21 conditions of work with respect to minimum 

22 wages and hours of work’’; and 

23 (B) by inserting after the first sentence 

24 the following new sentence: ‘‘The President may 

25 withdraw, suspend, or limit the application of 


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1 preferential treatment under subsection (b) to 

2 articles of such producer during the period in 

3 which assistance described in the preceding sen4 tence is being provided to the producer.’’; and 

5 (3) in clause (iii), by inserting after ‘‘and are 

6 consistent with core labor standards’’ the following: 

7 ‘‘and with the labor laws of Haiti that relate to ac8 ceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum 

9 wages and hours of work’’. 

10 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF PREFERENTIAL DUTY TREATMENT 

11 PROGRAM FOR HAITI. 

12 Section 213A of the Caribbean Basin Economic Re13 covery Act (19 U.S.C. 2703a) is amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (a)(3)— 

15 (A) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

16 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

17 (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking the 

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

19 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(F) a safe and healthy working environ21 ment.’’; 

22 (2) in subsection (b)— 

23 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

24 (i) in subparagraph (B)(v)(I)— 


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1 (I) by striking ‘‘means’’ and all 

2 that follows through ‘‘60 percent’’ and 

3 inserting ‘‘means 60 percent’’; and 

4 (II) by striking ‘‘7 succeeding 1- 

5 year periods’’ and inserting ‘‘17 suc6 ceeding 1-year periods’’; and 

7 (ii) in subparagraph (C)— 

8 (I) in the table, by striking ‘‘16 

9 succeeding 1-year periods’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘28 succeeding 1-year periods’’; 

11 and 

12 (II) in the matter following the 

13 table, by striking ‘‘2025’’ and insert14 ing ‘‘2035’’; and 

15 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

16 (i) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by strik17 ing ‘‘16 succeeding 1-year periods’’ and in18 serting ‘‘26 succeeding 1-year periods’’; 

19 and 

20 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by strik21 ing ‘‘16 succeeding 1-year periods’’ and in22 serting ‘‘26 succeeding 1-year periods’’; 

23 (3) in subsection (d)(1)(A)(vi), by striking ‘‘, 

24 hours of work, and occupational safety and health’’ 

25 and inserting ‘‘and hours of work’’; 


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1 (4) in subsection (e)(3)— 

2 (A) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘, 

3 hours of work, and occupational safety and 

4 health’’ and inserting ‘‘and hours of work’’; and 

5 (B) in subparagraph and (E)(ii), by strik6 ing ‘‘, hours of work, and occupational safety 

7 and health’’ and inserting ‘‘and hours of work’’; 

8 and 

9 (5) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘2025’’ and 

10 inserting ‘‘2035’’. 

11 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO INCREASE AND DIVER12 SIFY EXPORTS FROM HAITI TO THE UNITED 

13 STATES. 

14 Section 213A of the Caribbean Basin Economic Re15 covery Act (19 U.S.C. 2703a), as amended by this Act, 

16 is further amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(i) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO INCREASE AND DI18 VERSIFY EXPORTS FROM HAITI TO THE UNITED

19 STATES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The United States Trade 

21 Representative shall provide technical assistance to 

22 the agencies, entities, and individuals specified in 

23 clauses (i) through (v) of paragraph (2)(B), to in24 crease and diversify exports from Haiti to the 

25 United States with the objectives of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) increasing and diversifying export-ori2 ented value chains in Haiti through measures 

3 that enhance the competitiveness of firms in 

4 Haiti; 

5 ‘‘(B) reinforcing the capacity of trade sup6 port institutions to enhance the business cli7 mate in Haiti; and 

8 ‘‘(C) developing utilization strategies for 

9 Haiti to further explore export opportunities 

10 under United States trade preference programs. 

11 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The Trade Representa12 tive— 

13 ‘‘(A) shall seek to coordinate with the 

14 International Trade Center to develop and pro15 vide technical assistance; 

16 ‘‘(B) shall establish a participatory process 

17 to develop the technical assistance that in18 cludes— 

19 ‘‘(i) appropriate agencies of the Gov20 ernment of Haiti; 

21 ‘‘(ii) trade support institutions in 

22 Haiti; 

23 ‘‘(iii) employers in Haiti; 

24 ‘‘(iv) workers in Haiti; and 

25 ‘‘(v) labor unions in Haiti; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) shall consult with the Committee on 

2 Ways and Means of the House of Representa3 tives and the Committee on Finance of the Sen4 ate regarding the development and provision of 

5 technical assistance. 

6 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—Technical assistance provided 

7 pursuant to this subsection shall focus on— 

8 ‘‘(A) developing agricultural processing ex9 ports to the United States; 

10 ‘‘(B) improving competitiveness and labor 

11 compliance in the apparel sector; 

12 ‘‘(C) improving key services that support 

13 the competitiveness of sectors with export po14 tential to the United States; and 

15 ‘‘(D) providing the institutional capacity 

16 for government, non-profit, and private sector 

17 bodies to increase and diversify exports to the 

18 United States. 

19 ‘‘(4) REPORTS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The President shall 

21 include in each report required to be submitted 

22 to Congress under section 163(a) of the Trade 

23 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2213(a)) the following: 

24 ‘‘(i) A description of the actions taken 

25 to provide technical assistance during the 


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1 preceding calendar year, including metrics 

2 related to the outcomes achieved through 

3 such assistance. 

4 ‘‘(ii) A description of the actions 

5 taken regarding the participatory process 

6 under paragraph (3)(B) during the pre7 ceding calendar year, including an identi8 fication of the agencies, entities, and indi9 viduals specified in clauses (i) through (v) 

10 of paragraph (2)(B) that participated. 

11 ‘‘(B) COORDINATION.—The President shall 

12 seek to coordinate with the International Trade 

13 Center in carrying out this paragraph. 

14 ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

15 ‘‘(A) the term ‘International Trade Cen16 ter’— 

17 ‘‘(i) means the joint agency of the 

18 United Nations Conference on Trade and 

19 Development and the World Trade Organi20 zation, originally established by the Con21 tracting Parties of the General Agreement 

22 on Tariffs and Trade on March 19, 1964, 

23 and from January 1, 1968, operated joint24 ly with the United Nations Conference on 

25 Trade and Development; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) includes any subdivision, instru2 mentality, or designee thereof; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the term ‘trade support institutions’ 

4 means key actors that support the export-ori5 ented business climate, such as— 

6 ‘‘(i) the Haitian Ministry of Com7 merce and Industry; 

8 ‘‘(ii) the Haitian Chamber of Com9 merce and Industry; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) trade promotion organizations.’’. 

Æ 


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