II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 81 

To authorize preferential treatment for certain imports from Nepal, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 7, 2015 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To authorize preferential treatment for certain imports from 

Nepal, 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 ‘‘Nepal Trade Pref5 erences Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President may authorize the 

8 provision of preferential treatment under this Act to arti9 cles that are imported directly from Nepal into the cusVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Jan 13, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S81.IS S81

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1 toms territory of the United States pursuant to section 

2 3 if the President determines— 

3 (1) that Nepal meets the requirements set forth 

4 in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of section 104(a) of 

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

6 3703(a)); and 

7 (2) after taking into account the factors set 

8 forth in paragraphs (1) through (7) of subsection (c) 

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

10 2462), that Nepal meets the eligibility requirements 

11 of such section 502. 

12 (b) WITHDRAWAL, SUSPENSION, OR LIMITATION OF

13 PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT; MANDATORY GRADUA14 TION.—The provisions of subsections (d) and (e) of sec15 tion 502 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2462) shall 

16 apply with respect to Nepal to the same extent and in the 

17 same manner as such provisions apply with respect to ben18 eficiary developing countries under title V of that Act (19 

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

20 SEC. 3. ELIGIBLE ARTICLES. 

21 (a) CERTAIN MANUFACTURED AND OTHER ARTI22 CLES.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—An article described in para24 graph (2) may enter the customs territory of the 

25 United States free of duty. 


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1 (2) ARTICLES DESCRIBED.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—An article is described 

3 in this paragraph if— 

4 (i) the article is the growth, product, 

5 or manufacture of Nepal; 

6 (ii) the article is imported directly 

7 from Nepal into the customs territory of 

8 the United States; 

9 (iii) the article is described in sub10 paragraphs (B) through (G) of subsection 

11 (b)(1) of section 503 of the Trade Act of 

12 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2463); 

13 (iv) the President determines, after 

14 receiving the advice of the United States 

15 International Trade Commission in accord16 ance with subsection (e) of that section, 

17 that the article is not import-sensitive in 

18 the context of imports from Nepal; and 

19 (v) subject to subparagraph (C), the 

20 sum of the cost or value of the materials 

21 produced in, and the direct costs of proc22 essing operations performed in, Nepal or 

23 the customs territory of the United States 

24 is not less than 35 percent of the apVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Jan 13, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S81.IS S81

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1 praised value of the article at the time it 

2 is entered. 

3 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—An article shall not be 

4 treated as the growth, product, or manufacture 

5 of Nepal for purposes of subparagraph (A)(i) by 

6 virtue of having merely undergone— 

7 (i) simple combining or packaging op8 erations; 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 (C) LIMITATION ON UNITED STATES

14 COST.—For purposes of subparagraph (A)(v), 

15 the cost or value of materials produced in, and 

16 the direct costs of processing operations per17 formed in, the customs territory of the United 

18 States and attributed to the 35-percent require19 ment under that subparagraph may not exceed 

20 15 percent of the appraised value of the article 

21 at the time it is entered. 

22 (b) TEXTILE AND APPAREL ARTICLES.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—A textile or apparel article 

24 described in paragraph (2) or (3) may enter the cus25 toms territory of the United States free of duty. 


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1 (2) TEXTILE AND APPAREL ARTICLES WHOLLY

2 ASSEMBLED IN NEPAL.— 

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—A textile or apparel ar4 ticle is described in this paragraph if the textile 

5 or apparel article is— 

6 (i) wholly assembled in Nepal, without 

7 regard to the country of origin of the yarn 

8 or fabric used to make the articles; and 

9 (ii) imported directly from Nepal into 

10 the customs territory of the United States. 

11 (B) LIMITATIONS.— 

12 (i) LOW VOLUME OF IMPORTS.—If, 

13 during a calendar year, imports of textile 

14 and apparel articles described in subpara15 graph (A) from Nepal are less than 1 per16 cent of the aggregate square meter equiva17 lents of all textile and apparel articles im18 ported into the customs territory of the 

19 United States during that calendar year, 

20 such imports from Nepal may be increased 

21 to an amount that is equal to not more 

22 than 1.5 percent of the aggregate square 

23 meter equivalents of all textile and apparel 

24 articles imported into the customs territory 


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1 of the United States during that calendar 

2 year for the succeeding calendar year. 

3 (ii) HIGHER VOLUME OF IMPORTS.— 

4 If, during a calendar year, imports of tex5 tile and apparel articles described in sub6 paragraph (A) from Nepal are at least 1 

7 percent of the aggregate square meter 

8 equivalents of all textile and apparel arti9 cles imported into the customs territory of 

10 the United States during that calendar 

11 year, such imports from Nepal may be in12 creased by an amount that is equal to not 

more than 1 13 ⁄3 of 1 percent of the aggregate 

14 square meter equivalents of all textile and 

15 apparel articles imported into the customs 

16 territory of the United States during that 

17 calendar year for the succeeding calendar 

18 year. 

19 (iii) AGGREGATE COUNTRY LIMIT.—In 

20 no case may the aggregate quantity of tex21 tile and apparel articles described in sub22 paragraph (A) imported into the customs 

23 territory of the United States from Nepal 

24 during a calendar year under this sub25 section exceed the applicable percentage 


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1 set forth in paragraph (4)(B) for that cal2 endar year. 

3 (3) HANDLOOMED, HANDMADE, FOLKLORE AR4 TICLES AND ETHNIC PRINTED FABRICS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—A textile or apparel ar6 ticle is described in this paragraph if the textile 

7 or apparel article is— 

8 (i) imported directly from Nepal into 

9 the customs territory of the United States; 

10 (ii) on a list of textile and apparel ar11 ticles determined by the President, after 

12 consultation with the Government of 

13 Nepal, to be handloomed, handmade, folk14 lore articles or ethnic printed fabrics of 

15 Nepal; and 

16 (iii) certified as a handloomed, hand17 made, folklore article or an ethnic printed 

18 fabric of Nepal by the competent authority 

19 of Nepal. 

20 (B) ETHNIC PRINTED FABRIC.—For pur21 poses of subparagraph (A), an ethnic printed 

22 fabric of Nepal is fabric— 

23 (i) containing a selvedge on both 

24 edges and having a width of less than 50 

25 inches; 


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1 (ii) classifiable under subheading 

2 5208.52.30 or 5208.52.40 of the Har3 monized Tariff Schedule of the United 

4 States; 

5 (iii) of a type that contains designs, 

6 symbols, and other characteristics of 

7 Nepal— 

8 (I) normally produced for and 

9 sold in indigenous markets in Nepal; 

10 and 

11 (II) normally sold in Nepal by 

12 the piece as opposed to being tailored 

13 into garments before being sold in in14 digenous markets in Nepal; 

15 (iv) printed, including waxed, in 

16 Nepal; and 

17 (v) formed in the United States from 

18 yarns formed in the United States or 

19 formed in Nepal from yarns originating in 

20 either the United States or Nepal. 

21 (4) LIMITATIONS ON BENEFITS.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Preferential treatment 

23 under this subsection shall be extended in the 

24 1-year period beginning January 1, 2016, and 

25 in each of the succeeding 10 1-year periods, to 


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1 imports of textile and apparel articles from 

2 Nepal under this subsection in an amount not 

3 to exceed the applicable percentage of the ag4 gregate square meter equivalents of all textile 

5 and apparel articles imported into the customs 

6 territory of the United States in the most re7 cent 12-month period for which data are avail8 able. 

9 (B) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—For pur10 poses of this paragraph, the term ‘‘applicable 

11 percentage’’ means 1.5 percent for the 1-year 

12 period beginning January 1, 2016, increased in 

13 each of the 10 succeeding 1-year periods by 

14 equal increments, so that for the 1-year period 

15 beginning January 1, 2025, the applicable per16 centage does not exceed 3.5 percent. 

17 (5) SURGE MECHANISM.—The provisions of 

18 subparagraph (B) of section 112(b)(3) of the Afri19 can Growth and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C. 

20 3721(b)(3)) shall apply to textile and apparel arti21 cles imported from Nepal to which preferential treat22 ment is extended under this subsection to the same 

23 extent and in the same manner that such provisions 

24 apply to textile and apparel articles described in 


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1 such section 112(b)(3) and imported from a bene2 ficiary sub-Saharan African country. 

3 (6) SPECIAL ELIGIBILITY RULES; PROTECTIONS

4 AGAINST TRANSSHIPMENT.—The provisions of sub5 section (e) of section 112 and section 113 of the Af6 rican Growth and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3721 

7 and 3722) shall apply to textile and apparel articles 

8 imported from Nepal to which preferential treatment 

9 is extended under this subsection to the same extent 

10 and in the same manner that such provisions apply 

11 to textile and apparel articles imported from bene12 ficiary sub-Saharan countries to which preferential 

13 treatment is extended under such section 112. 

14 SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

15 The President shall monitor, review, and report to 

16 Congress, not later than one year after the date of the 

17 enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, on the im18 plementation of this Act and on the trade and investment 

19 policy of the United States with respect to Nepal. 

20 SEC. 5. TERMINATION OF PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT. 

21 No preferential treatment extended under this Act 

22 shall remain in effect after December 31, 2025. 


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1 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 The provisions of this Act shall take effect on Janu3 ary 1, 2016. 

Æ 


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