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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2004

To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to require that certain revenues attributable

to tariffs levied on imports of textile machinery and parts thereof be

applied to support research for the modernization of the American textile

machinery industry.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 6, 1993

Mr. BALLENGER (for himself, Mr. BEVILL, Mr. COBLE, Mr. DARDEN, Mr.

DUNCAN, Mr. EMERSON, Mr. GINGRICH, Mr. HANCOCK, Mr. HEFNER,

Mr. INHOFE, Mr. LANCASTER, Mr. MCMILLAN, Mr. MOAKLEY, Mr.

MONTGOMERY, Mr. NEAL of North Carolina, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. PARKER, Mr. QUILLEN, Mr. RAVENEL, Mr. ROSE, Mr. SOLOMON, Mr. SPENCE, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr.

TRAFICANT, Mr. VALENTINE, and Mr. PAYNE of Virginia) introduced the

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

A BILL

To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to require that certain

revenues attributable to tariffs levied on imports of textile machinery and parts thereof be applied to support

research for the modernization of the American textile

machinery industry.

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

3 SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) since the late 18th century, the United

2 States textile machinery industry has played an im3 portant role in the development of the world textile

4 industry;

5 (2) the United States textile machinery indus6 try currently consists of approximately 500 compa7 nies, primarily small businesses, producing machin8 ery, parts and accessories used in the production of

9 textile mill products for apparel, defense, furniture

10 and industrial application;

11 (3) the textile machinery industry is overwhelm12 ingly comprised of firms with 50 or fewer employees;

13 (4) the textile machinery industry is one of 92

14 industries in the United States considered essential

15 to our defense needs;

16 (5) during the last decade, the textile machin17 ery industry has been among those industries most

18 weakened due to a dramatic rise in imports and for19 eign trade barriers which thwart United States ex20 ports;

21 (6) further erosion of the textile machinery in22 dustry will expose the United States textile and ap23 parel complex to offshore pricing, delivery and serv24 ice resulting in less competition and limited choice;
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1 (7) shipments of textile machinery, parts and

2 accessories were approximately 26 percent lower in

3 1988 than in 1980, while imports rose by an as4 tounding 100 percent during this same period;

5 (8) such erosion of the textile machinery indus6 try will result in loss of tariff revenue to the Treas7 ury of the United States;

8 (9) the textile industry is among the largest five

9 employers in the country;

10 (10) there are many economic benefits of the

11 textile machinery industry, including tariffs on im12 ports, corporate and employee taxes, preservation of

13 jobs and small businesses, industrial growth, manu14 facturing skills, maintenance of basic industries, in15 creased exports, and a lower trade deficit;

16 (11) over the last two decades, employment in

17 the textile machinery industry has shrunk from

18 28,500 individuals to 17,800;

19 (12) recapturing the textile machinery market

20 will be a positive contribution to the balance of

21 trade;

22 (13) trade impacted businesses should have di23 rect access to capital from the source of subsidized

24 competition; and
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1 (14) government studies recommend that re2 search and development programs be developed to

3 help sustain and expand the textile machinery indus4 try.

5 SEC. 2. TEXTILE MACHINERY MODERNIZATION FUND.

6 Part I of title III of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C.

7 1303–1323) is amended by inserting after section 323 the

8 following new section:

9 ‘‘SEC. 324. TEXTILE MACHINERY MODERNIZATION FUND.

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:

11 ‘‘(1) The term ‘Fund’ means the Textile Ma12 chinery Modernization Fund established under sub13 section (b).

14 ‘‘(2) The term ‘qualified organization’ means

15 any entity organized under the laws of the United

16 States with principal manufacturing facilities located

17 in the United States that manufactures and markets

18 any of the following for utilization by the textile in19 dustry worldwide:

20 ‘‘(A) Machinery.

21 ‘‘(B) Parts.

22 ‘‘(C) Accessories.

23 ‘‘(D) Related systems.

24 ‘‘(3) The term ‘qualified research project’

25 means a research project, conducted within the
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1 United States, for machinery and equipment used

2 predominantly, if not exclusively, by the textile in3 dustry, or for major capital expenditure items of the

4 textile industry.

5 ‘‘(4) The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary

6 of Commerce.

7 ‘‘(5) The term ‘textile machinery and parts

8 thereof’ includes all articles provided for in subhead9 ings 8420.10.10, 8420.91.10, 8420.99.10,

10 8443.50.10, and 8443.90.10 and in headings 8444

11 through 8449 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of

12 the United States and all textile machinery and

13 parts thereof provided for in headings 8450 through

14 8452 of such Schedule.

15 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.—There is estab16 lished in the Treasury of the United States the Textile

17 Machinery Modernization Fund. The Fund consists of

18 such amounts as may be appropriated to it.

19 ‘‘(c) PURPOSES OF FUND.—Monies in the Fund shall

20 be available, as provided for in advance in appropriation

21 Acts, for—

22 ‘‘(1) grants made in accordance with subsection

23 (d) to qualified organizations to assist such organi24 zations to carry out qualified research projects; and
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1 ‘‘(2) the administration of this section, and the

2 carrying out of textile machine industry-wide re3 search and promotion, by the Secretary.

4 ‘‘(d) GRANTS.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (3)

6 and (4) and to such terms and conditions (including

7 those necessary to protect the interests of the United

8 States) as the Secretary shall by regulation pre9 scribe, the Secretary may make one or more grants

10 to any qualified organization for the purpose of re11 imbursing that organization for costs incurred by it

12 in carrying out one or more qualified research

13 projects.

14 ‘‘(2) STATEMENTS OF INTENT.—The Secretary

15 may in advance of any qualified organization com16 mencing a qualified research project, provide to such

17 organization a statement indicating the Secretary’s

18 intent to make one or more grants to such organiza19 tion for the purpose of funding one or more qualified

20 research projects.

21 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION AND DETERMINATIONS RE22 GARDING APPLICATIONS.—The Secretary must—

23 ‘‘(A) make grants under this section in

24 consultation with appropriate representatives
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1 from the textile and textile machinery industries

2 and the public; and

3 ‘‘(B) make a determination whether or not

4 to award any grant under this section within 12

5 months after the grant is applied for.

6 ‘‘(4) LIMITATIONS.—(A) No grant made under

7 this section with respect to a qualified research

8 project may exceed 60 percent of the cost of the

9 project.

10 ‘‘(B) The aggregate amount of the grant or

11 grants made to a qualified organization under this

12 section during any fiscal year is limited to expendi13 tures above that organization’s base line average of

14 annual expenditures during the 3 previous fiscal

15 years for qualifying textile machinery research, de16 velopment, and product engineering, as defined in

17 section 174 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

18 Grants awarded under this section shall be excluded

19 from baseline calculations.

20 ‘‘(C) If the total amount of monies available in

21 the Fund for the payment of grants for a fiscal year

22 is less than the total amount of the grants approved

23 for disbursement under this section for that fiscal

24 year, the amount of the grants paid during such

25 year shall be equitably prorated.
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1 ‘‘(e) APPROPRIATIONS TO FUND.—

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is appropriated to

3 the Fund for each fiscal year after fiscal year 1993,

4 from the revenues attributable to the customs duties

5 imposed on textile machinery and parts thereof im6 ported into the United States during the preceding

7 fiscal year, the greater of—

8 ‘‘(A) an amount equal to 10 percent of

9 such revenues; or

10 ‘‘(B) $10,000,000;

11 of which not to exceed $500,000 shall be available

12 for the purposes specified in subsection (c)(2).

13 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The aggregate amount of

14 monies in the Fund during any fiscal year may not

15 exceed $10,000,000.’’.

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