I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4680 
To provide temporary duty suspension on products from Sri Lanka. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 1, 2006 
Mr. WELLER (for himself and Mr. MORAN of Virginia) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To provide temporary duty suspension on products from Sri 
Lanka. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sri Lanka Tsunami 
Temporary Economic Relief Act of 2006’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) On December 26, 2004, a devastating 
earthquake occurred in the Indian Ocean, causing a 
tsunami that wrecked havoc on the island nation of 
Sri Lanka.
(2) More than 70 percent of the coastline in Sri 
Lanka was affected by the tidal wave, displacing 
more than 800,000 people, injuring more that 
14,000, and killing more than 40,000 out of a popu-
lation of just over 19,000,000 living in a land mass 
equivalent to the size of West Virginia. 
(3) Nearly 5,000 families have been displaced, 
with more than 90,000 homes destroyed and more 
than 20,000 homes partially damaged. 
(4) Sri Lanka lost 22 hospitals, 77 field med-
ical centers, 68 medical clinics, and 137 schools. 
(5) The tourist industry, which had only begun 
to rebound after more than 20 years of civil war, 
suffered a loss of more than 4,000 hotel rooms that 
are no longer useable. 
(6) The main roads and railway system which 
circumvented the country along the flat coastline 
was devastated, cutting off access to the areas of de-
struction. 
(7) In addition to the immediate loss of lives 
and facilities, Sri Lanka is facing a crisis of restor-
ing industries. 
(8) The fishing industry of Sri Lanka was dev-
astated, as 80 percent of Sri Lanka’s fishing boats 
were destroyed, causing a major loss of a nationwide
source of nutrition, as well as employment for an es-
timated 170,000 fishermen. 
(9) Ten of the nation’s 12 fishing harbors were 
destroyed, as well as most of the 50 plants used for 
building small boats. 
(10) The industry’s nets and land storage and 
transportation facilities were destroyed, as well as 
the ice making facilities for the storage facilities. 
(11) The coastal estuary sites, where shrimp 
and small fish were farmed, and as farm lands lo-
cated inland from the shore, have been silted up and 
destroyed. 
(12) More than 40 percent of the population 
depended on the fishing industry for its livelihood, 
and 11 percent of the population depended on agri-
culture. 
(13) Former Presidents George Bush and Bill 
Clinton estimate that it will require billions of dol-
lars to rebuild the affected countries, and at least 
three to five years to do so. 
(14) Sri Lanka’s most dynamic sectors had 
been food processing, textiles and apparel, food and 
beverages, telecommunications, and insurance and 
banking. Agriculture accounted for 20.1 percent of 
gross domestic product (GDP) in 2003, while indus-
try, primarily garments and leather goods, food 
processing, chemicals, refined petroleum, wood prod-
ucts, basic metal products, and paper products, ac-
counted for 26.3 percent of GDP. 
(15) The inland and leeward plants that were 
not affected by the tsunami need unrestricted mar-
ket access to increase production, to offer employ-
ment to those who lost jobs and or have moved in-
land, and to maintain positive economic growth, sta-
bility, and democracy in the country. 
(16) The tsunami has forced the government 
and the rebel forces in Sri Lanka to work together 
on certain programs, which, through external sup-
port, can re-energize peace talks. 
(17) Before the tsunami occurred, Sri Lanka 
had implemented an economic reform program to 
open its economy to international competition that 
will lead to increased growth and international trade 
and further foreign investment. 
(18) The United States, through opening trade, 
has an opportunity to support Sri Lanka in its relief 
efforts, economic reform, peace process, and rebuild-
ing process.
SEC. 3. TRADE ENHANCEMENT. 
(a) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—Sri Lanka shall 
be eligible for duty-free treatment under subsection (c)— 
(1) if the President determines and certifies to 
Congress that Sri Lanka— 
(A) has established, or is making continual 
progress toward establishing— 
(i) a market-based economy that pro-
tects private property rights, incorporates 
an open rules-based trading system, and 
minimizes government interference in the 
economy through measures such as price 
controls, subsidies, and government owner-
ship of economic assets; 
(ii) the rule of law, political pluralism, 
and the right to due process, a fair trial, 
and equal protection under the law; 
(iii) the elimination of barriers to 
United States trade and investment, in-
cluding by— 
(I) the provision of national 
treatment and measures to create an 
environment conducive to domestic 
and foreign investment; 
(II) the protection of intellectual 
property; and
(III) the resolution of bilateral 
trade and investment disputes; 
(iv) economic policies to reduce pov-
erty, increase the availability of health care 
and 
educational 
opportunities, 
expand 
physical infrastructure, promote the devel-
opment of private enterprise, and encour-
age the formation of capital markets 
through micro-credit or other programs; 
(v) a system to combat corruption and 
bribery, such as signing and implementing 
the Convention on Combating Bribery of 
Foreign Public Officials in International 
Business Transactions; and 
(vi) protection of internationally rec-
ognized worker rights, including the right 
of association, the right to organize and 
bargain collectively, a prohibition on the 
use of any form of forced or compulsory 
labor, a minimum age for the employment 
of children, and acceptable conditions of 
work with respect to minimum wages, 
hours of work, and occupational safety and 
health;
(B) does not engage in activities that un-
dermine United States national security or for-
eign policy interests; and 
(C) does not engage in gross violations of 
internationally recognized human rights or pro-
vide support for acts of international terrorism 
and cooperates in international efforts to elimi-
nate human rights violations and terrorist ac-
tivities; and 
(2) subject to the authority granted to the 
President under subsections (a), (d), and (e) of sec-
tion 502 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 
2462(a), (d), and (e)), if Sri Lanka otherwise meets 
the eligibility criteria set forth in section 502 of the 
Trade Act of 1974. 
(b) CONTINUING COMPLIANCE.—If the President de-
termines that Sri Lanka is not making continual progress 
in meeting the requirements described in subsection 
(a)(1), the President shall terminate the eligibility of Sri 
Lanka for the preferential treatment under subsection (c). 
(c) PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections (a) 
and (b), duty-free treatment shall apply to any arti-
cle that is the growth, product, or manufacture of
Sri Lanka and that meets the requirements of para-
graph (2). 
(2) REQUIREMENTS.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The duty-free treat-
ment provided under paragraph (1) shall apply 
to any article described in that paragraph if— 
(i) that article is imported directly 
from Sri Lanka into the customs territory 
of the United States; and 
(ii) the direct costs of processing oper-
ations performed on the article in Sri 
Lanka is not less than 35 percent of the 
appraised value of the article at the time 
it enters the customs territory of the 
United States. 
(B) TEXTILE AND APPAREL ARTICLES.— 
The duty-free treatment provided under para-
graph (1) applies to a textile and apparel article 
only if that article meets the requirements set 
forth in section 102.21 of title 19, Code of Fed-
eral Regulations, as in effect on November 1, 
2005. 
(C) DETERMINATION OF 35 PERCENT RE-
QUIREMENT.—For purposes of determining the 
percentage referred to in subparagraph (A)(ii),
if the cost or value of material produced in the 
customs territory of the United States (other 
than the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) is in-
cluded with respect to an article that is the 
growth, product, or manufacture of Sri Lanka, 
an amount not to exceed 15 percent of the ap-
praised value of the article at the time it enters 
the customs territory of the United States that 
is attributable to such United States cost or 
value may be applied toward determining the 
percentage referred to in subparagraph (A)(ii). 
(3) SURGE MECHANISM.— 
(A) IMPORT MONITORING.—The Secretary 
of Commerce shall monitor imports of textile 
and apparel articles from Sri Lanka on a 
monthly basis to determine if there has been a 
surge in imports of such articles. In order to 
permit public access to preliminary inter-
national trade data and to facilitate the early 
identification of potentially disruptive import 
surges, the Director of the Office of Manage-
ment and Budget may grant an exception to 
the publication dates established for the release 
of data on United States international trade in
covered articles, if the Director notifies the 
Congress of the early release of the data. 
(B) DETERMINATION
OF
DAMAGE
OR 
THREAT THEREOF.—Whenever the Secretary of 
Commerce determines, based on the data de-
scribed in subparagraph (A), or pursuant to a 
written request made by an interested party, 
that there has been a surge in imports of a tex-
tile or apparel article from Sri Lanka, the Sec-
retary shall determine whether such article 
from such country is being imported in such in-
creased quantities as to cause serious damage, 
or threat thereof, to the domestic industry pro-
ducing a like or directly competitive article. If 
the Secretary’s determination is affirmative, the 
President shall suspend the duty-free treatment 
provided for such article under paragraph (1). 
If the inquiry is initiated at the request of an 
interested party, the Secretary shall make the 
determination within 60 days after the date of 
the request. 
(C) FACTORS
TO
CONSIDER.—In deter-
mining whether a domestic industry has been 
seriously damaged, or is threatened with serious 
damage, the Secretary shall examine the effect
of the imports on relevant economic indicators 
such as domestic production, sales, market 
share, capacity utilization, inventories, employ-
ment, profits, exports, prices, and investment. 
(D) PROCEDURE.— 
(i) INITIATION.—The Secretary of 
Commerce shall initiate an inquiry within 
10 days after receiving a written request 
and supporting information for an inquiry 
from an interested party. Notice of initi-
ation of an inquiry shall be published in 
the Federal Register. 
(ii) PARTICIPATION
BY
INTERESTED 
PARTIES.—The Secretary of Commerce 
shall establish procedures to ensure partici-
pation in the inquiry by interested parties. 
(iii) NOTICE
OF
DETERMINATION.— 
The Secretary of Commerce shall publish 
the determination described in subpara-
graph (B) in the Federal Register. 
(iv) 
INFORMATION
AVAILABLE.—If 
relevant information is not available on the 
record or any party withholds information 
that has been requested by the Secretary 
of Commerce, the Secretary shall make the
determination on the basis of the facts 
available. When the Secretary relies on in-
formation submitted in the inquiry as facts 
available, the Secretary shall, to the extent 
practicable, corroborate the information 
from independent sources that are reason-
ably available to the Secretary. 
(v) INTERESTED
PARTY.—For pur-
poses of this paragraph, the term ‘‘inter-
ested party’’ means any producer of a like 
or directly competitive article, a certified 
union or recognized union or group of 
workers which is representative of an in-
dustry engaged in the manufacture, pro-
duction, or sale in the United States of a 
like or directly competitive article, a trade 
or business association representing pro-
ducers or sellers of like or directly competi-
tive articles, producers engaged in the pro-
duction of essential inputs for like or di-
rectly competitive articles, a certified union 
or group of workers which is representative 
of an industry engaged in the manufac-
ture, production, or sale of essential inputs 
for the like or directly competitive article,