IV
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 70
Expressing the sense of the Congress that there should be parity among
the countries that are parties to the North American Free Trade Agree-
ment (NAFTA) with respect to the personal allowance for duty-free
merchandise purchased abroad by returning residents, and for other
purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 24, 1999
Mr. BONILLA (for himself, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. REYES, Mr. SKEEN, Mr.
HINOJOSA, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. KOLBE, and Mr.
RODRIGUEZ) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Ways and Means
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress that there should be
parity among the countries that are parties to the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with respect
to the personal allowance for duty-free merchandise pur-
chased abroad by returning residents, and for other pur-
poses.
Whereas the duty-free allowance for returning residents is an
important element of trade and tourism;
Whereas the United States provides each United States resi-
dent who is returning from Mexico after a stay of any
duration a personal exemption from duty on merchandise
valued at up to $400 once every 30 days (or up to $200
•HCON 70 IH
if the individual has claimed an exemption within 30 days
before his or her arrival in the United States), including
in both instances 1 liter of liquor, wine, or beer, and 200
cigarettes and 100 cigars;
Whereas Mexico has a 2-tiered duty-free allowance for its re-
turning residents, set at the equivalent of $50 for border
zone residents of a 25 kilometer strip along Mexico’s
northern border and the equivalent of $300 for residents
who live in the interior of Mexico;
Whereas interior residents of Mexico are also permitted up to
3 liters of wine, beer, or liquor and up to 20 packs of
cigarettes, or 25 cigars, or 200 grams of tobacco, while
border zone residents of Mexico are only permitted up to
1 liter of beer, wine, or liquor, and 10 packs of cigarettes
or 25 cigars;
Whereas border zone residents of Mexico in 1995 were per-
mitted a second allowance that, in addition to the $50
per trip allowance, permitted a $400 duty-free personal
exemption that may be used once per month for clothing,
footwear, food products, personal and household hygiene
products, and medicines, and in any case, personal ex-
emptions may be pooled with other members of the fam-
ily;
Whereas Canada provides each returning Canadian resident
absent for more than 7 days a duty-free allowance on
merchandise valued at up to the equivalent of $500; after
an absence of 48 hours, a returning Canadian resident
has a duty-free allowance of the equivalent of $200, and
after an absence of 24 hours the Canadian allowance is
the equivalent of $50; and Canadian residents returning
after an absence of at least 48 hours are also provided
a duty-free allowance for 1.14 liters of distilled spirits or
•HCON 70 IH
wine, or 8.5 liters of beer, and up to 200 cigarettes, 200
tobacco sticks, 50 cigars, and 200 grams of manufac-
tured tobacco;
Whereas in 1995 Mexico announced that duty-free stores will
be established at multiple locations on the Mexican side
of the United States-Mexico border, which will sell their
merchandise to United States residents traveling to Mex-
ico and will benefit from the generous United States
duty-free allowance afforded to its residents;
Whereas with the advent of duty-free stores on the Mexican
side of the border serving United States residents, the in-
equity between the duty-free allowances of the 2 coun-
tries is further exacerbated, placing United States retail
establishments which serve Mexican residents at an un-
fair competitive disadvantage;
Whereas minimal progress has not been made by Mexico to
educate Mexican border officials and shoppers and
United States retailers about the $400 per person allow-
ance for border zone residents of Mexico and the proce-
dures to follow to take advantage of such allowance;
Whereas Mexico’s development of a magnetic card to be used
by returning border zone residents to claim their duty-
free allowances is not fully operational as had been ex-
pected by December 1998;
Whereas the United States entered into the North American
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Can-
ada with the intent of phasing out tariff barriers among
the 3 countries; and
Whereas it violates the spirit of the NAFTA for the countries
to maintain restrictive duty-free allowance policies which
are not reciprocal: Now, therefore, be it
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Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That—
(1) the United States Trade Representative and
the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with
the Secretary of Commerce, should—
(A) initiate discussions with officials of the
Governments of Mexico and Canada to achieve
parity in the duty-free allowance structure of
the United States, Mexico, and Canada;
(B) accelerate negotiations with the Gov-
ernment of Mexico to ensure that the expanded
allowance enacted in 1995 for border zone resi-
dents of Mexico will be given effective imple-
mentation; and
(2) in the event that parity in the duty-free al-
lowances of the 3 countries is not reached within 1
year after the date on which this concurrent resolu-
tion is adopted, the United States Trade Represent-
ative and the Secretary of the Treasury should sub-
mit recommendations to the Congress on whether
legislative changes are necessary to bring the United
States duty-free allowance to a lower amount to con-
form to the allowance levels established in the other