Haiti Economic Lift Program Act of 2010

Bill: 111-s-3275
Sponsor: Sen. Baucus, Max [D-MT]
Introduced: 2010-04-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance
Subjects: Caribbean area
Dominican Republic
Foreign aid and international relief
Haiti
International organizations and cooperation
Latin America
Navigation, waterways, harbors
Tariffs
Trade restrictions

Summary:
action_date: 2010-04-28
text: 
Haiti Economic Lift Program Act of 2010 - Amends the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) (as amended by the United States-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act, the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act of 2006 [HOPE Act], and the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act of 2008 [HOPE II]) to extend, in each succeeding one-year period through FY2020 (transition period), the duty-free treatment of certain imported knit apparel articles made in one or more Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) beneficiary countries from yarns wholly formed in the United States.
 
Extends, in each applicable one-year period through FY2020, the duty-free treatment of imported apparel articles made in Haiti or the Dominican Republic.
 
Prescribes duty-free treatment also, without regard to the source of the fabric, fabric components, components knit-to-shape, or yarns from which the article is made, for specified apparel articles or made-up textile articles: (1) wholly assembled, or knit-to-shape, in Haiti from any combination of fabrics, fabric components, components knit-to-shape, or yarns; and (2) imported directly from Haiti or the Dominican Republic.
 
 
Sets forth a special rule for certain woven articles and certain knit articles entered during FY2010 and succeeding one-year periods. Requires the Commissioner responsible for U.S. Customs and Border Protection to verify that such apparel articles imported into the United States are not being unlawfully transshipped into the United States.
 
Revises requirements for one particular credit under the earned import allowance certificate program to reduce from three to two the number of square meter equivalents of qualifying woven fabric or qualifying knit fabric that the producer or entity controlling production can demonstrate that it purchased for the manufacture in Haiti of articles like or similar to any article eligible for preferential treatment.
 
 
Extends the value-added rule for apparel articles and the special rule for certain wire harness automotive components.
 
 
Directs the Commissioner to seek to send a rapid response team, as well as a support team, to Haiti to: (1) assess the short-term and long-term technical, capacity-building, and training needs of the authorities of the government of Haiti responsible for customs services; and (2) provide immediate assistance, particularly with respect to reestablishing full capacity for commercial port operations at the seaport at Port-au-Prince, facilitating trade between the United States and Haiti under CBERA, preventing unlawful transshipment of goods through Haiti to the United States, and otherwise strengthening cooperation between U.S., Haitian, and Dominican customs authorities.
 
Declares the sense of Congress regarding regional cooperation and transshipment.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-04-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2010-04-28
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S2761-2762)
action_date: 2010-04-28
text: Introduced in Senate