2014 Haiti HOPE Value-Added Apparel TPL Begins Dec 20
The International Trade Administration set the 12-month 2014 valued-added tariff preference level for certain apparel imported directly from Haiti (HTS 9820.61.25 for entry specific claims or 9820.61.30 for aggregate claims) eligible to receive duty-free treatment under the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity Through Partnership for Encouragement Act (HOPE). For the one-year period beginning on Dec. 20, 2013 and extending through Dec. 19, 2014, the recalculated quantity of imports eligible for preferential treatment under the value-added TPL is 322,629,971 square meters equivalent (SME). Apparel articles entered in excess of this TPL will be subject to otherwise applicable duty rates.
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(As of Dec. 3, the 2013 value-added TPL for apparel was only 5.22% utilized.)
TPL Apparel Articles Must Meet Certain Requirements to Enter Duty-Free, Etc.
In order to qualify for duty-free treatment under the valued-added TPL, apparel articles must be wholly assembled or knit-to-shape, in Haiti from any combination of fabrics, fabric components, components knit-to-shape, and yarns, as long as the sum of the cost or value of materials produced in Haiti or one or more beneficiary countries,1 plus the direct costs of processing operations performed in Haiti or one or more beneficiary countries, is not less than 50 percent of the declared customs value of such apparel articles.
1Beneficiary country, when used in reference to eligibility for benefits under Haitian HOPE, includes: the U.S.; any country that is a Party to a current Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the U.S. or that enters into a FTA under the Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002; or any country designated as a beneficiary country under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA), or the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA).
ITA contact -- Maria Dybczak (202) 482-3651
(Federal Register 12/19/13)