Participation in Dominican Republic "Two-for-One" Apparel Program Continues Decline, Says ITC
The Earned Import Allowance Program is still unable to stop a steep decline in apparel exports from the Dominican Republic to the U.S., said the International Trade Commission in its annual report on the program released on July 24 (here).…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
The ITC found that in 2014, "U.S. imports of woven cotton bottoms from the Dominican Republic totaled less than 8 percent of the value and quantity of imports under the program in 2010, the first full year of the program," it said. Only 5 out of 13 companies registered for the program actually used it in 2014, it said. The ITC again made three recommendations on how to fix the program, which allows duty free access for Dominican Republic apparel exporters that use U.S. fabric: lowering the two-for-one ratio of U.S. to foreign fabric to a one-for-one ratio; including other types of fabrics and apparel items in the program; and changing the requirement that dyeing, finishing, and printing of eligible fabrics take place in the U.S.