Sen. John Kennedy's bill to restore African Growth and Opportunity Act trade preferences retains the third-country fabric provision and extends the program until Sept. 30, 2027.
CBP created Harmonized System Update 2538 on Oct. 10, containing 32 Harmonized Tariff Records and 88 Automated Broker Interface records. The update includes Section 232 Timber/Lumber Tariff Updates and Adjustments for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and Haiti Hope trade preference programs.
A White House official confirmed that the Trump administration supports a one-year renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act. This puts the White House in line with congressional support for the program (see 2510010005), which expired Oct. 1.
Tariff preferences for sub-Saharan African countries and two of the three tariff preference programs for Haiti ended Oct. 1. In a hallway interview at the Capitol, Senate Finance Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said that he "would love to [renew both] retroactively."
House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Rep. Richard Neal. D-Mass., Trade Subcommittee ranking member Rep. Linda Sánchez, D-Calif., and fellow committee member Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., said on Sept. 30 that letting the African Growth and Opportunity Act expire is "a grave mistake."
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
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Nine legislative days before three trade preference programs expire, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said both he and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., are working to make sure the tariff breaks for these developing countries continue past Sept. 30.
Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., a member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, told International Trade Today that Subcommittee Chairman Adrian Smith, R-Neb., is looking to pass a renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act "now that we got the big, beautiful bill through," adding that Smith has wanted to do this "for a while."
U.S. retailers will move their supply chains out of Africa and into Asia should Congress not renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act or change the third-country fabric provision for the region, according to trade groups representing domestic U.S. apparel retailers.