Bipartisan Group of House & Senate Leaders Introduce Legislation to Expand Trade Preference Programs for Haiti

April 29, 2010

On April 28, 2010, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin (D-MI), along with Finance Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) and Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) introduced legislation today to help speed Haiti’s economic recovery following the devastating January earthquake that shattered the country’s economy. The Haiti Economic Lift Program (HELP) Act, introduced in both the House and Senate today (H.R. 5160, S. 3275), expands duty-free access to the U.S. market for Haitian textile and apparel exports and extends existing trade preference programs for Haiti through 2020.

According to a summary, the HELP Act would:

• Extend Haiti HOPE and CBTPA: The Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) and Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act (HOPE) would be extended for Haiti through September 30, 2020.
• Expand HOPE Benefits to Include:
  • Expand the “wholly assembled list” to provide duty free treatment for additional textile and apparel products that are wholly assembled or knit-to-shape    in Haiti regardless of the origin of inputs
  • Increases trade preference levels (TPLs) under which certain Haitian knit and woven apparel products may receive duty-free treatment from 70 million square meter equivalents (SMEs) to 200 million SMEs regardless of the origin of the inputs.
• Safeguard against Transshipment: Customs and Border Protection would be required to verify that apparel articles imported under the TPLs are not being unlawfully transshipped through Haiti.
• Liberalize Earned Import Allowance: Permit duty-free importation into the U.S. of one SME of apparel wholly assembled or knit-to-shape in Haiti regardless of the origin of the inputs for every two SMEs of qualifying fabric purchased from the U.S.
• Extend the Value-Added Rule: Extend until December 15, 2015, duty-free treatment for apparel wholly assembled or knit-to-shape in Haiti with at least 50% value in Haiti, the U.S., or U.S. free trade partner.
• Extend Duty-Free Treatment of Wire Harnesses: Extend until December 20, 2016, duty-free treatment for wire harness automotive components imported from Haiti.

Additionally, the HELP Act would require CBP to assess Haiti’s customs-related needs and provide assistance in port operations, by authorizing funds to help meet its immediate customs infrastructure needs and to maintain a CBP team in Haiti.

According to press release on the Senate Finance Committee’s website, the bill’s sponsors worked closely with the U.S. Retail and textile industries to develop legislation that both industries could support while granting meaningful benefits to Haiti.