2012 Haiti HOPE Value-Added Apparel TPL Begins Dec 20
The International Trade Administration has issued a notice announcing the 12-month "2012" 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 Acts of 2006 and 2008 (HOPE I and II), as amended by the Haiti Economic Lift Program Act of 2010 (HELP).
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Value-Added TPL Level is Recalculated Each Year
For the one-year period beginning on December 20, 2011 and extending through December 19, 2012, the recalculated quantity of imports eligible for preferential treatment under the value-added TPL is 326,752,739 square meters equivalent (SME).1
Apparel articles entered in excess of this TPL will be subject to otherwise applicable duty rates.
(Note that as of December 12, 2011, the 2011 value-added TPL for apparel was only 4.69% 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,2 or any combination thereof, plus the direct costs of processing operations performed in Haiti or one or more beneficiary countries, or any combination thereof, is not less than 50% of the declared customs value of such apparel articles.
HOPE II made certain revisions to the value-added TPL, including changing the percentages used to calculate the annual TPL limits for the third through the fifth applicable 1-year periods, and the removal of brassieres (9820.62.12) from the TPL. Haiti HELP extended this TPL through December 19, 2018 (from December 19, 2011). HELP also revised the specified value percentage from the current 55% to 50% (through December 19, 2015), 55% (for December 20, 2015 through December 19, 2017), and 60% (for December 20, 2017 -- December 19, 2018).
(Note that a visa issued by Haiti must be presented to CBP at time of entry or warehouse withdrawal for consumption, for textile, apparel and other goods for which duty-free treatment is claimed under HOPE. An electronic visa system (ELVIS) has been implemented for these goods. See ITT's Online Archives 09100125 for summary announcing that CBP was eliminating the paper visa requirement for Haiti HOPE ELVIS program.)
1HOPE provides that the quantitative limitation for this TPL will be recalculated for each 12-month period.
2Beneficiary 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).
(See ITT’s Online Archives 10052663 for summary of the President signing HELP into law. Besides amending HOPE I and II, HELP provides unlimited duty-free treatment to a number of additional apparel and made up items, regardless of the source of the yarn of fabric when imported directly from Haiti or the Dominican Republic, etc.
Note that there are also FY 2012 Haiti HOPE TPLs for knit and woven apparel, which began on October 1, 2011. Their levels for FY 2012 are the same as 2011, 70,000,000 SME each. As of December 12, 2011, the FY 2012 Haiti HOPE knit TPL was 5.31% filled, while the Haiti HOPE woven TPL was 9% filled.)
ITA contact -- Maria Dybczak (202) 482-3651
(FR Pub 12/16/11)