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
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
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.