CBP Posts Guidance on AGOA, CBTPA, and ATPDEA Textile Preference Programs
U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently posted to its website guidance on understanding legislated textile trade preferences programs. The presentation titled "Textile Trade Preference Programs AGOA, CBTPA, ATPDEA (March 2006)" is part of CBP's in-house training material for field Import Specialists.
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The sixty-six page presentation outlines each of the three U.S. unilateral preference programs. It includes a checklist of the effective and expiration dates, the applicable HTS General Note, U.S. Code and regulation cite, etc. for each preference program. In addition, scope of coverage is listed, including each of the product groupings with applicable HTS number, rule of origin, and eligible beneficiary countries for each preference program provided. The presentation also reflects provisions unique to each program. These unique provisions, as well as tables outlining the product groupings, are listed below:
AGOA
The Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) information also includes an overview of the visa requirements including a sample copy of the visa, third country fabric use by Least Developed Countries (LDCs), special sweater rules, a list of short supply fabrics, findings and trimmings, de minimis and folklore and ethnic printed fabric provisions.
AGOA Groupings Outline
| 1/A | U.S. yarn and fabric, cut in USA |
| 1/B | U.S. yarn and fabric, cut in USA, further processed |
| 3/C | U.S. yarn, fabric and thread, cut in beneficiary SSA country |
| 4/D | U.S. or beneficiary SSA country yarn, fabric made in beneficiary SSA country |
| 5/E | Lesser developed, can use any fabric |
| 6/F | Cashmere sweaters |
| 7/G | Merino wool sweaters |
| 8/H | Exceptions for yarns and fabrics in short supply |
| 9/I | Handloomed, handmade and folklore articles' ethnic print fabric |
Eligible AGOA countries include: Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
CBTPA
The Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) summary also includes special rules for knit apparel and outerwear T-shirts made from regional fabric, brassieres, short supply, luggage, findings and trimmings and de minimis provisions, along with the restrictions on elastomeric yarns, and the dyeing and finishing of U.S.-formed fabric. Short supply fabrics allowed under CBTPA are also listed.
With the implementation of the U.S.-Central America and Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (so far, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua), the CBTPA presentation indicates that a CBTPA-qualifying good may be imported directly into the U.S. from a former beneficiary country (if that country has "graduated" to become a CAFTA-DR country); in addition, raw materials and other inputs are allowed from former beneficiary countries. However, the finished CBTPA-qualifying product must be a product of a current CBTPA beneficiary country. The exception to this rule is co-production between Haiti (CBTPA) and the Dominican Republic (future CAFTA-DR). A good produced in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic that would otherwise qualify for CBTPA preference will continue to qualify even if the origin-conferring production takes place in the Dominican Republic.
CBTPA Groupings Outline
| 1/A | U.S. yarn and fabric, cut in USA |
| 1/B | U.S. yarn and fabric cut in USA, further processed |
| 3/C | U.S. yarn, fabric and thread, cut in CBTPA (not group K) |
| 4/D | U.S. yarn, regional knit fabric or knit to shape |
| 5/E | Nonunderwear t-shirts, U.S. yarn, CBTPA fabric |
| 6/F | Brassieres |
| 7/G | Exception for yarns and fabrics in short supply |
| 8/H | Handloomed, handmade and folklore articles |
| 9/I | Luggage - U.S. yarn and fabric, cut in USA |
| 10/J | Luggage, U.S. yarn and fabric, cut in CBTPA |
| 11/K | Knit apparel, U.S. yarn, U.S. fabric, U.S. thread |
| 12/L | U.S. thread & fabric, U.S. or CBTPA cut or knit to shape |
Eligible beneficiary countries covered under the CBTPA are: Barbados, Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, St. Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago.
ATPDEA
The Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) provides an overview of regional fabric limit, special rules for llama, alpaca or vicuna, brassieres and luggage. ATPDEA benefits are currently scheduled to expire on December 31, 2006.
ATPDEA Groupings Outline
| A | U.S. fabric or U.S. components from U.S. or Andean yarns |
| B | Chief value llama, alpaca or vicuna Andean fabrics/components from Andean yarns |
| C | NAFTA short supply |
| D | Designated short supply |
| E | Combination of groupings A-D |
| F | Handloomed, handmade or folklore textile and apparel articles |
| G | Brassieres assembled in the US/Andean beneficiary countries |
| H | Textile luggage assembled from US fabrics and yarns |
| I | Apparel assembled from regional fabrics or components, whether or not in combination with Groupings A - D |
Countries covered under this program are: Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, and Peru.
The Tariff Preference Program guidance materials (March 2006) are available at: http://www.customs.treas.gov/linkhandler/cgov/import/textiles_and_quotas/fta_training/pref_progs.ctt/pref_progs.pdf