CBP Announces FY 2013 Haiti Hope II TPLs for Knit and Woven Apparel
CBP announced the fiscal year 2013 tariff preference level quantities of certain knit and woven apparel articles that are eligible to receive duty-free treatment under the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership for Encouragement Act of 2008 (Haiti HOPE II), as amended by the Haiti Economic Lift Program Act of 2010 (Haiti HELP)1.
Knit and Woven Apparel TPLs Open October 1st
These TPLs are for the Oct.1 through September 30, 2013 period. Their duty-free limits are as follows (the levels are unchanged from the prior period):
| TPL for certain knit apparel, classified in HTS 9820.61.35 | 70,000,000 SME |
| TPL for woven apparel, classified in HTS 9820.62.05 | 70,000,000 SME |
Description of Haiti HOPE II TPLs
The HTS provides the following description of the goods subject to these Haiti HOPE II TPLs:
| 9820.61.35 | Knit apparel articles of chapter 61 that are wholly assembled, or knit-to-shape, in Haiti from any combination of fabrics, fabric components, components knit-to-shape or yarns and are imported directly from Haiti or the Dominican Republic, subject to certain restrictions, without regard to the source of the fabric, fabric components, components knit-to-shape or yarns from which the articles are made. |
| 9820.62.05 | Woven apparel articles of chapter 62 that are wholly assembled, or knit-to-shape, in Haiti from any combination of fabrics, fabric components, components knit-to-shape or yarns and are imported directly from Haiti or the Dominican Republic, without regard to the source of the fabric, fabric components, components knit-to-shape or yarns from which the articles are made. |
Ensembles. Whenever goods are classified under 9820.61.35 or 9820.62.05 as ensembles in combination with a designated ensemble provision in HTS Chapter 61 or 62, the reporting number shall be for the specified component apparel article in the ensemble and not the ensemble number. Each specific apparel article in the ensemble must be identified separately by using the appropriate Chapter 61 or 62 provision in combination with 9820.61.35 or 9820.62.05.
Haiti HELP Allows TPL Limits to be Increased
Haiti HELP provides for increases in the knit and woven apparel TPL limits by means of a trigger quantity mechanism. If either TPL reaches an entered quantity of 52,000,000 SME, the President may authorize an increase in these limits by an amount up to 200,000,000 SME. Additionally, at that point sub-limits of 85,000,000 SME for the knit TPL and 70,000,000 SME for the woven TPL are activated for designated products.
CBP states that it plans to set the threshold for these TPLs at 50,000,000 SME rather than the traditional 95% amount to allow enough time to plan for the programming changes what would be needed to accommodate Haiti HELP.
If a TPL fills and the President does not authorize an increase, such knit and woven apparel articles may enter at the otherwise applicable duty rate.
Separate Message to be Issued Later on Value-Added TPL
The Haiti HOPE value-added TPL (9820.61.25 for entry specific value claims and 9820.61.30 for aggregated value claims) continues in effect for the Dec. 20, 2009, -- Dec. 19, 2010, period. CBP will issue a separate message prior to the Dec. 20, 2010, start date of the new period for the value-added TPL.
1Among other things, Haiti HELP extended the Haiti HOPE Acts through 2020 and created a trigger quantity mechanism that allows the President to authorize increases in the knit and woven apparel TPLs. (See ITT’s Online Archives 10052663, for summary of the President signing Haiti HELP into law.)
(QBT-12-516)