2018 Haiti HOPE Value-Added Apparel TPL Begins Dec. 20

The Commerce Department set the 12-month 2019 value-added tariff preference level for certain apparel imported directly from Haiti (Harmonized Tariff Schedule 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 Act (HOPE). For the one-year period beginning on Dec. 20, 2018, and extending through Dec. 19, 2019, the recalculated quantity of imports eligible for preferential treatment under the value-added TPL is 372,889,066 square meters equivalent (SME), a increase of more than 11 million SME over 2018 levels. Apparel articles entered in excess of this TPL will be subject to otherwise applicable duty rates.

TPL Apparel Articles Must Meet Certain Requirements to Enter Duty-Free, Etc.

In order to qualify for duty-free treatment under the value-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, plus the direct costs of processing operations performed in Haiti or one or more beneficiary countries, is not less than 60 percent of the declared customs value of such apparel articles.

Beneficiary 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 with the U.S. or that enters into an 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).

International Trade Administration contact -- Laurie Mease (202) 482-2043

(Federal Register 12/20/18)