Earned import allowance program

Eligible apparel articles wholly assembled in an eligible country and imported directly from an eligible country shall enter the United States free of duty, without regard to the source of the fabric or yarns from which the articles are made, if such apparel articles are accompanied by an earned import allowance certificate that reflects the amount of credits equal to the total square meter equivalents of fabric in such apparel articles, in accordance with the program established under subsection (b). For purposes of determining the quantity of square meter equivalents under paragraph (1), the conversion factors listed in “Correlation: U.S. Textile and Apparel Industry Category System with the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States of America, 2008”, or its successor publications, of the United States Department of Commerce, shall apply. The Secretary of Commerce shall establish a program to provide earned import allowance certificates to any producer or entity controlling production of eligible apparel articles in an eligible country for purposes of subsection (a), based on the elements described in paragraph (2). The elements referred to in paragraph (1) are the following: Any textile mill or other entity located in the United States that exports qualifying fabric to an eligible country may submit, upon such export or upon request, the Shipper’s Export Declaration, or successor documentation, to the Secretary of Commerce— For purposes of this section— the term “qualifying fabric” means woven fabric of cotton wholly formed in the United States from yarns wholly formed in the United States and certified by the producer or entity controlling production as being suitable for use in the manufacture of apparel items such as trousers, bib and brace overalls, breeches and shorts, skirts and divided skirts or pants, all the foregoing of cotton, except that— fabric otherwise eligible as qualifying fabric shall not be ineligible as qualifying fabric because the fabric contains yarns or fibers that have been designated as not commercially available pursuant to— The United States International Trade Commission shall carry out a review of the program under this section annually for the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of, and making recommendations for improvements in, the program. The United States International Trade Commission shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees annually a report on the results of the review carried out under paragraph (1). The program under this section shall be in effect for the 10-year period beginning on the date on which the President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that sections A, B, C, and D of the Annex to Presidential Proclamation 8213 (December 20, 2007) have taken effect. The program under this section shall apply with respect to qualifying fabric exported to an eligible country on or after August 1, 2007.