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Details of House-Passed Omnibus Trade Act (GSP and ATPDEA, MTB, Etc.)

December 17, 2010 by Cindy Arevalo|Top News

On December 15, 2010, the House passed the Omnibus Trade Act of 2010 (H.R. 6517), by voice vote.

(Although the House has passed H.R. 6517, it is not yet in effect. Generally, in order for a bill to be implemented, identical versions of that bill must be passed by both the House and Senate, and then the bill must be approved (enacted) by the President.)

Cotton Shirting and Cotton Trust Fund Provisions Were Removed from Bill, Etc.

The House considered and passed an amended version of H.R. 6517. According to Congressional sources and a review of the bill, changes include the removal of provisions to reinstate duty suspension for woven cotton shirting fabrics in 24 HTS numbers and the reauthorization of the cotton trust fund; revision of the wool trust fund provision; amendment of the Trade Adjustment Assistance provisions; and the addition of a funding provision to offset the cost of H.R. 6517 by (i) extending the merchandise processing fee (MPF) and certain other Customs user fees and (ii) making certain revisions to provisions on corporate estimated taxes.

Highlights of the bill as passed include the following provisions:

GSP and ATPA/ATPDEA Extensions

18 Month Extension of GSP

H.R. 6517 would extend, without change, the Generalized System of Preferences program through June 30, 2012 (from December 31, 2010).

18 Month Extension of ATPA/ATPDEA for Colombia & Ecuador

H.R. 6517 would extend the Andean Trade Preferences Act/Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPA/ATPDEA) through June 30, 2012 (from December 31, 2010) for Colombia. The extension for Ecuador would be until June 30, 2012 unless the President reports to Congress that Ecuador does not satisfy ATPA/ATPDEA beneficiary criteria.

No Extension of ATPA/ATPDEA for Peru (Has FTA)

H.R. 6517 would not extend ATPA/ATPDEA for Peru. As a result, no duty-free or other preferential treatment under 19 USC Chapter 20 would remain in effect with respect to Peru after December 31, 2010.

(The U.S.-Peru FTA entered into force on February 1, 2009, and last year, Peru was granted a one-year transition period for the ATPA/ATPDEA. Thus, the legislation does not extend Peru’s eligibility. See ITT’s Online Archives or 02/02/09 news, 09020210, for BP summary of Peru TPA.)

(Note that Bolivia was suspended from ATPA/ATPDEA eligibility as of December 15, 2008.)

ATPDEA TPL, Brassiere, Emergency Tariff Action Extensions, Etc.

H.R. 6517 also includes a one year extension of the ATPDEA regional fabric tariff preference level (TPL) and the ATPDEA brassiere provision. The bill would also extend through June 30, 2012 (from December 31, 2010) authority for the President to take certain bilateral emergency tariff actions with respect to ATPDEA apparel. (Note that although the regional fabric TPL and brassiere provision would be extended until September 30, 2012, they would expire on June 30, 2012 if ATPA/ATPDEA is not further extended beforehand.)

In addition, H.R. 6517 would move up the deadline for the U.S. Trade Representative’s next biennial review of the ATPA/ATPDEA program, including beneficiary country compliance with eligibility criteria, to June 30, 2011 and annualizes the reporting requirement.

Tariff and Related Provisions

The tariff and related provisions (MTB) section of H.R. 6517 contains hundreds of HTS 9902 duty suspension (duty-free) and reduction (reduced duty) provisions, etc. However, this summary focuses on products other than chemicals or chemical products. See H.R. 6517 for the complete listing.

Effective Dates

Effective 15 days after enactment. The HTS 9902 provisions of H.R. 6517 would be effective for goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after the 15th day after the date of enactment.

Retroactive refunds for certain provisions. The bill would provide refunds retroactively for certain of extensions and/or modifications, and technical corrections (as noted in the summary below), as follows:

For entries on/after Jan 1, 2010. Goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after January 1, 2010 and before the 15th day after the date of enactment, that would have qualified for HTS 9902 treatment had the appropriate provision not expired, would be eligible to be liquidated or reliquidated as if the entry or withdrawal had been made on the 15th day after the date of enactment.

180 days for a refund request. Such a liquidation or reliquidation may be made with respect to an entry or withdrawal only if a request is filed with U.S. Customs and Border Protection not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment. The request must contain sufficient information to enable CBP to locate or reconstruct (if it cannot be located) the entry or withdrawal.

Refunds in 90 days. Any amounts owed by the U.S. pursuant to the liquidation or reliquidation shall be paid, without interest, not later than 90 days after the date of the liquidation or reliquidation.

New Duty Suspensions and Reductions

H.R. 6517 would amend HTS Chapter 99, Subchapter II by adding new duty suspensions and reductions for the following (which would expire on December 31, 2012):

Extension and/or Modification of Existing Provisions

Date Edits Only

Each of the following headings would be amended by striking the date in the effective period column and inserting ‘‘12/31/2012’’:

Date and Other Edits

H.R. 6517 would also make certain date and other edits including:

Artificial flowers - The second heading 9902.25.65 (relating to artificial flowers of man-made fibers) would be (A) redesignated as heading 9902.25.80; and (B) amended (i) by striking ‘‘Free’’ in the column 1 general rate of duty column and inserting ‘‘8.7%’’; and (ii) by striking the date in the effective period column and inserting ‘‘12/31/2012’’

Certain AC electric motors - Heading 9902.85.07 would be amended by: (A) striking the article description and inserting the following: ‘‘AC electric motors of an output exceeding 74.6 W but not exceeding 105 W, single phase; each equipped with a capacitor, a rotary speed control mechanism, and a peripherally located mounting, cooling, and electrical isolation ring made of plastics with an internal opening exceeding 80 mm and an external dimension exceeding 127 mm but not exceeding 180 mm (provided for in subheading 8501.40.40)’’; (B) striking ‘‘Free’’ in the column 1 general rate of duty column and inserting “1%”; and (C) striking the date in the effective period column and inserting “12/31/2012”

Certain lights designed for use in aircraft - Heading 9902.22.85 would be amended by striking the article description and inserting the following: ‘‘Exterior lights designed for illuminating aircraft evacuation routes or slides (provided for in subheading 9405.40.60)’’

Certain vacuum relief valves designed for use in aircraft - Heading 9902.22.83 would be amended by striking the article description and inserting the following: ‘‘Vacuum relief valves designed to equalize pressure between the internal cabin and the external atmosphere, certified by the importer for use in civil aircraft (provided for in subheading 8481.40.00)’’

Certain sector mold press machines - Heading 9902.84.89 would be amended by: (A) striking the article description and inserting the following: ‘‘Sector mold press machines to be used in production of radial tires designed for off-the-highway use, such tires measuring more than 254 cm in overall diameter (provided for in subheading 4011.20.10, 4011.61.00, 4011.63.00, 4011.69.00, 4011.92.00, 4011.94.40 or 4011.99.45), numerically controlled, and parts thereof (provided for in subheading 8477.51.00 or 8477.90.85); and (B) striking the date in the effective period column and inserting ‘‘12/31/2012’’

Eligible for retroactive treatment. The above extensions and/or modifications of existing provisions would be eligible for retroactive treatment.

Technical Corrections

H.R. 6517 would make the following technical corrections:

Stainless steel single-piece exhaust gas manifolds - Heading 9902.40.94 would be amended in the article description column by striking ‘‘9902.01.50’’ and inserting ‘‘8409.91.50’’ This correction would be eligible for retroactive treatment.

Biaxially oriented polypropylene dielectric film - Heading 9902.25.75 would be amended by striking the article description and inserting the following: Biaxially oriented polypropylene film, certified by the importer as intended for metallization and use in capacitors, or certified by the importer as below 40 gauge (10.2 micrometers), not intended for metallization and intended for use in capacitors, all of the foregoing produced from solvent-washed low ash content (less than 50 ppm) polymer resin (CAS No. 9003-07-0) (provided for in subheading 3920.20.00)'.

Liquidation, Reliquidation of Certain OJ Entries

H.R. 6517 would also require CBP to liquidate or reliquidate, not later than 90 days after the date of enactment, three listed entries in accordance with the final results of the International Trade Administration’s administrative reviews of the antidumping (AD) duty order on certain orange juice from Brazil (A--351--840) and covering the periods from August 24, 2005 through February 28, 2007, and from March 1, 2007 through February 29, 2008, respectively.

Any amounts owed by the U.S. pursuant to the liquidation or reliquidation of such entries would be paid by CBP not later than 90 days after such liquidation or reliquidation with interest. (See bill for limitation on the collection of these amounts under authority of the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (also known as the Byrd Amendment.)

Additional Money for Wool Trust Fund

To address an immediate shortfall in the “wool trust fund,” a program created in 2000 to provide payments to U.S. suit makers to compensate for the competitive damage to the U.S. suit industry caused by an inverted tariff, H.R. 6517 would use revenue generated from tariffs on other apparel products to fund the wool trust fund at the level authorized in 2004.

(Inverted tariffs occur when the duty on a finished product (e.g., a suit) is lower than the duty on the inputs (e.g., fabric) used to make the finished product, according to a summary by the House Ways and Means Committee.)

Extension of Trade Adjustment Assistance

H.R. 6517 would extend Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for 18 months until July 1, 2012 (from January 1, 2011). The bill would also make various other amendments to TAA. (See H.R. 6517 for complete details, including effective dates of TAA revisions.)

1Also referred to as the Miscellaneous Trade Bill. Many of these tariff and related provisions were included in the draft second Miscellaneous Trade Bill (also referred to as the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill), which was posted by the House Ways and Means Committee on in November 2010. See ITT’s Online Archives or 11/29/10 and 11/30/10 news, 10112935 and 10113033, for BP summary of draft second MTB. (The first MTB was enacted into law on August 11, 2010 as the U.S. Manufacturing Enhancement Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-227).

2This duty reduction was inadvertently omitted from BP’s previous summary.

(See ITT’s Online Archives or 12/16/10 news, 10121633, for BP summary of the House passage of H.R. 6517. See ITT’s Online Archives or 12/15/10 news, 10121532, for BP summary of H.R. 6517 as introduced.)

H.R. 6517 as passed by the House is available here.

House Ways and Means summary of H.R. 6517, as amended, is available here.