,,ii #aacth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #ahhc ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,december #bj1 #bjac,mrs4 ,hagan introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,finance ,a ,,bill ,to extend duty-free treatment for certain trousers1 breeches1 or shorts imported from ,nicaragua1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,extending ,incentives for ,exporting ,american ,textiles ,act of #bjac4 #b4 ,extension of duty-free treatment for certain trousers1 breeches1 or shorts imported from ,nicaragua 7a7 ,duty-,free treatment ,notwithstanding the termination of the tariff preference level program for imports of apparel articles from ,nicaragua and subject to subsection 7b71 eligible apparel articles shall enter the ,united ,states free of duty if such eligible apparel articles are accompanied by an earned import allowance certificate for the amount of credits equal to the total square meter equivalents of fabric in such eligible apparel articles1 in accordance with the program established under subsection 7c74 7b7 ,quantitative limitation 7#a7 ,initial limitation ,subject to paragraphs 7#b7 and 7#c71 duty-free treatment under this section shall be extended for a covered calendar year to an initial limit of not more than #ej1jjj1jjj square meter equivalents of eligible apparel articles unless that amount is increased pursuant to paragraph 7#c7 for such year4 7#b7 ,export success factor ,if during a covered calendar year duty-free treatment under this section is extended to #ij percent or more of the initial limit for such year prior to the end of such year1 the ,president shall-- 7,a7 extend such treatment to an additional amount of square meter equivalents of eligible apparel articles that is equal to #aj percent of the initial limit for such year2 and 7,b7 publish notice of the extension in the ,federal ,register4 7#c7 ,export success pattern 7,a7 ,three year increase ,subject to subparagraph 7,b71 if the ,president takes the action described in paragraph 7#b7 for a period of #c consecutive covered calendar years1 for subsequent covered calendar years the ,president shall-- 7i7 increase the initial limit for subsequent covered calendar years by an additional amount of square meter equivalents of eligible apparel articles that is equal to #aj percent of the initial limit for each covered calendar year of the previous #c-year period2 and 7ii7 publish notice of such increase in the ,federal ,register4 7,b7 ,additional increases ,if the initial limit is increased under subparagraph 7,a7 for a period of #c consecutive covered calendar years1 the initial limit for each such year-- 7i7 shall be increased under paragraph 7#b71 if the requirements of such paragraph are met for such year2 and 7ii7 may be eligible for an additional increase under subparagraph 7,a7 no more frequently than once every #c years4 7c7 ,earned import allowance program 7#a7 ,matching requirement ,the aggregate square meter equivalents of eligible apparel articles of each producer or entity controlling production that may receive duty-free treatment under this section during a covered calendar year may not exceed the aggregate square meter equivalents of fabric wholly formed in the ,united ,states of yarns wholly formed in the ,united ,states that was previously exported from the ,united ,states by such producer or entity and for which the producer or entity has available credits in its account established under paragraph 7#c77;,b74 7#b7 ,requirement for program ,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 for purposes of subsection 7a71 based on the elements described in paragraph 7#c74 7#c7 ,elements ,the elements described in this paragraph are the following3 7,a7 ,credits ,one credit shall be issued to a producer or an entity controlling production for every one square meter equivalent of fabric wholly formed in the ,united ,states from yarns wholly formed in the ,united ,states that such producer or entity demonstrates has been exported from the customs territory of the ,united ,states4 7,b7 ,accounts ,if requested by a producer or entity controlling production1 the ,secretary of ,commerce shall create and maintain an account for such producer or entity into which credits issued under subparagraph 7,a7 may be deposited4 7,c7 ,certificates ,a producer or entity controlling production may redeem credits issued under subparagraph 7,a7 for earned import allowance certificates for such number of credits such producer or entity may request and has available4 7,d7 ,documentation ,the ,secretary of ,commerce may require that a producer or entity controlling production submit documentation to verify the export of fabric wholly formed in the ,united ,states of yarns wholly formed in the ,united ,states4 7,e7 ,verification ,the ,secretary of ,commerce may reconcile discrepancies in the information provided under subparagraph 7,d7 and verify the accuracy of such information4 7,f7 ,electronic information ,the program shall be established so as to allow1 to the extent feasible1 the submission1 storage1 retrieval1 and disclosure of information in electronic format1 including information with respect to the earned import allowance certificates4 7,g7 ,schedule ,the ,secretary of ,commerce shall establish procedures to carry out the program under this subsection by ,october #a1 #bjad1 and may establish additional requirements to carry out the program4 7,h7 ,penalties ,if an importer1 producer1 or entity controlling production enters into the customs territory of the ,united ,states eligible apparel articles for which there are insufficient earned credits1 such importer1 producer1 or entity may be subject to a penalty equal to the value of such eligible apparel articles1 in addition to existing penalties under section #eib of the ,tariff ,act of #aicj 7#ai ,u4,s4,c4 #aeib71 as appropriate4 7#d7 ,determination of quantity of ,,sme ,for purposes of determining the quantity of square meter equivalents under this section1 the conversion factors listed in ,correlation3 ,u4,s4 ,textile and ,apparel ,category ,system with the ,harmonized ,tariff ,schedule of the ,united ,states of ,america1 #bjac1 or successor publication of the ,office of ,textiles and ,apparel of the ,department of ,commerce1 shall apply4 7d7 ,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7 ,covered calendar year ,the term covered calendar year means a calendar year during the #aj-year period referred to in subsection 7e74 7#b7 ,eligible apparel article ,the term eligible apparel article means woven trousers1 breeches1 or shorts that are apparel articles described in subdivisions 7a7 and 7b7 of ,u4,s4 ,note #ae to subchapter ,,xv of chapter #ii of the ,,hts imported from ,nicaragua4 7#c7 ,enter2 entry ,the terms enter and entry include a withdrawal from warehouse for consumption4 7#d7 ,entity controlling production ,the term entity controlling production means a person or other entity or group that is not a producer and that controls the production process in ,nicaragua through a contractual relationship or other indirect means4 7#e7 ,fabric wholly formed in the ,united ,states of yarn wholly formed in the ,united ,states ,the term fabric wholly formed in the ,united ,states of yarn wholly formed in the ,united ,states means fabric-- 7,a7 woven in the ,united ,states from fibers or from yarns1 the constituent staple fibers of which are spun in the ,united ,states or the continuous filament of which is extruded in the ,united ,states2 7,b7 for which any dyeing1 printing1 or finishing is performed in the ,united ,states2 and 7,c7 exported to ,nicaragua on or after ,april #a1 #bjad4 7#f7 ,,hts ,the term ,,hts means the ,harmonized ,tariff ,schedule of the ,united ,states as in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of this ,act4 7#g7 ,initial limit ,the term initial limit means the quantity of square meter equivalents of eligible apparel articles that may be extended duty-free treatment under this section on the first day of a calendar year4 7#h7 ,producer ,the term producer means a person or other entity or group that exercises direct1 daily operational control over the production process in ,nicaragua4 7#i7 ,tariff preference level program for imports of apparel articles from ,nicaragua ,the term tariff preference level program for imports of apparel articles from ,nicaragua refers to the preferential tariff treatment for nonoriginating apparel goods of ,nicaragua established pursuant to ,article #c4bh of the ,dominican ,republic-,central ,america-,united ,states ,free ,trade ,agreement and the letters described in subparagraphs 7,a7 and 7,b7 of section #afcd7;a77#b7 of the ,miscellaneous ,trade and ,technical ,corrections ,act of #bjjf 7title ,,xiv of ,public ,law #aji-bhj2 #abj ,stat4 #aafg74 7e7 ,effective period ,duty-free treatment under this section shall be in effect for the #aj-year period beginning on ,january #a1 #bjae4