SUBCHAPTER XIX
TEXTILE AND APPAREL GOODS ELIGIBLE FOR SPECIAL TARIFF BENEFITS
UNDER THE AFRICA GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITY ACT
XXII
98-XIX-1
U.S. Notes
1. For purposes of this subchapter, the tariff treatment provided herein shall be accorded only to textile and apparel articles that are described in such subheadings and imported directly into the customs territory of the United States from those beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries previously designated by proclamation which have subsequently been determined in a Federal Register notice issued by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to have satisfied the requirements of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) (title I of Pub.L. No. 106-200) and therefore should be afforded the tariff treatment authorized in such Act and set forth in the provisions of this subchapter. Such countries shall be enumerated in this note whenever the USTR issues a Federal Register notice as described herein. Such articles shall be eligible to enter free of duty and free of any quantitative limitations, except as provided in the notes to this subchapter. The USTR has determined that the following countries have adopted an effective visa system and related procedures and have satisfied the customs requirements of the AGOA and, therefore, are to be afforded the tariff treatment provided for in this note:
                 Benin, Botswana, Cape Verde, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Eswatini, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Republic of Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia               
2. 
    (a)    Imports of apparel articles under subheadings 9819.11.09 and 9819.11.12 which may be applicable to imported apparel articles from eligible beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries pursuant to determinations of the United States International Trade Commission, shall be limited during each 1-year period enumerated in subdivision (b) of this note to the applicable percentage, in aggregate square meter equivalents, of all apparel articles imported into the United States in the preceding 12-month period for which data are available.  
  (b)  Such imports of apparel articles under subheading 9819.11.09 and 9819.15.10, which may be applicable to imported apparel articles from eligible beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries pursuant to determinations of the United States International Trade Commission, shall be limited, in each of the one-year periods beginning on October 1, 2003, to an aggregate quantity not to exceed the applicable percentage set forth herein of aggregate square meter equivalents of all apparel articles imported into the United States in the preceding 12-month period for which data are available:  
12-Month Period
Applicable Percentage
October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2004
4.747
October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2005
5.310
October 1, 2005 through September 30, 2006
5.873
October 1, 2006 through September 30, 2007
6.436
October 1, 2007 through September 30, 2008 and each subsequent 12-month period through the period October 1, 2014 through September 30, 2025
7.0
Apparel articles from a lesser developed beneficiary sub-Saharan African country enumerated in subdivision (d) of this note, when such articles are described in and entered under subheading 9819.11.12, shall be counted toward the limit set forth in this note for apparel articles described in and entered under subheading 9819.11.09 and shall, in each of the one-year periods beginning on October 1, 2002, through October 1, 2011, be limited to an aggregate quantity not to exceed the applicable percentage set forth herein of aggregate square meter equivalents of all apparel articles imported into the United States in the preceding 12-month period for which data are available:
12-Month Period
Applicable Percentage
October 1, 2002 through September 30, 2003
2.0714
October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2004
2.3571
October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2005
2.6428
October 1, 2005 through September 30, 2006
2.9285
October 1, 2006 through September 30, 2007, and each 1-year period thereafter through September 30, 2025
 3.5
Such apparel articles described in subheading 9819.11.12 shall, during the 12-month periods enumerated above, be allowed to enter regardless of the country of origin of the fabric or yarn used to make such articles, subject to any limitations imposed by the President in a proclamation published in the Federal Register.
(c) The aggregate quantity of imports allowed during each enumerated 12-month period shall be published in the Federal Register by the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.
(d) For purposes of subheading 9819.11.12, only those designated beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries that have been enumerated in U.S. note 1 to this subchapter, following publication of a notice by the United States Trade Representative, shall be eligible to be treated as lesser developed beneficiary countries pursuant to section 112(b)(3)(B) of the AGOA (19 U.S.C. 3721(b)(3)(B)). Countries qualifying for designation as a lesser developed beneficiary country shall be enumerated in this note whenever the USTR issues a Federal Register notice as described herein and shall be eligible to enter goods under such subheading as of the effective date announced in such notice. Products of the following countries qualifying as lesser developed beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries for purposes of such subheading, if described therein, shall be eligible to enter thereunder, provided that such countries are named in U.S. note 1 to this subchapter on the date of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse for consumption:   
                     Republic of Benin; Republic of Botswana; Republic of Cape Verde; Republic of Chad; Democratic Republic of Congo,The; Cte d'Ivoire; Republic of Djibouti; Eswatini; Gambia, The; Republic of Ghana; Guinea-Bissau; Republic of Kenya; Kingdom of Lesotho; Republic of Liberia; Madagascar; Republic of Malawi; Islamic Republic of Mauritania; Mauritius; Republic of Mozambique; Republic of Namibia; Federal Republic of Nigeria; Democratic Republic of Sao Tom and Principe; Republic of Senegal; Republic of Sierra Leone; United Republic of Tanzania; Togo; Republic of Zambia                  
  (e)  For purposes of subheading 9819.11.09 and 9819.11.12 which may be applicable to imported apparel articles from eligible beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries pursuant to determinations of the United States International Trade Commission, an apparel article imported thereunder may contain fabrics, fabric components formed, or components knit-to-shape that are specified as being of a type required in the apparel articles of subheadings 9819.11.03 or 9819.11.06.  
3. 
(a) An article otherwise eligible for preferential treatment under any provision of this subchapter shall not be ineligible for such treatment because the article contains--
(i) findings or trimmings of foreign origin, if the value of such findings and trimmings does not exceed 25 percent of the cost of the components of the assembled article; or
(ii) certain interlinings of foreign origin, if the value of such interlinings (and any findings and trimmings of foreign origin) does not exceed 25 percent of the cost of the components of the assembled article; or
(iii) fibers or yarns not wholly formed in the United States or in one or more designated beneficiary countries enumerated in U.S. note 1 to this subchapter, provided that the total weight of all such fibers and yarns is not more than 10 percent of the total weight of the article; or
(iv) any of the following components that do not meet the requirements set forth in the provisions fo this subchapter: any collars or cuffs (the foregoing cut or knit-to-shape), drawstrings, shoulder pads or other padding, waistbands, belt attached to the article, straps containing elastic, or elbow patches.
(b) For purposes of subdivision (a)(i) above, findings or trimmings eligible under such subdivision include sewing thread, hooks and eyes, snaps, buttons, "bow buds", decorative lace trim, elastic strips, and zippers (including zipper tapes) and labels. Elastic strips are considered findings or trimmings only if they are each less than 2.54 cm in width and used in the production of brassieres. For purposes of articles described in subheading 9819.11.06 and 9819.11.30, sewing thread shall not be considered to be findings or trimmings.
(c) For purposes of subdivision (a)(ii) above, the interlinings eligible under such subdivision include only a chest type plate, a "hymo" piece, or "sleeve header", of woven or weft-inserted warp knit construction and of coarse animal hair or man-made filaments.
(d) For purposes of this subchapter, a "former beneficiary sub-Saharan African country" is a country that, after being designated as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country under the AGOA and enumerated in subdivision (a) of this note, ceased to be designated as such a country by reason of its entering into a free trade agreement with the United States.
4. 
(a) For purposes of subheading 9819.11.27, goods entered under this provision must be certified, by a competent authority of a designated beneficiary country enumerated in U.S. note 1 to this subchapter, as eligible products of such country, in accordance with any requirements established by the appropriate U.S. government authority.
(b) For purposes of such subheading, the phrase "ethnic printed fabrics" refers to fabrics that are--
(i) containing a selvedge on both edges, having a width of less than 50 inches, classifiable under subheading 5208.52.30 or 5208.52.40 of the tariff schedule;
(ii) of the type that contains designs, symbols and other characteristics of African prints--
(A) normally produced for and sold on the indigenous African market, and
(B) normally sold in Africa by the piece as opposed to being tailored into garments before being sold in indigenous African markets;
(iii) printed, including waxed, in one or more eligible beneficiary sub-Saharan countries; and
(iv) formed in the United States, from yarns formed in the United States, or from fabric formed in one or more beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries from yarn originating in either the United States or one or more beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries.
[U.S. Note 5 deleted]
Statistical Note
1. For statistical reporting of merchandise under the subheadings of this subchapter:
(a) Report the 8-digit number (or 10-digit number, if any) found in this subchapter in addition to the 10-digit number appearing in chapters 1-97 which would be applicable but for the provisions of this subchapter; and
(b) The quantities reported should be in the units provided in chapters 1-97.

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