The bill extends and clarifies tariff preferences to lower costs for importers, consumers, and Haitian exporters and to increase administrative predictability, but it does so while capping duty‑free volume, raising content thresholds that narrow eligibility, reducing federal tariff revenue, increasing competition for some U.S. producers, and concentrating some authority in the executive branch.
Importers of qualifying Haitian and Caribbean goods (including small businesses) and everyday consumers will pay lower costs because the bill preserves/ restores preferential tariff treatment for those goods.
Small importers, exporters, and customs officials will face less legal uncertainty because the bill fixes the 'applicable percentage' at 60% and restores prior HTS classifications, improving predictability and administrative clarity for trade compliance.
Haitian apparel exporters and their U.S. trading partners will retain duty‑free access for an extended period (through September 30, 2035), providing multi‑year market certainty.
Haitian apparel exporters and U.S. importers of Haitian apparel will be limited by a 1.25% annual cap on duty‑free U.S. apparel imports, meaning some shipments could lose duty‑free status and face higher costs once the cap is reached.
Haitian manufacturers and some U.S. importers will lose eligibility for preferences because the bill fixes a higher 60% production/content threshold, disqualifying apparel that previously met lower thresholds.
U.S. taxpayers will face reduced federal tariff revenue over time because maintaining and restoring tariff preferences lowers the duties collected on affected imports.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Extends Haiti apparel duty‑free rules to Sept 30, 2035, raises the local‑content test to 60%, sets a 1.25% annual cap, and restores some tariff classifications.
Extends and tightens the U.S. duty‑free special rules for apparel from Haiti through September 30, 2035 by raising the local‑content threshold to 60 percent (effective on and after Dec 20, 2017), setting a new annual quantitative cap equal to 1.25% of the U.S. aggregate square meter equivalents of apparel imports, and restoring certain tariff classifications that had lost eligibility due to later tariff schedule revisions. The President must issue proclamations to make the tariff schedule changes, and those proclamations cannot take effect until at least two business days after Congress receives a report explaining the changes.
Introduced February 26, 2025 by Gregory Francis Murphy · Last progress February 26, 2025