§ 3592 — Rules Of Origin For Textile And Apparel Products

(a) The Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe rules implementing the principles contained in subsection (b) for determining the origin of textiles and apparel products. Such rules shall be promulgated in final form not later than July 1, 1995. (1) Except as otherwise provided for by statute, a textile or apparel product, for purposes of the customs laws and the administration of quantitative restrictions, originates in a country, territory, or insular possession, and is the growth, product, or manufacture of that country, territory, or insular possession, if— (A) the product is wholly obtained or produced in that country, territory, or possession; (B) the product is a yarn, thread, twine, cordage, rope, cable, or braiding and— (i) the constituent staple fibers are spun in that country, territory, or possession, or (ii) the continuous filament is extruded in that country, territory, or possession; (C) the product is a fabric, including a fabric classified under chapter 59 of the HTS, and the constituent fibers, filaments, or yarns are woven, knitted, needled, tufted, felted, entangled, or transformed by any other fabric-making process in that country, territory, or possession; or (D) the product is any other textile or apparel product that is wholly assembled in that country, territory, or possession from its component pieces. (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(D) and except as provided in subparagraphs (B) and (C)— (i) the origin of a good that is classified under one of the following HTS headings or subheadings shall be determined under subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (1), as appropriate: 5609, 5807, 5811, 6209.20.50.40, 6213, 6214, 6301, 6302, 6303, 6304, 6305, 6306, 6307.10, 6307.90, 6308, or 9404.90; and (ii) a textile or apparel product which is knit to shape shall be considered to originate in, and be the growth, product, or manufacture of, the country, territory, or possession in which it is knit. (B) Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(C), fabric classified under the HTS as of silk, cotton, man-made fiber, or vegetable fiber shall be considered to originate in, and be the growth, product, or manufacture of, the country, territory, or possession in which the fabric is both dyed and printed when accompanied by two or more of the following finishing operations: bleaching, shrinking, fulling, napping, decating, permanent stiffening, weighting, permanent embossing, or moireing. (C) Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(D), goods classified under HTS heading 6117.10, 6213.00, 6214.00, 6302.22, 6302.29, 6302.52, 6302.53, 6302.59, 6302.92, 6302.93, 6302.99, 6303.92, 6303.99, 6304.19, 6304.93, 6304.99, 9404.90.85, or 9404.90.95, except for goods classified under such headings as of cotton or of wool or consisting of fiber blends containing 16 percent or more by weight of cotton, shall be considered to originate in, and be the growth, product, or manufacture of, the country, territory, or possession in which the fabric is both dyed and printed when accompanied by two or more of the following finishing operations: bleaching, shrinking, fulling, napping, decating, permanent stiffening, weighting, permanent embossing, or moireing. (3) If the origin of a good cannot be determined under paragraph (1) or (2), then that good shall be considered to originate in, and be the growth, product, or manufacture of— (A) the country, territory, or possession in which the most important assembly or manufacturing process occurs, or (B) if the origin of the good cannot be determined under subparagraph (A), the last country, territory, or possession in which important assembly or manufacturing occurs. (A) The value of a component that is cut to shape (but not to length, width, or both) in the United States from foreign fabric and exported to another country, territory, or insular possession for assembly into an article that is then returned to the United States— (i) shall not be included in the dutiable value of such article, and (ii) may be applied toward determining the percentage referred to in General Note 7(b)(i)(B) of the HTS, subject to the limitation provided in that note. (B) No article (except a textile or apparel product) assembled in whole of components described in subparagraph (A), or of such components and components that are products of the United States, in a beneficiary country as defined in General Note 7(a) of the HTS shall be treated as a foreign article, or as subject to duty if— (i) the components after exportation from the United States, and (ii) the article itself before importation into the United States (5) This section shall not affect, for purposes of the customs laws and administration of quantitative restrictions, the status of goods that, under rulings and administrative practices in effect immediately before December 8, 1994, would have originated in, or been the growth, product, or manufacture of, a country that is a party to an agreement with the United States establishing a free trade area, which entered into force before January 1, 1987. For such purposes, such rulings and administrative practices that were applied, immediately before December 8, 1994, to determine the origin of textile and apparel products covered by such agreement shall continue to apply after December 8, 1994, and on and after the effective date described in subsection (c), unless such rulings and practices are modified by the mutual consent of the parties to the agreement. (c) This section shall apply to goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after July 1, 1996, except that this section shall not apply to goods if— (1) the contract for the sale of such goods to the United States is entered into before July 20, 1994; (2) all of the material terms of sale in such contract, including the price and quantity of the goods, are fixed and determinable before July 20, 1994; (3) a copy of the contract is filed with the Commissioner of Customs within 60 days after December 8, 1994, together with a certification that the contract meets the requirements of paragraphs (1) and (2); and (4) the goods are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or before January 1, 1998.