H.R. 6504: Haiti Economic Lift Program Extension Act

This bill, known as the Haiti Economic Lift Program Extension Act, aims to extend certain trade benefits for imports from Haiti under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act. Here’s a breakdown of what the bill entails:

Extension of Duty-Free Treatment

The bill proposes to extend the duty-free treatment for imports from Haiti until December 31, 2028. This means that certain goods coming from Haiti would not be subject to customs duties, making them more affordable in the U.S. market.

Amendments to Import Rules

Specifically, the bill modifies the rules governing how imports from Haiti qualify for preferential treatment:

• Increases the percentage of materials that must be sourced from Haiti for apparel to qualify for duty-free treatment to 60%.
• Change in the way the limits on the amount of apparel that can qualify for this treatment are calculated, allowing for a small percentage of total U.S. imports in a recent 12-month period.

Restoration of Preferential Treatment

The bill would also allow certain articles that had previously qualified for trade benefits before December 20, 2006, but lost that status due to changes in the tariff schedule, to regain eligibility for preferential treatment.

Retroactive Application of Benefits

Furthermore, the legislation includes provisions for retroactively applying the duty-free and preferential treatment to articles imported from Haiti that entered under specific conditions after September 30, 2025, provided that a request is made to the appropriate U.S. Customs and Border Protection authority. This would allow for liquidating or reliquidating entries of covered articles that would have qualified if they were imported before the cutoff date.

Implementation and Reporting

The bill sets out procedures for how the U.S. President must implement the necessary changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule and requires reporting to key Senate and House committees before the changes take effect.

Definitions

For clarity, the bill defines what constitutes a "covered article" and how the term "entry" is to be understood in the context of these imports.

Relevant Companies

• PLNT (Planet Fitness, Inc.): Potential impact as fitness apparel may qualify under the duty-free treatment and help reduce costs for imported goods.
• NKE (Nike, Inc.): The company could benefit from reduced tariffs on shoes and clothing imported from Haiti.