US sets lower annual apparel import cap under AGOA
The US has set new lower annual limits on duty and quota-free imports of apparel articles assembled from regional and third-country fabric under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in the upcoming fiscal year.
The new figures are released by the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) for the 12 months from 1 October 2020 to 30 September 2021.
The annual limits are set out in the AGOA Acceleration Act of 2004, and are calculated based on the volume of all apparel articles imported into the United States in the preceding 12-month period.
So for apparel articles wholly assembled in one or more beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries from regional or US yarns and fabrics, the new FY 2021 annual limit is 1,856,390,368 square metres equivalent (SME); a drop of 13.5% on the previous year. This so-called "regional cap" must be no higher than 7% of all apparel articles imported into the US in the preceding 12-months.
Of this amount, 928,195,184 SME is available to apparel articles imported under the AGOA "third-country fabric provision," a special rule for lesser-developed countries that provides preferential treatment for apparel articles assembled in one or more lesser-developed beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries, regardless of the country of origin of the fabric used. This level is calculated to be no higher than 3.5% of all US apparel import in the previous year.
Apparel articles entered in excess of these quantities will be subject to otherwise applicable tariffs.