country
(2) Competitive need limitation (A) Basis for withdrawal of duty-free treatment (i) In general Except as provided in clause (ii) and subject to subsection (d), whenever the President determines that a beneficiary developing country has exported (directly or indirectly) to the United States during any calendar year beginning after December 31, 1995 — (I) a quantity of an eligible article having an appraised value in excess of the applicable amount for the calendar year, or (II) a quantity of an eligible article equal to or exceeding 50 percent of the appraised value of the total imports of that article into the United States during any calendar year, the President shall, not later than November 1 of the next calendar year, terminate the duty-free treatment for that article from that beneficiary developing country. (ii) Annual adjustment of applicable amount For purposes of applying clause (i), the applicable amount is— (I) for 1996, $75,000,000, and (II) for each calendar year thereafter, an amount equal to the applicable amount in effect for the preceding calendar year plus $5,000,000. (B) “Country” defined For purposes of this paragraph, the term “country” does not include an association of countries which is treated as one country under section 2467(2) of this title , but does include a country which is a member of any such association. (C) Redesignations A country which is no longer treated as a beneficiary developing country with respect to an eligible article by reason of subparagraph (A) may, subject to the considerations set forth in sections 2461 and 2462 of this title , be redesignated a beneficiary developing country with respect to such article if imports of such article from such country did not exceed the limitations in subparagraph (A) during the preceding calendar year. (D) Least-developed beneficiary developing countries and beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to any least-developed beneficiary developing country or any beneficiary sub-Saharan African country. (E) Articles not produced in the United States excluded Subparagraph (A)(i)(II) shall not apply with respect to any eligible article if a like or directly competitive article was not produced in the United States in any of the preceding 3 calendar years. (F) De minimis waivers (i) In general The President may disregard subparagraph (A)(i)(II) with respect to any eligible article from any beneficiary developing country if the aggregate appraised value of the imports of such article into the United States during the preceding calendar year does not exceed the applicable amount for such preceding calendar year. (ii) Applicable amount For purposes of applying clause (i), the applicable amount is— (I) for calendar year 1996, $13,000,000, and (II) for each calendar year thereafter, an amount equal to the applicable amount in effect for the preceding calendar year plus $500,000.