Haiti Trade Preferences Extended to 2028, Apparel Rules Adjusted, and Importers Get Duty Refunds

This bill, officially titled the Haiti Economic Lift Program Extension Act, is essentially an extension and update of special trade rules that allow certain goods from Haiti to enter the U.S. duty-free. The biggest change is that it pushes the expiration date for these trade preferences from their current deadline way out to December 31, 2028 (Sec. 2). This is a big deal for predictability, especially for businesses that have invested in manufacturing operations in Haiti.

The Fine Print on Your T-Shirt

The most significant changes are found in how apparel qualifies for these duty-free benefits. If you’ve ever bought a shirt with a “Made in Haiti” tag, these rules are what kept the price down. The bill changes the "applicable percentage" rule for assembled apparel, requiring that at least 60 percent of the value of the materials used must come from Haiti, the U.S., or a U.S. free trade agreement partner country (Sec. 2). This is a technical adjustment designed to ensure that the benefits actually support production in the U.S. or allied nations, rather than just acting as a pass-through for materials sourced elsewhere.

They also tweak the maximum amount of apparel that can enter the U.S. duty-free under this program. After the initial year, the limit is set at 1.25 percent of all apparel imported into the U.S. in the previous year. For the average consumer, this means the supply chain for affordable clothing made in Haiti remains stable and predictable for the next few years, which helps keep costs steady.

Clearing Up Old Tariff Headaches

Beyond Haiti, the bill also cleans up an old problem for other Caribbean Basin countries. It requires the President to restore preferential trade treatment for certain articles that lost their tariff-free status back in 2006 due to administrative changes in the U.S. tariff schedule (Sec. 3). Think of it like a software patch—these specific goods were supposed to be eligible, but a technicality pulled the rug out from under them. This correction restores market access for those specific products, offering a boost to those regional economies.

The Retroactive Refund Check

Here’s the part that impacts importers and the U.S. Treasury right now: the bill makes the duty-free treatment retroactive for certain Haitian imports that entered the U.S. between September 30, 2025, and the date this law is enacted (Sec. 4). Why is this necessary? Often, these trade preference programs expire, and before Congress can reauthorize them, a gap occurs where importers must start paying tariffs again. This bill closes that gap.

If you are an importer who paid duties on Haitian goods during that period, you can now request a full refund. But there’s a catch: you must file a request with U.S. Customs and Border Protection within 180 days after the law is enacted, providing enough information to track down the original entry records. Customs then has 90 days to process the refund, but they won’t pay any interest on the money. While this is great news for importers who get their cash back, it does represent a loss of collected tariff revenue for the U.S. government, which is a common trade-off when Congress retroactively extends these programs.