U.S. extends duty-free apparel trade with Haiti through 2035
S. 742 — Haiti Economic Lift Program Extension Act of 2025 · Filed by Bill Cassidy (R-LA) · 6 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 26, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill extends duty-free trade benefits for Haitian apparel imports into the U.S. market through 2035 (currently set to expire sooner), raises the domestic-content requirement from 50% to 60%, and restores eligibility for certain apparel articles that lost preferential status due to tariff-schedule changes since 2006. The primary beneficiaries are Haitian apparel manufacturers and exporters, who gain continued access to the U.S. market without tariffs.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to extend and modify preferential tariff treatment for Haitian apparel under an existing trade program. It is a straightforward trade-policy amendment with no hidden mechanisms or riders.
What the text implies
- Raising the domestic-content requirement from 50% to 60% may reduce Haiti's competitive advantage if local textile supply is limited, potentially offsetting the extension's benefit.
- The 1.25% quantitative cap on apparel imports is modest relative to total U.S. apparel consumption, limiting the economic impact on both Haiti and domestic manufacturers.
- Restoration of articles ineligible since 2006 may reopen market access for products that were removed for policy reasons, potentially reviving trade disputes or compliance issues.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
U.S. consumers may benefit from lower-cost Haitian apparel imports, but domestic apparel manufacturers and workers face increased competition from duty-free Haitian goods. Haiti gains significant economic opportunity, but the net effect on ordinary Americans is ambiguous—cheaper imports offset by potential job displacement in U.S. apparel manufacturing.
Who stands to gain
- Haitian apparel manufacturers and exporters
- U.S. apparel importers and retailers (lower sourcing costs)
- U.S. consumers (lower apparel prices)
Named in the bill
Haiti, Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA), Section 213A of CBERA, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, Senate Committee on Finance, House Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. apparel industry
Where it stands
6 cosponsors: 4 Democrats, 2 Republicans.
- Feb 26, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Feb 26, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Finance · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
5 lobbying clients named this bill on 7 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,101,373 in lobbying spend. A filing names 7 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 78% of bills with at least one filing.
Bill Cassidy, the sponsor, reported $1,385,254 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Cintas — $540,000 on 2 filings
- American Apparel & Footwear Association — $343,644 on 1 filing
- Medical Apparel Made for America - Haiti Coalition — $150,000 on 1 filing
- Gap, Inc. — $60,000 on 2 filings
- Travel Goods Association — $7,729 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,364 characters) on Sep 23, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,784 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-09-24.
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