By Oliveira                                          H.C.R. No. 206
         76R11266 SMZ-D                           
                             HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 1-1           WHEREAS, The duty-free allowance for returning residents is
 1-2     an important element of trade and tourism between Texas and Mexico
 1-3     and represents the substance and intent of the North American Free
 1-4     Trade Agreement (NAFTA); and
 1-5           WHEREAS, The United States provides each U.S. resident who is
 1-6     returning from Mexico after a stay of any duration a personal
 1-7     exemption from duty on merchandise valued at up to $400 for every
 1-8     30-day period; and
 1-9           WHEREAS, In recent years, Mexico has had a two-tiered
1-10     duty-free allowance for its returning residents, set at the
1-11     equivalent of $50 for residents of a 25 kilometer strip along
1-12     Mexico's northern border with Texas and the equivalent of $300 for
1-13     residents who live in the interior of Mexico; and
1-14           WHEREAS, U.S. border merchants from Brownsville to El Paso
1-15     have traditionally enjoyed a significant amount of Mexican
1-16     business, but that business has been adversely and severely
1-17     affected by Mexico's imposition of the $50 limit on duty-free
1-18     purchases; and
1-19           WHEREAS, In April 1998, after negotiations with U.S. federal
1-20     officials led by U.S.  Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and U.S.
1-21     Representative Silvestre Reyes, the Mexican government announced an
1-22     educational campaign along with new regulations aimed at clarifying
1-23     a revised $400 duty-free allowance for Mexican residents along the
1-24     U.S./Mexico border; and
 2-1           WHEREAS, In May 1998, Mexico published new federal guidelines
 2-2     governing the duty-free allowance for Mexican residents along the
 2-3     U.S./Mexico border but as of this date has yet to implement those
 2-4     guidelines; and
 2-5           WHEREAS, This failure to implement the negotiated
 2-6     clarification of the duty-free allowance along the U.S./Mexico
 2-7     border violates the spirit of the reciprocal, duty-free allowance
 2-8     policies embodied in the North American Free Trade Agreement; now,
 2-9     therefore, be it
2-10           RESOLVED, That the 76th Legislature of the State of Texas
2-11     hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to
2-12     initiate formal discussions with officials of the government of
2-13     Mexico to implement its announced regulations that would allow
2-14     Mexican residents to purchase duty-free U.S. merchandise along the
2-15     U.S./Mexico border; and, be it further
2-16           RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
2-17     copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
2-18     the president of the senate and speaker of the house of
2-19     representatives of the United States Congress, and to all members
2-20     of the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this
2-21     resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
2-22     memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.