The QIZ share of Egypt’s total exports to the United States also has grown
from 13% in 2005 to 43% in 2010.

Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZs)

[Excerpt from
U.S. Trade and Investment in the Middle East and North Africa: Overview and
Issues
CRS Report for Congress
Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress
Congressional Research Service
7-5700 www.crs.gov R42153
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42153.pdf ]

Qualifying industrial zones (QIZs), established by Congress in 1996, permit
the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and qualifying zones in Egypt and Jordan to
export certain products to the United States duty-free.45 Products eligible
for duty-free export to the United States must be manufactured in the West
Bank, the Gaza Strip, or specified designated zones within Jordan or Egypt
and must contain a certain percentage of inputs from Israel. The purpose of
the QIZ legislation is to support the Middle East peace process and to build
closer economic ties between

Israel and its Arab neighbors. U.S. imports under the QIZ programs in both
Egypt and Jordan are dominated by apparel products.

• Jordan: Exports from Jordan to the United States under the QIZ program
grew from $159,000 in 1999 to about $200 million in 2010. However, the QIZ
share of Jordan’s total exports to the United States has declined in recent
years, from a high of 90% in 2002 to about 20% in 2010.46 This is because
most imports from Jordan increasingly enter the United States duty-free
under the FTA rather than the QIZ program.

• Egypt: Exports from Egypt to the United States under the QIZ program
have grown from $266 million in 2005 to $956 million in 2010. The QIZ share
of Egypt’s total exports to the United States also has grown during this
time period, from 13% in 2005 to 43% in 2010.47

Certain issues have risen in the QIZ programs. For example, in Jordan’s QIZ
facilities, labor issues related to working conditions, particularly for
migrant laborers, have emerged; the United States is working with Jordan to
resolve these issues.48
====================
47 CRS analysis of data from USITC, Interactive Tariff and Trade Data Web;
QIZ Egypt, http://www.qizegypt.gov.eg/About_QIZ.aspx.
48 Office of the United States Trade Representative, 2011 Trade Policy
Agenda and 2010 Annual Report. In addition, a 161 page report released by
the National Labor Committee in 2006: U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement
Descends into Human Trafficking and Involuntary Servitude, is a compilation
of stories from over 100 guest workers in Jordan.