QIZ Egypt
Qualifying Industrial Zones - Egypt
There are six (6) QIZs in Egypt: Greater Cairo, the Alexandria, the Suez Canal, the Central Delta, the Beni Suef, and the Al Minya zones. On March 3, 2013, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative liberalized the designation of the existing QIZs in Egypt to make all production facilities, present and future, located in these zones potentially eligible to export goods duty-free to the United States. These designations became effective on March 12, 2013. For a current list of the QIZ locations, see the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry QIZ website.
For products co-produced by Israel and Egypt, country inputs shares must total 35% of the appraised value of the product at the time it enters the United States:
- For Egypt: 11.7% of the value of materials;
- For Israel: 10.5% of the cost of materials; and
- The remainder of the 35%, or 12.8%, may come from an Egyptian QIZ, Israel, or the United States.
The Egyptian Government has reported that the textile and apparel industry, which is the oldest and largest domestic industry, has benefited the most from the QIZ initiative. Ready-made textile and apparel products make up the largest volume of exports to the U.S. under the QIZ initiative. Specific apparel items include jackets, pants, shirts, tops, T-shirts, shorts, jackets, twin-sets and pullovers. Textile products include towels and bed sheets.