A provision of the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 that authorizes the President to proclaim an import quota whenever the USDA determines that the spot market average price in any one month exceeds 130% of the previous 36-month average. If triggered by such a determination, the established quota allows for imports of up to 21 days of mill consumption during a 90-day period. Price conditions in the U.S. upland cotton market triggered this limited quota three times — twice in 1980, and once in 1987. A limited global quota cannot overlap with the step 3 quota, one of the cotton competitiveness provisions.