All products that have zero tariffs under NAFTA will remain at zero under USMCA.
Canada will provide new and expanded access (via Tariff Rate Quotas) for U.S. exports of several dairy categories, including:
- Milk
- Cheese
- Cream
- Skim milk powder
- Condensed milk
- Yogurt
Canada will also eliminate its tariffs on whey and margarine.
For additional information on tariffs, including USMCA and applied tariffs, visit the FTA Tariff Tool and the FTA Resources Toolbox on our FTA Help Center. To learn more about harmonized system codes, visit our Understanding HS Codes page.
The USMCA no longer requires a certificate of origin. Rather, a minimum set of data elements must be submitted to prove origin. These elements may be on an invoice or any other document, except a commercial document issued in a non-Party, in accordance with the Uniform Regulations.
The importer may make a claim for preferential tariff treatment based on a certification of origin completed by the importer, exporter, or producer for the purpose of certifying that a good qualifies as an originating good. Certification of origin can be completed and submitted electronically with an electronic or digital signature and may cover a single importation or multiple importations of identical goods within a maximum 12-month period. The importer is responsible for exercising reasonable care concerning the accuracy of all documentation submitted to CBP.
The nine elements required at a minimum to claim origin under USMCA are:
- Importer, Exporter or Producer (indicate which is certifier)
- Name and Address of Certifier
- Name and Address of Exporter
- Name and Address of Producer
- Name and Address of Importer (if known)
- Description and Harmonized System Tariff Classification of the good to the 6-digit level (For more information on this subject, visit our Understanding HS Codes page)
- Specific Criteria under which the good meets USMCA originating requirements
- Blanket Period (certification is valid up to 12 months in the case of multiple shipments of identical goods)
- Authorized Signature and Date
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has updated their suggested USMCA Certification of Origin template.
A certification is not required for importations valued at $2,500 or less, provided that the importation does not form part of a series of importations that may reasonably be considered to have been undertaken or arranged for the purpose of evading U.S. laws, regulations, or procedures governing claims for preferential tariff treatment.
Record-keeping requirements still need to be met.
The De Minimis Threshold sets the value of goods below which no duties or taxes are collected by customs.
To help make trade easier, faster, and cheaper, the following de minimis levels shipment values will be followed. Shipments up to these de minimis values will generally enter with minimal formal entry procedures.
- Canada will raise its de minimis level for North American express shipments from C$20 to C$40 for taxes. It will also provide for duty-free treatment for express shipments up to C$150.
- Mexico will continue to provide US$50 tax-free de minimis and also provide duty-free treatment for express shipments up to the equivalent level of US$117.
The United States will maintain its de minimis level at US$800.
USMCA also includes strong rules of origin for industrial products that will increase regional content and help preserve North American manufacturing, including new rules for autos and auto parts, chemicals, and steel-intensive products. These rules will help ensure that only producers who use sufficient amounts of U.S. or North American parts or materials receive preferential tariff benefits.
Product Specific Rules of Origin
Each 6-digit product Harmonized System (HS) number has a specific rule of origin. Product-specific rules (PSRs) are the test that non-originating content must meet in order to be considered originating. Also, certain products have additional requirements and exclusions.
- NAFTA and USMCA product-specific rules of origin (PSR) are similar, with both using net cost and transaction value to calculate regional value content.
- USMCA also maintains and expands on the higher regional value content requirements used in NAFTA.
- There are selected sectors where the USMCA PSRs are significantly different, including autos and auto parts, selected steel products and chemicals.
- There are also specific products where the PSRs were changed to reflect changes in the market since NAFTA. Please see the FTA Tariff Tool to see the PSR for your product and to ensure compliance with the USMCA rules of origin.
Chemicals
- Allowing chemical processes to confer origin is new for the North American region as these rules were not in NAFTA. For chemical products in HS chapters 28 to 39, USMCA has added eight chemical reaction rules to confer origin in place of product specific rules of origin. The eight chemical processes are: chemical reaction; purification; mixtures and blends; changes in particle size; standards material; isomer separation; separation prohibition; and biotechnological processes.
Steel
- For selected steel and iron products in HS chapter 73, USMCA requires that 70% of the steel by weight come from North America.
There were also minor changes to additional products such as glass and fiber optic. To ensure you are familiar with the rule of origin for your product, please visit USMCA’s Rules of Origin chapter.
Textiles
- USMCA includes:
- Revised Rules Incentivize the Use of Regional Inputs
- Restructured Tariff Preference Levels (TPLs)
- Updated Rules of Origin Provide Flexibility
- New Robust Customs Enforcement Provisions
- Excludes TSA Uniform Procurement from Government Procurement Obligations
- Visit OTEXA’s USMCA Textile and Apparel Goods Chapter Summary.
- Find more information and resources on the Office of Apparel and Textiles (OTEXA) site.
Auto Rules of Origin
- Increases regional value content for passenger vehicle and light trucks from 62.5% to 75% phased over three years after USMCA enters into force, thus incentivizing more auto production in North America.
- Increases regional value content for medium- and heavy-trucks to 70 percent over two phases, four and seven years after entry into force.
- Includes a first-of-its-kind labor value content (LVC) rule which requires that a certain percentage of qualifying vehicles must be produced in a North American plant or facility by workers making average wages of at least $16 per hour.
- Increases regional value content for core, principal, and complementary auto parts for passenger vehicles, and requires that core vehicle parts such as engines, transmissions, axles, body panels, suspensions, steering systems, and EV batteries be produced in North America, from regionally sourced steel, aluminum, and other key parts and materials.
- Increases regional value content requirements for principal and complementary parts for heavy trucks. Establishes a requirement that at least 70 percent of the vehicle producer’s purchases of steel and aluminum by value in the North American region be of originating goods. This provision applies for producers of passenger vehicles, light trucks, and heavy trucks. A producer may be exempt from having to certify to this requirement under an alternative staging period.
- Requires more auto production in North America to qualify for duty-free treatment by eliminating the NAFTA’s “deemed originating” loophole.
- On April 21st, USTR published a Federal Register Notice entitled “Procedures for the Submission of Petitions by North American Producers of Passenger Vehicles or Light Trucks To Use the Alternative Staging Regime for the USMCA Rules of Origin for Automotive Goods.” To be assured of consideration, a vehicle producer must submit a petition with a draft alternative staging plan no later than July 1, 2020. A vehicle producer must submit a petition with its final alternative staging plan no later than August 31, 2020.
- Under an alternative staging regime, importers of certain passenger vehicles and light trucks will have an additional two years – five years instead of three to meet the new rules of origin requirements.
- For more information on the requirement to meet the product-specific rules of origin for automotive goods, CBP’s Interim Implementing Instructions.
De minimis to determine origin of a good
USMCA increases de minimis threshold for purposes of origin from 7 percent to 10 percent with certain exceptions for textile and apparel goods. For more information, see Article 412 of the USMCA Rules of Origin Chapter.
To learn more about FTA rules of origin and resources, visit our Identify and Apply Rules of Origin page on the FTA Help Center.
On April 20, 2020 - U.S. Customs and Border Protection released the USMCA Interim Implementing Instructions.
- These Interim Implementing Instructions are informational and provide early guidance on the new requirements under the USMCA, including information on claiming USMCA preferential treatment for goods.
- The Final Implementing Instructions will be released prior to the date the USMCA enters into force and will provide additional details on the USMCA entry, compliance, and other requirements.
The FTA Tariff Tool incorporates all products (agricultural and non-agricultural goods) classified within all 97 chapters of the Harmonized System and includes information on product-specific rules of origin to determine the eligibility of the reduced tariff rates under with any US FTA Partner. The Tariff Tool not only provides information on current tariff lines but also provides transparency on future tariffs and the year in which those products become duty-free.
View the FTA Tariff Tool
