Free Trade Agreements

Questions and answers about Free Trade Agreements

  • Reimport of incorporated US components

    Question: Hello everyone, I have the following question: Our company manufactures in the United States electronic devices from parts of various origin. As finished goods they are US origin items and are even “originating “under many FTA’s including USMCA.  We sell these electronic devices around the world as loose equipment, but we also incorporate them […]

  • GSP renewal

    Question: What is the likelihood of GSP being renewed under the new Trump administration, and if so, when to expect? Answer 1: Good morning, As I am responding to your email, I do not believe we will see any renewal soon. We keep flagging entries for GSP in hope that it does renew, but if […]

  • BOM level necessary for determining an FTA Country of Origin

    Question: My question to the membership is what is the appropriate BOM level necessary for determining a FTA Country of Origin that meets the Reasonable Care standard? I am managing the implementation of a FTA software package for analyzing and qualifying goods for FTAs.  A question has been asked about the BOM for FTA country […]

  • USMCA Certificate for material in inventory

    Question: If a US producer received raw material in 2022, and received a 2022 USMCA certificate for the material, is the producer allowed to base their 2024 USMCA certificate (for a finished good which used that raw material) on the 2022 COO received from the supplier?   Assume there have been no receipts of that material […]

  • FTA Agreements

    Question: We are required to complete free trade agreements per requests from our customers.  As the parts are initially sold to my company I feel that we should be the importer of record on these.  As we would be the party who would get the benefit from the duty free opportunities if the parts qualify. […]

  • FTA’s

    Question: Is there any advantage to claiming an FTA where the duty/tax rate is 0%? We are being pushed to provide an FTA for a food item that is already duty free into the US. I read that an FTA can help protect intellectual property rights, but that seems to be a non-issue for food […]

  • USMCA certifications for inactive parts

    Question: If you are receiving 2024 USMCA requests for a part that you have stopped making in 2022 but still sent to your customer in 2023, can you qualify it for USMCA in 2024?  How about 2023?  Or is the last year you can qualify it for USMCA is 2022 since that is the last […]

  • FTA USE FOR IMPORT INTO MEXICO

    Question: Hi Everyone, If we clear a fabric from the Czech Republic into the United States for furtherance into Mexico, does this cancel any rulings of the free trade agreement between CZ, and MX? Will the customer still be able to use the free trade agreement for duty relief? It was suggested to me that […]

  • UK Chile Trade Agreement

    Question: Hello Folks: Is there a link where I can find the latest or existence of a UK-Chile Free Trade Agreement.  I emailed HMS UK and have not received a reply. Thank you. Answer 1: You can try to inquire the company HURRICANE COMMERCE and they will  bring you the latest cross-border trade and international […]

  • Charging Customers for Free Trade Agreement Certification

    Question: Do businesses in the manufacturing industry charge customers for Free Trade Agreement certification?  If so, do you charge all customers, or just a subset of customers, and what do you charge? Answer 1: We do not charge for FTA certificates, but then again, we are always behind with our certifications so I would be […]

  • US-Japan Trade Agreement Importer Statements

    Question: I’m just taken over as Global Import Manager in our company and have been reviewing some of the older documents, this time, in relation to imports from Japan. I’ve found blanket importer statements that were issued in 2020 (to carriers, for ALL items being imported from Japan from any supplier). I’m not too happy […]

  • USMCA or US Goods Returned?

    Question: Background: Company A (located in the US, related to Company B) Company B (located in Canada, related to Company A) Company C (located in the US, non-related third-party) Product Origin is US and qualifies for USMCA Issue:  Company A wants to sell finished goods to Company C; however, Company A does not have manufacturing/warehouse […]