Free Trade Agreements

Questions and answers about Free Trade Agreements

  • ASEAN FREE TRADE

    QUESTION: If China is exporting to a member of the ASEAN group, and the importer wants to take advantage of the Free Trade, is there a requirement for a certificate from the exporter to the importer for validation? (Think USMCA cert) Does anyone have a copy of such? =========== Answers: I would suggest looking at […]

  • FTA recordkeeping

    QUESTION: Our company has requests for FTA’s in multiple countries. In the past we have chosen not to provide but we are receiving increasing pushback from customers and sales due to the customs costs on high value shipments. While we know that our product qualifies and is US origin I am curious if others face […]

  • HTS NOT IDENTIFIED IN FTA For ISRAEL

    QUESTION: I have a product when I looked up the rule of origin the HTS was not identified. If anyone has any experience with the Israel FTA can you help me how to proceed with determining the rule of origin appropriate for this circumstance. I’ve never encountered this circumstance before and would sincerely appreciate guidance […]

  • CHILE-US FTA RETURN FOR REPAIRS

    QUESTION: I understand Article 3.9 (Goods Re-entered after Repair or Alteration) under the US-CHILE FTA, provides in part that “Neither Party may apply a customs duty to a good, regardless of its origin, admitted temporarily from the territory of the other Party for repair or alteration.”  However,  19 CFR Part 10 Subpart H, section 10.490, […]

  • 2022 WCO HTS updates and FTA certificates

    QUESTION: We are in the middle of our annual FTA solicitation cycle. The certificates we have gathered so far have been according to the “old” Harmonized Tariff schedule, not according the 2022 WCO updates. Does anyone know if we need to get new/updated certificates that reflect the 2022 HTS updates? The changes do affect our […]

  • Claiming preference treatment under US Korea FTA

    QUESTION: We import from a South Korean supplier who has issued an FTA as we are the importer and thus the product is duty free. We have an entity in Canada that imports the exact same commodity and the product is duty free entering Canada under the importing tariff code.  We had an intercompany purchase […]

  • US-Peru FTA Tariff shift for HS Code Subheading 3824.99

    QUESTION: I am looking at the RoO for product imported into the US or Peru for Subheading 3824.99 but the Peru FTA text does not cover the Subheading.  It only goes up to 3824.90. Here is the language from the USTR website for the US Peru FTA –  Annex – Product Specific Rules Chapter 38 […]

  • Multiple suppliers for the same SKU ::: outbound labeling, tracking and FTA application

    OT Fact Sheet: Origin Certification Requirements QUESTION: Brainstorming here.  In effort to mitigate risk, we are looking to multi-source certain critical SKU’s.  The critical SKU’s could either be imported from multiple different countries or potentially be manufactured in the US. We need to capture the specific country of origin and pricing from each supplier for […]

  • US TO PERU FTA CERTS

    OT Fact Sheet: Origin Certification Requirements QUESTION: We regularly issue FTA certs to our Peruvian branch and as of late they have pushed back on the Producer information for purchased parts. We state, as I believe many companies do, “AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST TO THE CUSTOMS AUTHORITIES.” The broker in Peru is insistent that the name/address/etc. […]

  • US – KOREA TRADE PROGRAM

    QUESTION: We have a Korean customer who has us ship product to their USA subsidiary and they export to their company in Korea. For these items of concern we are not the manufacturer or exporter/importer. Also, we do not want to disclose our supplier information as it is proprietary. For each of these shipments outlined […]

  • FTA HTS NOT IDENTIFIED IN ORIGIN RULES

    QUESTION: I would like to understand how trade manages situations when FTA text does not provide rules of origin for certain tariff classifications.  For example, in the US/Morocco FTA text, it jumps from Chapter 13 tariff to Chapter 20 tariff.  What if I have an item that is classified in Chapter 18 or 19?  How […]

  • Answers to Question on Costa Rica – China FTA

    QUESTION: I’ve never seen a rule such as this in the Costa Rica – China FTA. “No change in tariff classification is required, provided that there is a Regional Value Content of not less than 50%.”  Does this mean if I can tariff shift my product, I can avoid RVC?  Or I can only perform […]