Determining the country of origin of imported articles has become increasingly important in recent years. There has long been a requirement that imported articles be marked with the name of the country of origin. Country of origin also determines eligibility for special duties or free trade agreements.
The USMCA recently went into effect on July 1, 2020, which ended the twenty-six years reign of NAFTA. A major focus of the new agreement was to update the regulations relating to the automotive sector.
The new agreement is similar to NAFTA in many respects, and the commitments that pertain specifically to machinery, equipment and computers in Chapter 84 have not changed very much, with the exception of the rules of origin calculations for motor vehicles and parts, which impacts several categories of goods in Chapter 84.
The enactment of the “United States Mexico Canada Trade Agreement” (“USMCA”) on July 1st, 2020, heralded the first new tri-lateral trade agreement since the enactment of its predecessor, NAFTA in 1994.
On July 14, 2020, President Trump issued an executive order (EO) that stripped Hong Kong of its different and preferential treatment from mainland People’s Republic of China (PRC or China). In accordance with the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, the city of Hong Kong’s sovereignty was handed over to mainland China from the U.K. in 1997, but as an autonomous city with a largely separate legal and economic system from mainland China.
To a certain extent, it goes without saying that the pandemic has certainly opened the door for PPE opportunity, and at the same time, obviously, those who would choose to simply try and take advantage of the situation. I’m not talking about price gouging, although that has certainly happened (as always) in abundance.
The United-States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”) is currently slated to take effect beginning on July 1, 2020. A review of the text of the USMCA reveals that USMCA retains many elements of the North American Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”), while displacing others with new or enhanced rules.
At the time of this writing, it’s not exactly another day in paradise, over 103,000 Americans are no longer with us, there are an estimated 1,500,000 confirmed U.S. cases of the coronavirus, and I am also ballparking at 40,000,000+ unemployment claims filed at the time of this writing, because just two weeks ago it was at 36,500,000.
The USMCA is about to kick into full force on July 1st. Is your chemical company ready? Overall, if you’ve been issuing NAFTA certificates in the past and are already familiar with that process, you might be surprised to find that the USMCA process might allow for more of your goods to qualify than NAFTA did
USMCA (T-MEC as it is formally called in Mexico) will enter into force on July 1, 2020. At least this is what the government of the Party members, the United States, Mexico and Canada have announced. In this case, operations occurring after this date will no longer be covered by NAFTA as this treaty will be terminated and consequently replaced by the USMCA.
