United States - Mexico - Canada Trade Agreement

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) has replaced NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) on July 1, 2020.

The new Agreement has several names:

  • USMCA (US-Mexico-Canada Agreement)
  • CUSMA (Canada-US-Mexico Agreement)
  • ACEUM (Accord Canada-Etats-Unis-Mexique)
  • T-MEC (Tratado entre Mexico, Estados Unidos y Canada)

USMCA has specific rules of origin that apply to each good, which are not always the same rules that applied under NAFTA. In addition, USMCA replaced the NAFTA Certificate of Origin with a USMCA certification of origin. Therefore, for shipments entered into commerce on or after July 1, 2020, an importer should ensure that it has confirmed that its goods meet the relevant USMCA rules of origin and that it has a sufficient USMCA certification of origin in its possession, as well as all required back-up documentation to support preferential treatment claims. The USMCA certification of origin may be completed by the importer, exporter, or producer of the goods, and may be in any form/format as long as it contains 9 minimum data elements, as outlined below:

  • Which party is making the certification (importer, exporter, or producer)
  • Certifier details: name, title, address, phone#, email
  • Exporter details: name, address, email, phone#
  • Producer details: name, address, email, phone#
  • Importer details: name, address, email, phone#
  • Description and HTSUS# (to, at least, the 6-digit level)
  • Origin Criteria
  • Blanket period (if applicable)
  • Signature and date, including the following statement: “I certify that the goods described in this document qualify as originating, and the information contained in this document is true and accurate. I assume responsibility for proving such representations, and agree to maintain and present upon request or to make available during a verification visit, documentation necessary to support this certification.”

Prior to completing the certification, you must ensure that your goods qualify for preferential treatment under the applicable USMCA rules of origin.  Commodity-specific rules of origin may be found in the text of the agreement, here:

UPS has created a sample of what can be used as a USMCA certification of origin (i.e., the USMCA certification of origin form) that contains fields for the above-named data elements, and is available here.

This certification should be completed for each shipment and included with your other shipping documents. A printed copy of the new form may be attached to the shipment or attached electronically using the ‘Upload My Forms’ feature for ups.com shipping or through WorldShip.

  • The ‘Upload My Forms’ capabilities may be enabled by enrolling in Paperless Invoice on ups.com. 
  • On ups.com, the USMCA certification of origin form will be available during shipment processing for your completion.
  • For WorldShip, the form may be accessed through the International Forms Library.
  • For other shipping applications, please contact your vendor for the new processes

Alternatively, you may complete a blanket certification, which will cover all shipments of goods that you confirm qualify for preferential treatment under the USMCA rules of origin up to 1 year.  If you opt to utilize a blanket certification, please follow these instructions to ensure your brokerage representative receives it:

For goods under a certain low value threshold (subject to certain exemptions), a certification of origin with the nine data elements is not required; however, a written representation certifying that the good(s) qualifies as an USMCA originating good(s) (such as “I hereby certify that the good covered by this shipment qualifies as an originating good for the purposes of preferential tariff treatment under the USMCA”) must still be provided and it is still your responsibility to confirm that the relevant goods qualify for USMCA preferential treatment under the USMCA rules of origin (and maintain all necessary back-up origin verification documentation). Low value thresholds for each country are:

  • US$ 1,000 for goods destined to Mexico from Canada or US
  • US$ 2,500 for goods destined to US from Canada or Mexico
  • CAD$ 3,300 for goods destined to Canada from US or Mexico

Please note that if the relevant government agency of the importing USMCA party (e.g., U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the United States) determines that an importation under one of these thresholds is part of a series of importations carried out or planned for purposes of evading compliance with preference requirements, the importer may be required to submit a certification of origin. 

Note:

UPS provides customers with this general information in an effort to help them better understand USMCA. This information, however, including the USMCA certification of origin form and any other USMCA information, is for informational purposes only. Neither the certification of origin nor the USMCA information constitutes legal advice.  In addition, you, the customer, agree that it is your responsibility to confirm – and that you have confirmed – that all merchandise for which you claim USMCA preferential treatment and/or that you identify on the USMCA certification of origin form meets all of the applicable USMCA rules of origin for that merchandise (e.g., tariff shift, regional value content, steel and aluminum content, labor value content, etc.) and any other applicable USMCA requirement.