Passages

The U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA) became effective on Jan. 1, 2004. At that time, more than 85% of two-way trade in consumer and industrial goods became duty free, and as of Jan. 1, 2015, all qualifying products are now duty free.

To take advantage of the benefits for U.S. goods under this agreement, exporters will need to understand how to determine that their goods are originating or qualify for preferential duty treatment under the U.S.-Chile FTA Rules of Origin. U.S. exporters whose products qualify may provide their Chilean customers considerable savings. To claim those preferential duty rates, the Chilean importer must provide written declaration that the goods qualify.

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The commercial export invoice is one of the most important documents in international trade and is reviewed by customs, freight forwarders, international bankers, and transport and insurance companies.

The invoice reflects the complete details evidencing fulfillment of the sales contract and provides necessary information for third parties, listed above, of the transaction.

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The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was created to ensure that goods traded among Canada, Mexico and the United States receive preferential tariff treatment. The NAFTA grants benefits and reduces tariffs only on goods that qualify under the NAFTA Rules of Origin.

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Ever since the the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was signed, I have received questions from exporters asking how the agreement works and how to qualify their products for preferential duty treatment under the agreement. I have compiled a list of the top 10 questions I have received and provided a short answer for each.

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The U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA) became effective on Jan. 1, 2004. At that time, more than 85 percent of two-way trade in consumer and industrial goods became duty free. In fact, as of Jan. 1, 2015, all qualifying products are now duty free.

To take advantage of the benefits for U.S. goods under this agreement, exporters will need to understand how to determine that their goods are originating or qualify for preferential duty treatment under the U.S.-Chile FTA Rules of Origin.

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The Central America-Dominican Republic-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) provides duty-free trade on most goods traded between the United States, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

My first article in this series provides some background about the agreement. My last article discussed how to declare that a good is originating. This final article in the series addresses the rules of origin.

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The Central America-Dominican Republic-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) provides duty-free trade on most goods traded between the United States, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In a previous article I provided some background about the agreement.

In order to get this preferential treatment, the importer is responsible for making the claim. The exact manner for doing so is determined by the individual signatory countries. While there is no specific certificate of origin form that must be used (unlike NAFTA), there is a commonly used version of the CAFTA-DR Certificate of Origin form, which you can download here.

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The Central America-Dominican Republic (CAFTA-DR) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) went into effect for the United States, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua in 2006. The Dominican Republic joined this monumental agreement in 2007, followed by Costa Rica in 2009.

CAFTA-DR is a historic and comprehensive free trade agreement that removed barriers to trade, eliminated tariffs, opened markets and promoted investment. By promoting economic growth, this cutting edge pact expanded U.S. opportunities in important regional markets.

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The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) provides preferential tariff treatment on goods originating in and traded among the three North American countries. The process for determining whether or not goods "originate" and therefore are eligible for duty-free entry depends on the Harmonized System (HS) number.

With USMCA, or any free trade agreement, using an incorrect classification number creates a domino effect.

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Exporters familiar with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the United States, Canada and Mexico (now USMCA) will recognize some aspects of the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement’s (FTA) Rules of Origin.

The Chile and U.S. FTA is largely modeled on the NAFTA. However, there are some important differences that require close attention.

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