Free Trade Agreements: Criteria Defined

The United States has entered into free trade agreements (FTAs) with 20 countries to encourage trade by providing reduced tariffs or eliminating them altogether. To qualify for an FTA, the goods must be grown or mined in one of the partner countries, or the goods must satisfy the rules of origin set out in the FTA.

Most FTAs have three to five criteria that can be used to qualify your goods. When creating your international paperwork, you will need to provide a certificate of origin that specifies the criteria used to qualify for the FTA.

Origin Criteria

The chart below shows the most common United States FTAs and the criteria used for qualifying goods. When completing the FTA certificate of origin, use the Preference/Origin Criteria to indicate how your goods qualify for the FTA.

Other Criteria/Producer/Country of Origin

Some FTAs require other criteria, such as whether you are using the Regional Value Content or Net Cost method to calculate whether your goods qualify. Some require you to state whether you are the producer, and most require you to state the country of origin of your goods. The chart below defines these fields, which you should include on your FTA certificate of origin.

Using Shipping Solutions to Create FTA Certificates of Origin

Shipping Solutions export documentation and compliance software includes all of the FTA certificates of origin shown in the charts above. You can quickly and easily create the certificates of origin along with all your other export paperwork. The Preference Criteria and other fields can be stored on the Databases tab, Product screen, Free Trade Agreements tab, or they can be pulled in from your ERP system with the rest of your Shipment Data using the Shipping Solutions Data Exchange Manager. Let us show you how it works—sign up now for a free demo. 

Learn More

• Read Free Trade Agreement Enhancements in Shipping Solutions and watch Creating a USMCA and Other Free Trade Agreement Certificates of Origin to see how to use Shipping Solutions to create FTA certificates of origin.
• Download the free whitepaper, How to Qualify for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
• This full-day webinar explains the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

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