USMCA Qualification Check

USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) is the trade agreement between the US, Mexico, and Canada that replaced NAFTA in 2020. Products that qualify under USMCA rules of origin receive preferential tariff treatment, often duty-free entry. Qualification depends on meeting Regional Value Content (RVC) thresholds and tariff shift rules specific to each product's HS code.

RVC measures the percentage of a product's value that originates in USMCA countries (US, Mexico, or Canada). There are two calculation methods: Transaction Value (TV) method, which uses the transaction price minus non-originating materials, and Net Cost (NC) method, which uses total cost minus excluded costs. Most products require 60-75% RVC depending on the industry and HS code.

Section 122 (the 10% broad-based tariff effective February 24, 2026) expired on July 24, 2026 when its 150-day statutory authority lapsed. In its place, a USTR Section 301 forced-labor action now applies a 10% or 12.5% tariff (varying by origin economy) to imports from 60 investigated economies, including Mexico and Canada. Products that actually qualify under USMCA rules of origin are exempt from this Section 301 tariff for goods from Mexico or Canada, but only when qualification is confirmed, not merely because a good was shipped from Mexico or Canada. For high-volume importers, this exemption can represent significant savings.

The automotive sector has the strictest rules, requiring 75% RVC for vehicles and key components. Textiles require yarn-forward rules (yarn must be spun in a USMCA country). Steel and aluminum have melt-and-pour requirements under Section 232. Agricultural products, chemicals, and electronics each have product-specific rules defined in the USMCA Annex.

CBP requires a USMCA Certificate of Origin (self-certification allowed), supporting documentation showing RVC calculation or tariff shift analysis, and records of component sourcing. Under USMCA, the importer, exporter, or producer can certify origin. Records must be kept for 5 years. CBP can verify claims through the foreign government or directly with the producer.

PASS means the rule of origin — Regional Value Content threshold or tariff-shift — was checked against your inputs and met. FAIL means it was checked and not met: a real, negative result, not the same thing as "unknown." "Broker Verification Required" is the third and different case — the applicable rule carries an exception this tool cannot confirm automatically from a bill of materials alone, so no verdict is given either way. All three are real outputs; the tool never collapses "not met" and "can't tell" into the same answer.

For wood furniture (HS 9403.60.80) built from $5,000 of US lumber, $2,000 of Mexican veneer, and $3,000 of Chinese metal hardware (HS 8302.42.30): the check confirmed USMCA qualification under General Note 11(o) — the non-originating (Chinese) component's HS code falls in a different tariff chapter than the finished good, satisfying the required change-in-chapter shift. Regional value content came to 70%. Preference criterion B. Keep the certificate and supporting records for 5 years per 19 CFR 163.4.

No — and that is deliberate. For a telecom component (HS 8517.79.00) built from $4,000 of Mexican PCB assembly, $3,000 of US housing, $2,500 of Chinese RF module, and $500 of Canadian connectors: regional value content came to 75%, but this HS code's rule of origin is a tariff shift, not an RVC threshold, and the rule carries an exception this tool cannot verify automatically from a bill of materials alone. Rather than guess, the result is "Broker Verification Required" — the 75% figure is shown as informational, not a verdict. A licensed customs broker must confirm the tariff-shift rule before you claim preference. Most real products land here, not on a flat pass/fail; the tool would rather tell you it does not know than tell you something wrong.