29 July 2008

[US] Customs revamping rules for import country of origin

This article is excerpted from the 29 July 2008 edition of “The Journal of Commerce”.

[US] Customs and Border Protection has proposed rules to standardize country of origin determinations for imported goods.

The proposed rule change would apply country-of-origin rules for the North American Free Trade Agreement to all imports. The change would eliminate the doctrine of “substantial transformation” in which Customs determines if enough processing or manufacturing has been done on a product to cause a shift in tariff classification.

Customs tried unsuccessfully to implement a similar rule in 1994….

The deadline for comments is Sept. 23.