On July 22, 2020 the Canada Gazette published a series or orders and regulations to implement the Canada, United States, Mexico Agreement (CUSMA in Canada, USMCA in the United States and T-MEC in Mexico) which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement on July 1, 2020. The orders and regulations are [links are to the Canada Gazette, not individual regulations]
- Order Repealing Certain Orders Made Under the Customs Tariff (CUSMA) (SOR/2020-154, June 30, 2020)
- CUSMA Rules of Origin Regulations (SOR/2020-155, June 30, 2020)
- CUSMA Rules of Origin for Casual Goods Regulations (SOR/2020-156, June 30, 2020)
- CUSMA Tariff Preference Regulations (SOR/2020-157, June 30, 2020)
- Regulations Amending Certain Regulations and Orders Made Under the Customs Tariff (CUSMA) (SOR/2020-158 June 30, 2020)
- Order Repealing Certain Regulations and Orders Made Under the Customs Tariff (CUSMA) (SOR/2020-159, June 30, 2020)
- Order Designating the Minister for International Trade to be the Minister for the Purposes of that Act (SI/2020-54, July 22, 2020) [i.e. Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement Implementation Act]
In Canada, the CUSMA Rules of Origin Regulations implement the “Uniform Regulations Regarding the Interpretation, Application, and Administration of Chapter 4 (Rules of Origin) and Chapter 6 (Textiles and Apparel Goods),” a trilaterally negotiated document that includes all of the rules of origin negotiated in the CUSMA, as well as additional details to ensure that the rules of origin are uniformly interpreted and applied in Canada, the United States and Mexico. These regulations establish the conditions under which goods are considered as originating from a CUSMA country and therefore entitled to the relevant CUSMA tariff preferences upon their importation into Canada.
The CUSMA Rules of Origin for Casual Goods Regulations replace the NAFTA Rules of Origin for Casual Goods Regulations. These regulations establish that noncommercial goods acquired in another CUSMA country that are either marked as made in a CUSMA country or not marked to the contrary, are considered originating and therefore entitled to the relevant CUSMA tariff preferences upon their importation into Canada.
The CUSMA Tariff Preference Regulations link CUSMA originating goods to their entitlement to the preferential tariff treatment of the CUSMA. For goods where production took place in more than one country, the preferential tariff treatment is based on the last CUSMA country where production occurred. The regulations also establish entitlement to preferential tariff for originating goods that are not shipped directly from another CUSMA country to Canada, provided the goods remain under customs control while in transit. These regulations replace the NAFTA Tariff Preference Regulations.
The Regulations Amending Certain Regulations and Orders Made Under the Customs Tariff (CUSMA) amend several regulations and orders, made under the Customs Tariff, to replace references to the NAFTA with references to the CUSMA.
The Order Repealing Certain Regulations and Orders Made Under the Customs Tariff (CUSMA) and the Order Repealing Certain Orders Made Under the Customs Tariff (CUSMA) repeal a number of Customs Tariff orders and regulations that are obsolete once the CUSMA supersedes the NAFTA.
