The USMCA (the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) offers a zero tariff rate on thousands of products traded among the three countries. But the benefit is not automatic: you must demonstrate that the goods qualify under the agreement's rules of origin, and the instrument for that is the certification of origin.
Without the right certification, your product pays duty as if the agreement did not exist. That is money lost on every shipment.
What a rule of origin is and why it matters
USMCA rules of origin define how much regional content (from Mexico, the U.S. or Canada) a product must carry to count as originating in the region. The rules vary by tariff code and by industry.
There are three main mechanisms:
Tariff shift: the finished product carries a different tariff classification than its imported inputs. That demonstrates sufficient transformation inside the region.
Regional value content (RVC): a minimum percentage of the product's value must come from the region. In some sectors the threshold is 60%, in others 75% (notably automotive).
Sector-specific criteria: sectors like textiles, steel and automotive carry additional, highly detailed rules.
Determining which rule applies to your product takes code-by-code analysis. A mistake here can invalidate the entire certification.
The USMCA certification: format and content
The USMCA simplified things relative to NAFTA: no official form is required. Any written document can serve as the certification of origin as long as it contains the nine required data elements:
The origin criteria are coded by letter: A (wholly obtained), B (produced exclusively from originating materials), C (satisfies the product-specific rule of origin), D (non-originating goods meeting minimum content).
Who certifies: exporter, producer or importer
Under the USMCA, any of the three parties can issue the certification:
The exporter or producer: the most common option. The supplier prepares the certification and hands it to the importer. Getting it right is the supplier's responsibility.
The importer: in some cases the importer has better access to origin information (for example, when it buys components directly and assembles in Mexico). The importer can certify based on its own knowledge of the materials.
Whoever certifies, both parties can be subject to an origin verification.
What happens when the certification is wrong
If customs authorities determine that a certification of origin is incorrect or fraudulent, the consequences are serious:
An origin verification can be opened up to five years after clearance. That is why keeping the full support file (material invoices, production records, RVC analysis) through that period is essential.
The practical recommendation
If you export and certify routinely, run an origin analysis at the start of each year or whenever your material suppliers change. One analysis can cover every shipment in the blanket period and prevent errors that would otherwise repeat for months unnoticed.
Logwell offers USMCA origin eligibility analysis as part of its advisory service. If you are unsure whether your product qualifies or how to complete the certification correctly, contact us before your next shipment.
Sources and references
About the author
Logwell Team
Advisory Practice
Logwell's advisory practice brings together licensed customs brokers and USMCA rules-of-origin specialists with more than 15 years managing operations across the Mexico-U.S.-Canada corridor.
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