Tariff Treatment Related to Disassembly Operations Under the North American Free Trade Agreement

Résumé

This document proposes to amend the Customs Regulations concerning the North American Free Trade Agreement (the NAFTA). Specifically, the proposed rule would allow components which are recovered from the disassembly of used goods in a NAFTA country to be entitled to NAFTA originating status when imported into the United States, provided that: The recovered components satisfy the applicable NAFTA rule of origin requirements; and if the applicable rule of origin does not include a regional value content requirement, the components are subject to further processing in the NAFTA country beyond certain minor operations. The proposed rule is intended to promote economic activity and the protection of the environment in North America, both of which are goals of the NAFTA. To this end, the recovery and recycling of used goods is a critical element in both the economic activity and the environmental goals of the nation, and disassembly for the recovery of used goods is a key process in many such recycling operations.