Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA)
CUSMA, also known as the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, is a free trade agreement that replaced NAFTA in July 2020. CUSMA provides preferential, duty-free treatment on specific goods that meet the rules of origin, determining the extent of North American production required for a product to be considered.
How to Check if Your Item Qualifies
You can determine if your product qualifies under CUSMA by:
- Looking up your 10 digit HTS Code (Harmonized Tariff Schedule) on the official US site here
- Check the Special Rate column — if you see “S” or “S+”, your product may qualify for CUSMA duty-free treatment.
If a product is U.S.-origin and is coming back into the U.S., it’s not an import from another country’s origin and therefore duties would be applicable based on the 10 digit HTS code and its respective base duty rate. Blanket tariffs will not apply. CUSMA would not apply as only country of origin Canada and Mexico would qualify for CUSMA when shipping to the US.
How to submit CUSMA certification
To access preferential, duty-free treatment on CUSMA eligible items, you'll need to submit the required details through your Chit Chats account. This must be done for each eligible SKU. Once your submission is approved, you'll receive an email notification, and the preferential duty-free rates will automatically appear when you purchase DDP postage for that SKU. Currently approval may take up to 72 hours, though this timeline may change as we continue to roll out and improve the new system.
If any information (incorrect HTS classification, missing information) provided is incorrect this could cause delays.
Please watch this step by step tutorial for more information on how to submit your CUSMA Certification:
Additional Fees
Even if the item is duty free under CUSMA there still may be:
- tariff (reciprocal tariffs may still apply depending on the item)
- merchandise processing fee
- shipment item fee