Canada United States Mexico Agreement (CUSMA)

CUSMA is scheduled to come into effect on July 1, 2020, replacing the 26-year old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This updated agreement takes into account the technological advancements of trade as well as the recent shift to e-commerce.

Key features of the new CUSMA Agreement include:

• Changes to format of Certificate of origin, as well as who can complete the certificate;

- Exporter, producer or importer can complete the Certificate of Origin

• Updated Rules of Origin, Regional Value Content and a new Labor Value Content Rule in the automotive sector;

-40% of value of a passenger car (45% of a light truck) be made of materials, parts and labour (including final assembly) produced or carried out by workers in a plant where the average hourly wage is at least US$16.

• De Minims threshold increased to $150 CAD for duties;

- De Minims thresholds for express courier import shipments of C$150 for 
duties and C$40 for taxes.

• More Robust Intellectual Property provisions;

- Removes a provision on the availability of patents for new uses, new methods or new processes of using a known product, as well as a provision on data protection for “new indications” of existing drugs, and
- Includes additional language on an exception related to regulatory reviews, and new language on how parties may meet obligations dealing with patent-term restoration, patent linkage and data protection for small molecule drugs.

If you have any questions, please contact our DSV Compliance Team first at: compliancecanada@ca.dsv.com or your local DSV representative. 

For further information, please visit: 

 The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement: What importers need to know

 A New Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement