NAFTANorth America Free Trade Agreements

Information on the North America Free Trade Agreement and how it affects U.S. exports. This information is taken from "A Basic Guide to Exporting" provided by the U.S. Commercial Service to assist U.S. companies in exporting. Last Published: 10/20/2016

​The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), negotiated among the United States, Mexico, and Canada, came into effect on January 1, 1994. It provided for the elimination of tariffs on most goods originating in the three countries over a maximum transition period of 15 years. For more information on all aspects of NAFTA, please contact your local U.S. Commercial Service office.

• Goods wholly obtained or produced entirely in the NAFTA region
• Goods meeting a specific Annex 401 origin rule
• Goods produced entirely in the NAFTA region, exclusively from originating materials
• Unassembled goods and goods whose content does not meet the Annex 401 rule of origin but contains NAFTA regional value of 60 percent according to the transaction value method or 50 percent according to the net-cost method