Exporters must be ready to prove origin of goods to US Customs

President Donald Trump of the United States has imposed 'reciprocal tariffs' on imports from various countries.

- T N C RAJAGOPALAN

With this abandonment of the policy to impose the same tariffs on imports from most countries, nearly all governments, businesses, and economists are busy examining the short-and medium-term implications of this change. The executives at the operating levels are, however, grappling with a different question — how the US Customs will determine that the imported goods originate from a particular country.

Rules of origin (ROO) are used by most countries to implement measures such as dumping duties and anti-subsidy countervailing duties, and also to determine whether to charge normal or lower duties based on where the imported goods are produced. They are also used for purposes such as trade statistics, application of labelling and marking requirements, and government procurement. RoO in most countries are transparent and administered in a consistent, uniform, impartial, and reasonable manner.