13/06/2023
Although Mexico, as a member of the United States, Mexico, and Canada free trade Agreement (USMCA), has the benefit of not paying export tariffs when selling products to the United States, in the nearshoring vs offshoring context, the United States has commercial taxes that are considered between the lowest ones in the world.
United States uses the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) to calculate the import tariff amounts. The tariffs are calculated “ad valorem” based on the product’s cost, insurance, and freight (the mean for CIF methods). When calculating “ad valorem” tariffs, the result is a percentage of the value of the goods.
Considering that USA uses the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS Codes), we can explain them: HTS Codes includes additional digits compared with HS (Harmonized System) Codes, a group of 6 or more (according to the specific country) standardized numbers which categorize merchandises in a common international system for identifying commercial goods.
Different merchandises receive an assigned tariff code based on their nature, type, and function. The principle applies to the taxes and duties the importer or exporter must pay.
HS Codes or tariff codes are important due to the volume of goods being transported worldwide and the different names that each product receives in different countries.
Using HTS Codes, the United States adds more digits to the assigned numbers for different products. An HTS Code can include seven or even ten digits. The first two additional digits identify the custom tariffs for imported goods, the last digits are used for statistics.
Calculating import tariffs for the USA
For calculating the tariffs to pay when selling to the United States, it’s necessary to know the HTS Code for the goods because it will be multiplied per the shipment value to obtain the amount.
Generally, the USA applies a 3.5% tariff calculated with the total value of the shipments for charging importing goods. Still, this rate can be less, depending on the articles that are being imported.
The nearshoring vs offshoring dynamic has not changed the commercial rate rules when selling to the United States of America. Still, the benefits for enterprises of many countries that take their manufacturing processes to Mexico are obvious if we consider they’ll not pay, or at least they’ll reduce their tariff payments. Frontier Industrial offers these enterprises, and many others, industrial land for sale and industrial buildings for lease, in case they want to relocate production processes or start operations in Mexico. Contact us and see availability to develop your project in the main industrial areas of Mexico.
