Andrea M. Ewart, Esq.
DevelopTradeLaw, LLC
www.developtradelaw.com
May, 2014
Overview
 What is CBI?
 What are the benefits of CBI?
 Are my products eligible for CBI?
 How do I get my products into the US under
CBI?
 Challenges
Q & A
What is CBI?
 Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA)
 Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA)
 Dominican Republic-U.S.-Central American Free Trade
Agreement (DR-CAFTA)
 Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership
Encouragement (HOPE) Acts I &II
 Haiti Economic Lift Program (HELP) Act
Benefits of CBI to Barbados
 US unilateral trade preference program for the region
 5700 tariff lines receive duty-free or reduced-duty
entry into the US on non-reciprocal basis
 Excluded goods - textiles/apparel, leather, canned tuna,
petroleum and derivatives, footwear, watches/parts;
agricultural goods exceeding tariff-rate quota (TRQ)
 Permanent – no expiry date or graduation criteria
 (subject to WTO waiver)
Benefits of CBI to Barbados
 Barbados is also a beneficiary of CBPTA:
 duty-free entry of qualifying cotton, wool, and
manmade-fiber apparel classified in HTS chapters 61
and 62
 duty-free entry for textile luggage assembled from U.S.
fabrics made of U.S. yarns.
 NAFTA treatment for other products excluded from
CBERA, including petroleum and petroleum products,
certain tuna, certain footwear, and certain watches and
watch parts
Benefits of CBI to Barbados
 Exemption from Merchandise
Processing Fee (MPF)
 Tax relief
 Attract FDI to take advantage of
preferential treatment
 Regular consultations with US
President
Is my product eligible?
 Any product that meets U.S. laws can enter
the U.S. market
 It may also be eligible for duty-free entry:
 Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)*
 Most Favored Nation (MFN)
 CBI
Is my product eligible for CBI?
1.
Country Eligibility
 US President designates according to criteria specified
by US Congress
2.
Product Eligibility
 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS), General Notes 7 & 17
Is my product eligible for CBI?
 Product Eligibility Criteria
CBI RULES OF ORIGIN
 Wholly grown, produced or manufactured in-country
AND
 Imported directly into the U.S.
Is my product eligible for CBI?
Product Eligibility Criteria
CBI RULES OF ORIGIN
 Substantial Transformation
AND
 Regional Value Content
AND
 Imported directly into the U.S.
Is my product eligible for CBI?
 Substantial Transformation:
Inputs NOT wholly grown, produced or manufactured in
any CBERA country must be substantially transformed,
creating a new or different product
(new tariff sub-heading)
That new product must then be incorporated into a
finished good.
Is my product eligible for CBI?
 Regional Value Content:
Value of materials produced in any CBERA (current or
former) country/Puerto Rico, USVI
+
direct processing costs in any CBERA country (including
up to 15% in US)
– (combining/packing/dilution)
=/> 35% of value of good at time of entry into the U.S.
Is my product eligible for CBI?
 To encourage production sharing between Puerto Rico and
CBERA countries:
 allows duty-free entry for goods produced in Puerto Rico
that are “by any means advanced in value or improved in
condition” in a CBERA country;
 materials added to Puerto Rican articles must be of U.S. or
CBERA-country origin;
 final product must be imported directly into the U.S.
Is my product eligible for CBI?
Product Eligibility Criteria
CBI RULES OF ORIGIN
DISCUSSION
Getting my product in free
 Product Eligibility Criteria
 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS)
Online Reference Tool -- http://hts.usitc.gov/
 General Rate = duty rate for MFN trade partners
 Special Rates = preferential rates for FTA or developing
country trade partners
 E, E* = eligible for entry under CBERA
 R = eligible for entry under CBTPA
 A = GSP eligible
Getting my product in free: Rum
Getting my product in free: apparatus
Getting my product in free
Claimed at time of entry
Proof of Country of Origin
Certificate of Origin
Doing It Right
 Importers are legally required to:
 Have complete invoice , including accurate description and value
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of product
Correctly classify goods
Correctly value the goods
If eligible, claim CBI status at time of entry
Pay the correct duties
Correctly and clearly identify the country of origin
Properly package and mark or label
Comply with entry requirements for the relevant agencies
Prepare and keep ALL supporting documentation
Stay in touch
DevelopTradeLaw, LLC
Andrea M. Ewart, Esq.
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.developtradelaw.com
Facebook:
Twitter: @developtradelaw
Doing It Right
 US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) also enforces the
entry requirements of numerous other agencies:
 Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
Food Safety Modernization Act
http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/ucm361902.htm
 US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
 US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO)
 CBP Informed Compliance Requirements --
http://cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/trade/legal/informed_co
mpliance_pubs/icp021.ctt/icp021.pdf
CHALLENGES
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CBI is underutilized!
Lack of awareness
Rules of origin
SPS requirements
Service-focused economies
Supply-side constraints
 Inadequate infrastructure
 High energy & production costs
 Inadequate access to financing
 Small vulnerable economies
 Changes in US policy
SOLUTIONS
 Activities to increase awareness of CBI benefits
 Barbados private sector
 Foreign investors
 Active engagement with United States
 USITC reports
 TIFA & TIC
 Address supply-side constraints