The FTA Opportunity

Free trade agreements (USMCA, CPTPP, EU-Korea, RCEP, etc.) offer reduced or zero duty rates on qualifying goods. The catch: qualifying requires proving that the product meets specific rules of origin — typically a combination of tariff shift, regional value content, and process requirements.

The complexity is staggering. USMCA alone has product-specific rules of origin that fill hundreds of pages. For a manufactured product, qualification may require:

• Tracing material sourcing back 2-3 tiers to determine origin
• Calculating regional value content using either the transaction-value or net-cost method
• Documenting tariff shifts for every non-originating material
• Maintaining supplier certifications that are valid and current

Most companies attempt FTA qualification for their highest-volume products and ignore the rest. AI changes the economics by making qualification analysis scalable.