North American Free Trade Agreement Between the Government of the United ...

Tariff Elimination

Except as otherwise provided in a Party's Schedule, the following staging categories apply to the elimination of customs duties by each Party pursuant to Article 302(2):

A. duties on goods provided for in the items in staging category A in a Party's Schedule shall be eliminated entirely and such goods shall be duty-free, effective January 1, 1994;

duties on goods provided for in the items in staging category B in a Party's Schedule shall be removed in five equal annual stages beginning on January 1, 1994, and such goods shall be duty-free, effective January 1, 1998;

duties on goods provided for in the items in staging
category C in a Party's Schedule shall be removed in ten
equal annual stages beginning on January 1, 1994, and
such goods shall be duty-free, effective January 1,
2003;

goods provided for in the items in staging category D in a Party's Schedule shall continue to receive duty-free treatment;

duties on textile and apparel goods listed in Appendix 300-B.1.1. provided for in the items in staging category Bl in a Party's Schedule shall be removed in six equal annual stages beginning on January 1, 1994, and such goods shall be duty-free, effective January 1, 1999;

duties on textile and apparel goods listed in Appendix 300-B.1.1 and Canadian tariff items 3902.1000 and 6403.5900 provided for in the items in staging category B+ in a Party's Schedule shall be reduced by the following percentages of the base rates, beginning on January 1, 1994, and such goods shall be duty-free, effective January 1, 2001

2. Tariff rate quotas apply to the goods listed in Annex
703.3. (a), as per Article 703. Imports exceeding the quota
level are subject to the MFN rate. Initial quota levels
will increase 5 per cent per annum until January 1, 2003
at which time the quotas will be eliminated and the
goods shall be duty-free.

3. Duties on goods listed in Appendix 703.2.B.7 (Dairy,
Poultry and Egg Goods) provided for in the items noted
"*" are exempt from tariff elimination provisions, as
per Article 703 and Annex 703.2.B.7.

4. Duties on goods listed in Annex 703.2.C. (a) (Sugar or syrup goods) provided for in the items noted

"Sug" are not subject to phased reduction, as per

Article 703 and Annex 703.2.B.12.

5. The base rate for tariff elimination for agricultural goods as defined in Article 708, for which B phasing applies, is the Canadian tariff under the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement as of January 1, 1993 with the exception of the following items 1515.30.90, 1702.90.60, 1806.20.90, 1806.31.00, 1806.32.00, 1806.90.00 and 1905.90.39 where the General Preferential Tariff is the base rate.

6. Pursuant to Annex 302.2.6.(a), a rate in Column II is noted with "**" when the GPT rate replaces the FTA rate in any stage of reduction.