Basics by Free Trade Agreement: Bahrain
How can my product qualify to take advantage of the U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement?
Generally, to qualify for preferential tariff treatment under the U.S.-Bahrain FTA, a product must qualify as an “originating” good under the terms of the Agreement. This means that the product must have sufficient U.S. or Bahraini content or processing to meet the criteria of the Agreement. If goods contain only U.S. or Bahraini inputs (if you purchase inputs from a U.S. or Bahraini supplier you will need to confirm with the supplier that those goods qualify under the FTA), they qualify. If they contain some inputs from other countries, they still might qualify if they meet specific criteria set out in the FTA’s Rules of Origin. For most products, a good will qualify even if it contains inputs from other countries provided it is both (a) produced in Bahrain or the United States, and (b) when added together, the value of U.S. or Bahrain inputs and the direct cost of manufacturing in the United States and Bahrain equals at least 35 percent of the value of the goods. For textiles and apparel and a few other products (all of which are prepared food items), the 35 percent test is not applicable, and the rule instead is based on the tariff classification of the product. For these few products, there are product-specific rules that require the non-U.S./Bahraini inputs undergo a specified transformation through processing in the United States or Bahrain, the so-called tariff shift method. See the Rules of Origin section for more information.
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