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Free Trade Agreements
Summary of the U.S. - Jordan Free Trade Agreement
**The information presented on this website is meant to serve as a guide.
Only the agreement text and the customs regulations issued to implement the agreement
are definitive. For complex issues or where interpretation is required, U.S. exporters should seek legal assistance or an advanced ruling from the customs administration in the country to which they are exporting.**
If you have any questions about this Agreement, please contact Maria D'Andrea-Yothers
at the U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Textiles and Apparel at 202-482-1550 or by email.
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Status: Entered into force on December 17, 2001
How U.S. Textile and Apparel Companies Benefit
The U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement (USJFTA) entered into force on December 17, 2001. Duties and commercial barriers to bilateral trade in goods and services originating in the United States and Jordan have been eliminated. The FTA also obliges Jordan to adopt stronger protection and enforcement provisions for copyrights, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets. These changes, among others, provide U.S. and Jordanian businesses with a market base that is more accessible and easier to navigate.
Tariff Elimination
Under the USJFTA, all textile, apparel, footwear, and travel goods traded between the U.S. and Jordan is duty-free, provided that such goods meet the Agreement's rules of origin. Duty-free status and tariff staging are listed by HTS number in the Jordanian FTA tariff schedule. Each line item in the Jordanian FTA tariff schedule is assigned a letter code that indicates the staging by which the duty for each product was eliminated. See Annex 2.1 (Tariff Elimination) of the USJFTA for more details. Duty elimination for qualifying Jordanian products imported into the United States may be found in the U.S. FTA Tariff Schedule.
Also see ITA's FTA Tariff Tool to determine current and future tariffs for qualifying products, as well as the date on which products are duty-free.
Qualifying Products/Rules of Origin
In order to take advantage of the duty elimination, products must qualify as "originating" goods under the terms of the agreement. In general, the product must have sufficient U.S. or Jordanian content or processing to meet the criteria. The FTA's rules of origin are not substantially different from standard rules of origin.
For U.S. goods to qualify for duty-free treatment in the Jordanian market, they must satisfy the following requirements:
- Goods must be made entirely in the United States
- If any third-country materials are used, they must be "substantially transformed" by manufacturing or processing into a U.S. product
- Goods must contain at least 35% U.S. content. (Note: If this product also has Jordanian content, up to 15% of the Jordanian content can count toward the requirement of 35% US content.)
- Goods must be imported into Jordan directly from the United States
For more details on these provisions, see Annex 2.2 (Rules of Origin) of the U.S.-Jordan FTA. Also, contact the U.S. Commercial Service in Jordan for help determining whether your product meets this requirement.
For information on the FTA rules of origin specific to importing into the United States, see the U.S. Customs and Border Protection presentation--Agreements and Preference Programs NOT Based on Tariff Shift Rules.
Documentation Requirements
The documentation requirements for goods shipped under the FTA are identical to requirements for goods shipped outside the Free Trade Agreement.
For shipments to Jordan, exporters are required to provide:
- Maritime or air bill of lading.
- Commercial invoice indicating value, weight, freight and insurance charges etc. Invoices should be notarized by the Jordanian embassy or consulate in the U.S. Certification by the local chamber of commerce is sufficient in cases where a Jordanian consulate is not available.
- A notarized certificate of origin issued by the relevant authority, usually a chamber of commerce, in the exporter's local area.
- Value declaration form for shipments exceeding JD 2,000 ($2,820).
Invoices do not have to be written in Arabic, but if an invoice is written in English or another language, the importer is required to provide an Arabic translation. Typically, this is done in handwriting on the actual invoice. The U.S. Commercial Service in Jordan can provide translation services.
Commercial invoices for all shipments from the United States must bear a notarized affidavit:
I, (name, title, and name of company), hereby swear that the prices stated in this invoice are the current export market prices for the merchandise described, that the products being shipped are of U.S. origin, and that they have been manufactured in the United States. I accept full responsibility for any inaccuracies therein. (Signature) [If the products being shipped contain any foreign components, the country of origin and percentage of foreign content in the goods must be indicated on the invoice.]
For information on common export documents, such as transportation documents, export compliance documents, certificates of origin, certificates for shipments of specific goods, temporary shipment documents, and other export-related documents, see the Export.gov webpage on Common Export Documents.
Measures to Prevent Circumvention of the Agreement’s Rule of Origin
Information not available
Measures to Prevent Serious Damage, or Actual Threat Thereof, to the Domestic Industry
Provision no longer applies.
Intellectual Property Rights:
The FTA incorporates the most up-to-date international standards for copyright protection. Under the FTA, Jordan is obligated to adopt stronger protection and enforcement provisions for copyrights, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets. For more details see Article 4: Intellectual Property Rights of the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement and also the Memorandum of Understanding on Issues Related to the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights.
Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ):
In 1996, the U.S. Congress established the Qualifying Industrial Zone (QIZ) initiative to support the peace process in the Middle East. The QIZ initiative allows Egypt and Jordan to export products to the United States duty-free, as long as these products contain inputs from Israel. The QIZ legislation authorizes the President to proclaim elimination of duties on articles produced in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and qualifying industrial zones in Jordan and Egypt. In order to obtain duty-free access to the U.S. market under the initiative, the goods must be produced in designated QIZ factories and meet specific rules of origin requirements.
The QIZ initiative for Jordan can provide a comparative advantage for certain products over those entered into the United States under the FTA as the rule of origin under the QIZ initiative requires a lower level of Jordanian inputs. See the web page on QIZs for more information.
Additional Resources
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's Jordan FTA webpage
U.S. Commercial Service in Jordan FTA webpage
Jordanian Embassy - Washington FTA webpage
Jordanian American Business Association (JABA) FTA webpage
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