Tariff Rates and Rules of Origin
Under the China–ASEAN Free Trade Area most industrial goods enter ASEAN members at zero duty — but only with a valid Form E certificate of origin. Without it the shipment pays the MFN rate, which on fasteners and hardware commonly runs between five and fifteen percent. On a hundred thousand yuan shipment that difference is the entire margin.
What this covers
MFN rate
The standard rate applied to goods without a preferential claim.
CAFTA rate
The preferential rate available with a valid Form E.
Origin criteria
Regional value content or a change in tariff classification.
Form E
The certificate issued by customs or a trade promotion council.
How to use it
Look up your HS code to see the rate in each ASEAN member, the origin criterion that applies, and how much duty a Form E would save. Where the origin rule depends on regional value content, add up the value of Chinese and ASEAN-origin inputs and compare against the threshold — commonly forty percent. Keep supplier declarations, because the importing customs authority can request them retrospectively.
Related sections
Data status
This section is being populated from our standards and trade database. Reference data current as of 2026-10-08. Where a figure is not yet available we mark it rather than estimate it, and pages are regenerated as the underlying data grows.