rules of origin

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the criteria used to determine the national source of a product for the purposes of applying trade policy — including preferential tariff rates under free trade agreements, import quotas, and anti-dumping duties; rules of origin are necessary because modern production is globally distributed across supply chains, meaning that the components of a finished good may originate in many different countries; preferential rules of origin specify the minimum amount of local content or transformation required for a product to qualify for preferential treatment under a trade agreement, and negotiating these rules is one of the most technically complex and politically contentious aspects of trade agreement drafting