Krieger Worldwide Industry News: Consumer Product Safety Commission, USMCA and Forced Labor Guidance Updates

Beginning Wednesday, July 8, 2026, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will require importers to electronically submit product certification data at the time of customs entry for products subject to CPSC regulations. This is a significant change from the current process of maintaining paper certificates.

If an imported product requires a General Certificate of Conformity (GCC) or a Children’s Product Certificate (CPC), you must now ensure the required certificate data is electronically transmitted through U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) system at the time of entry.

Customs brokers can submit this information, but the importer remains legally responsible for determining whether certification is required and for providing accurate certificate data. The underlying scope of products regulated by the CPSC is not changing.

There a two ways to e-file:

• Full Message Set:
  • This involves providing your GCC or CPC to your customs broker.
  • Your broker will then transmit all required certificate data with the entry.
  • This is best for companies with limited CPSC-regulated imports.
• Product Registry (recommended):
  • This involves storing your certificate information in the CPSC Product Registry.
  • Your broker submits only three identifiers that you provide on the commercial invoice or a commercial invoice addendum: Certifier ID, Product ID and Version ID.
  • This is ideal for importers that repeatedly import the same regulated products.
  • It also reduces data entry, improves efficiency and may lower filing costs.

For now, importers should:

• Review product catalog to determine which products are subject to CPSC regulations
• Confirm whether each product requires a GCC or CPC, and whether any testing or certification exemptions apply
• Begin providing CPSC certificate information with commercial documents

Even if a person’s Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) classification does not trigger a CPSC filing requirement in ACE, importers are still responsible for ensuring certificate data is filed whenever required by CPSC regulations.

USMCA Joint Review: Agreement Remains in Force, Annual Reviews Begin

The highly anticipated six-year review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) concluded on July 1, 2026, the deadline for the three member countries to determine whether to extend the agreement for another 16-year term. Rather than extending the agreement outright, the United States elected not to renew it in its current form, triggering the agreement’s built-in annual joint review process.

While the United States declined to renew the agreement “in its current form,” this does not terminate the USMCA or eliminate existing duty-free benefits. Instead, the decision triggers the agreement’s annual review process, allowing negotiations to continue while the agreement remains fully in effect. During this period, the United States, Canada and Mexico will meet annually to negotiate potential updates to the agreement, which could result in changes to areas such as rules of origin, manufacturing incentives and other trade provisions. The next round of U.S.-Mexico negotiations is scheduled on July 20.

What this means for importers:

• There will be no immediate changes to USMCA eligibility or preferential duty treatment.
• Current certification, origin and compliance requirements remain unchanged.
• Importers should expect continued negotiations and annual reviews, which could eventually result in updates to rules of origin or other provisions, but no operational changes are required at this time.