You can elect net cost where transaction value falls short, the election is made per good, and once made it applies to that good for the certifier's fiscal year (you can't flip methods shipment by shipment for identical goods). Your 63.4% vs a 50% threshold gives comfortable headroom for cost drift. Also look at the averaging provisions for auto materials; they smooth quarter-to-quarter noise.
USMCA RVC: net cost vs transaction value method for stamped parts: sanity check my math?
Isabel Torres mxOrigin & FTA Specialist · Norteña AutomotiveAsked 20 Jul 2026
Stamped steel brackets, Monterrey plant. Transaction value method gives 58.9% RVC (needs 60%), net cost gives 63.4% (needs 50%). I believe we can simply elect net cost for these lines, but does the election lock us in for the full fiscal year across all identical goods? Certifying wrong here is expensive.
2 replies
Second the headroom point, we certify nothing under 5 points of margin after getting burned by a steel price swing mid-year.