Includes information on average tariff rates and types that U.S. firms should be aware of when exporting to the market.

Guatemala applies the common external tariff schedule of the Central American Common Market (CACM), which ranges from zero to 15 percent for most agricultural and industrial goods, though there are exceptions of up to 40 percent for alcoholic beverages and up to 20 percent for cigarettes with tobacco content, various types of vehicles, and firearms. The average applied rate on all products is approximately 2.4 percent.

Under CAFTA-DR, about 5,263 of a total 6,307 HS codes for U.S. industrial and consumer goods enter Guatemala duty-free, with the remaining 1,044 tariffs scheduled to be phased-out by 2026. Nearly all textile and apparel goods that meet the agreement’s rules of origin are now traded duty-free and quota-free, promoting new opportunities for U.S. and regional fiber, yarn, fabric and apparel manufacturing. The agreement’s tariff treatment for textile and apparel goods is retroactive to January 1, 2004. Guatemala is open to U.S. agricultural products, where 98 percent of the products already have zero tariff.  Prior to CAFTA-DR, Guatemala was already complying with its WTO tariff bindings, and duties were relatively low.

Tariff-rate Quotas (TRQs)
The CAFTA-DR set TRQs on 12 agricultural products and product categories, which are managed by DACE, a department of the Administration of Foreign Commerce / Ministry of Economy. DACE has implemented a well-functioning system for distributing quotas and reporting on quota allocation.

The 12 products are: Rough Rice, White Rice, Beef, Pork, Ice-cream, Milk, Yellow Corn, White Corn, Butter, Cheese, and Other Dairy Products. The TRQ for chicken leg quarters was eliminated in 2017 when the tariff was set to zero.. To obtain updated information on quota allocation procedures, advisory committee meetings, and quota utilization status by commodity, please contact Mrs. Yasmin Afre, yaafre@mineco.gob.gt or Mrs. Dinora Alvarez, malvarez@mineco.gob.gt.

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