Guide to NAFTA for Small Business

Learn the ropes

If you're a beginner to exporting, you'll need to understand a lot of complex ideas, beginning with customs.

I recommend: U.S. Customs has a good, simply written FAQ-style guide for newcomers to NAFTA trade. Canada publishes a detailed guide to selling in the country. Mexico does as well. The San Diego World Trade Center has handy links to the actual forms you'll need. And the United States government's Trade Compliance Center follows closely any disputes over continuing barriers.

Start building your network

Finding out where your product fits in the trade flow can be time consuming. Luckily, the government thought of that and has built up a steady flow of data on how to get business done.

I recommend: The U.S. Department of Commerce Trade Information Center has extensive Nafta background data, including phone and address contacts by business sector, customs details, labeling rules and names of trucking firms.

Leads! Leads! Leads!

After the deal was signed, a number of Web sites promising trade leads proliferated, then died as companies made their own connections. But some still provide specific opportunities to buy or sell across NAFTA borders.

I recommend: One of the better-managed sites is at the World Trade Centers Association home page (registration required). New Mexico's International Business Accelerator has one, too. The granddaddy of them all, though, is the Federation of International Trade Associations Buy/Sell Exchange database.

Develop a government sales program

Part of the benefit of free trade – often overlooked – is selling to the biggest of all buyers, city, state and federal governments.

I recommend: Signatory countries to the World Trade Organization's agreement on government procurement are listed by the U.S. Trade Compliance Center, including links to Canadian and Mexican purchasing sites.