(a) General. The Administrator is authorized by section 206(b)(4)(B) of the USMCA Implementation Act to require a producer to make, keep, and render for examination and inspection, records and supporting documentation related to a producer's certification of compliance with the LVC requirements set forth in Article 7 of the Automotive Appendix or, if the producer is subject to the alternative staging regime, under Articles 7 and 8 of the Automotive Appendix.
(b) Form of records. No particular order or form of records is required, and records may be maintained in any medium; however, the Administrator prefers electronically generated or machine-readable data.
(c) Inspection of records. The records described in this section must be made available to an authorized representative of the Department for inspection, copying, and transcription upon written request to the producer. The request will describe with reasonable specificity the records that are being sought, and the party receiving the request will have 30 days from the date of the written request to provide the requested records, unless the party receiving the request has requested and obtained an extension of this time period at the discretion of the Department.
(d) Period of retention. Importers must ensure that records specified in these regulations are kept for 5 years from the date of importation of any vehicle for which preferential tariff treatment was claimed, and exporters and producers must ensure that records specified in these regulations are kept for 5 years from the date on which the certification of origin was completed, or for a longer period if the USMCA Countries so specify. Producers must be able to provide records upon request by the Department, as described in § 810.600(c), but the records may be physically maintained by a supplier or contractor. The Department will accept records directly from a supplier or contractor where, for example, the producer and supplier or contractor have contracted for such an approach.
(e) Records to be preserved to demonstrate compliance with the high-wage material and manufacturing expenditures component and eligibility for the high-wage assembly expenditures credit. The records and information listed in this paragraph must be maintained for each worker for whom records must be maintained pursuant to 29 CFR 516.2 and who worked at any plant or facility relied upon by a producer to meet the high-wage material and manufacturing expenditures component or the high-wage assembly expenditures credit of the LVC requirements, during the time period the producer used for calculating the LVC. For workers who are employed outside the United States, but if employed in the United States would be subject to the recordkeeping requirements under 29 CFR 516.2, the producer must also maintain the records detailed in this paragraph for such workers. These records must also be maintained for any other worker (in any USMCA Country) who performed direct production work at the plant or facility during the time period used for calculating the LVC, even if such workers do not fall within the recordkeeping requirements of 29 CFR 516.2.
(1) Worker information. Full name (and identifying symbol or number if used in place of the worker's name on any time, work, or payroll records), job title, home address, and other available contact information.
(2) Time records. The total number of daily and weekly hours worked. For workers who work a fixed schedule, the producer may instead maintain records that show the schedule of daily and weekly hours the worker normally works instead of the hours worked each day and each workweek. However, if this method is used, in weeks in which a worker adheres to this schedule, the worker must indicate by check mark, statement or other method that such hours were in fact actually worked, and in weeks in which more or less than the scheduled hours are worked, the records must show the exact number of hours worked each day and each week.
(3) Earnings records. Payroll records showing the date wages were paid and the time period covered by such wage payments, each worker's hourly rate of pay and basis of pay (hourly, salary, piece rate, day rate, etc.), total daily or weekly straight-time earnings, total premium pay for overtime hours (if any), total pay for the pay period, and any deductions taken from each worker's pay, including the amount and reason for the deduction. To the extent that a worker's rate of pay or straight-time earnings include benefits, bonuses, premium payments, incentive pay, or other similar payments excluded from the hourly base wage rate, as defined at § 810.105, records must clearly identify those payments and state the amount of such payments.
(4) Certificates, agreements, plans, notices, collective bargaining agreements, etc. Any collective bargaining agreements, written agreements or memoranda, individual contracts, plans, trusts, employment contracts, or written memorandum summarizing oral agreements or understandings applicable to any workers who work in direct production.
(5) Direct production records. A record of all hours that workers have worked in direct production, as defined at § 810.105(b)(2), including the workers' names, type of direct production work performed, hours worked by each worker that constitute direct production, hourly base wage rate paid to each worker for the direct production hours worked, and total wages paid to workers for those direct production hours worked. A producer's records must distinguish hours worked in direct production from other hours worked, to the extent that workers perform both direct production work and work not in direct production during the relevant time period. However, if at least 85 percent of a worker's total work hours are hours worked in direct production, the producer may simply record such workers' total hours worked during the relevant time period, so long as the producer can show that its recordkeeping system indicates when such workers work hours not in direct production when such situations occur.
(6) Records relating to high-wage transportation or related costs for shipping. Producers must maintain any records relied upon to establish the wages their transportation, logistics, or material handling service providers paid to their direct production workers performing these services. Such records may include, for example, contracts for transportation or shipping, union contracts entered into by transportation or shipping providers, and other contracts that reflect the rates paid to workers employed by transportation or shipping contractors that are relied upon by producers to establish transportation or related costs for shipping.
(f) Records to be preserved to demonstrate eligibility for the high-wage technology expenditures credit. If a producer is using high-wage technology expenditures to meet the high-wage components of the LVC requirements, the producer must maintain a record of the total wages paid to workers in North America who perform research and development or information technology work, as defined at § 810.200(b)(1) and (2), including the workers' names and type of research and development or information technology work performed. The producer must also maintain a record of the total wages paid to workers in North America who perform direct production work, as defined at § 810.200(b)(3), including the workers' names and type of production work performed.
(g) Calculations relating to labor value content requirements. Producers must also maintain any additional records not described in paragraphs (e) and (f) of this section that they relied on to support the calculations used to establish they meet the high-wage components of the LVC requirements.
(h) Relation to other recordkeeping requirements. Nothing in this section shall excuse any producer from complying with any recordkeeping or reporting requirement imposed by any other federal, state or local law, ordinance, regulation, or rule. This includes, but is not limited to, any recordkeeping requirements concerning other components of the LVC requirements as set forth in regulations issued by CBP or any other federal agency.