Importing from China to the United States | A Complete Guide

Are you willing to import products from China to the United States? This guide is for you because we will cover everything regarding the topic. So, keep on reading!

Importing anything from China means that you’ve to follow “Certain Rules and Regulations.” It is a dream of “Most of the US Businesses,” whether big or small, to import the products from China in order to sell them.

Import involves “Custom Rules and Regulation,” but most of the people are unaware of it. If you’re new to this field or willing to import anything from China, then having a “Piece of Knowledge about Custom Rules and Regulations” is always a plus. Custom duty is always charged differently because it depends “Heavily” on the type of product.

So, let’s get started with our guide and let make things easy for you:

Sourcing Products from China

There are two rules that you need to follow before getting started.

Find the prestigious suppliers for your products and finalize one of them. We advise you to work with a “Professional Sourcing Agent” or contact us because that’s what we do.
Always order a sample before you buy any product- the sample products aren’t for free, the factories will ask you to pay them for the sample

Documents Required

When you’re importing from China to the US, then there are several documents that you should have in your bucket. Otherwise, you won’t be able to “Fulfill your wish.” Let’s talk about the documents below:

A license is required to import certain products like; plants, animals, industry products, medication, copyrighted and trademarked materials, Cars, and etc
Products that aren’t sensitive and have “Less Worth” doesn’t require any license
However, the unlicensed importers will be asked to provide their “Business Number” that can easily be obtainable from Internal Revenue’s Service website.

As we are done with the documentation, let’s move to the next step.

The procedure involved in the US Customs

In order to receive your products, you should submit your documents first to the authority
They will ask you for the “Additional Documents” to be filed for the further processes of “Duty Assessment.”
Both the above steps can be done online, and you don’t have to visit anywhere. Simply, Signup with your ACE account
Once the submission of the documents is completed, the customs official will review your documents and then decide whether to examine your “Products” or not
If they examined your products, they will check if “they are violating any rules and regulations or not”
Once they are done with the checking, they would release your import from customs

Things checked by the customs officials

Customs is the most important part when we talk about the “Import of goods” when it comes to importing from China to the USA. If you’re planning to import from “China to the USA,” then you should get yourself ready for the “Long Procedure Work.”

But don’t worry; we are mentioning everything down below:

Customs officials will check the “Exact value of the goods.”
If the product has a label of “Origin Country Name” or any other name
All the goods are correctly invoiced or not
No prohibited items should be present in the “Shipment.”
The quality will never be compromised. No excess or shortfall of the product quality shall be accepted

The checking producer will be easy if you follow the steps given below:

Your invoices should be clear, and every information regarding the product must be listed on the invoice
Packaging should be perfect, properly sealed, numbered, and packed. This will help the officials to understand and match the invoice with the products
The merchandise in the packaging should be listed on the invoice
The name of the “Origin Country” should be clearly mentioned on the shipment
Your products should have complied with the special laws related to goods. For example; food, drugs, cosmetics, drugs and etc
To avoid yourself from “Narcotic Smugglers” make sure to pack and secure your shipment properly
If you’re importing “Wooden Product” then your packaging should comply with ISPM 15- unless exempted

Shipment Costs included when importing from China to the US

Let’s talk about the shipment cost now!

Customs and Taxes

The imports from China are directly subjected to import duties. And if you’re willing to know the rates of ‘import duties,” then they rely heavily on two factors:

HS Code
Country Origin

So, whenever you’re willing to calculate your import duties, you should keep these two things in your mind.

Tax ID

If you’re importing goods that have a value greater than “$2500” then you should get a “Tax ID (EIN) Number.” This number is assigned only to US citizens by the IRS Authorities.

Merchandise Processing Fees

The fee is applied to all the air and sea shipments, and it also relies “heavily” on the worth of the product. The base value of the merchandise processing fee is “0.3465%.” The maximum value can go up to 425$, and the minimum can be no less than $25.

Harbor Maintenance Fees

This fee is applicable only for the sea freight shipment. There’s no minimum and maximum cost, and you’ll have to pay a 0.125% fee for the Harbor Maintenance.

Custom Value

In the case of the Minimum value of the “Goods,” the US Custom value is Free on Board (FOB). This means that it doesn’t include the value of the “Freight Cost.” However, depending on different circumstances, you’ll still have to pay other charges that are given below:

Tools and Molds
Product Samples
Design Service Charges

These are called “Assists,” and you should declare them while entering them into the United States.

Custom Bonds

Custom Bonds are nothing but just a guarantee to pay the import duties and taxes. You can buy custom bonds anytime from the Customer Brokers. There are two types of Bonds that are available: