There are several different ways to ship from China to the US. Each option has a different method of determining shipping costs. The most popular shipping methods are by sea, by air, by express.
Ocean Freight rates from China to US
Ocean freight from China to USA is shipped in 20 or 40 foot containers. Freight rates from China to US depend on whether you choose full container load (FCL) or less than container load (LCL). For FCL shipments, you pay a flat fee per container. This unit is designed to carry your merchandise.
FCL: FCL freight is divided into three parts, total freight = sum of three parts.
1. Basic shipping fee = basic shipping fee per unit × number of boxes.
2. Port surcharge = unit port surcharge × FCL.
3. Fuel surcharge = unit fuel surcharge × number of boxes.
LCL shipments are for importers and exporters who do not have enough cargo to cover the entire container. Freight carriers combine small shipments from multiple customers for container shipments. This ensures that you only pay for the amount of space your goods take up.
LCL freight rates from China to US are usually calculated by volume. However, most shipping lines have regulations for heavy cargo. If your FCL or LCL shipment reaches a certain weight, you may incur higher shipping charges or additional charges.
Sea Freight rates from China to US
Sea freight surcharges are generally as follows:
1) Additional charges due to different product features. Such as overweight surcharge, overlength surcharge, cargo handling fee, cleaning fee, etc.
2) Additional surcharges due to different ports, such as port congestion surcharge, port selection fee, direct voyage surcharge, circumvention surcharge, etc.
3) Surcharges temporarily increased due to other reasons, such as fuel surcharges, currency depreciation surcharges, comprehensive rate increase surcharges, temporary risk surcharges, peak season surcharges, freezing surcharges, etc.
There are many types and names of shipping surcharges, far more than the above. Remind all cross-border sellers to pay attention to that some surcharges account for a large proportion of shipping costs. Compared with the basic shipping costs, they range from 10% to 100%, or even more than twice.
Therefore, when calculating freight rates from China to the US, we must pay attention to the calculation of surcharges, so as not to cause unnecessary losses to ourselves.
Air freight rates from China to US
Air freight is charged by dimensional weight or actual weight. Dimensional weight is measured in cubic meters and takes into account the amount of space your inventory takes up.
If the dimensional weight is higher than the actual weight, you will be charged by volume. If the actual weight exceeds the dimensional weight, you will be charged by weight.
The price of air freight from China to USA is usually divided into five grades: 45KGS, 100KGS, 300KGS, 500KGS, 1000KGS. The price of each grade is different, of course, the price of different airlines is also different.
The specific freight rates from China to US needs to be based on the actual situation, and even changes daily. But generally around $4-5.
Departure airports
Chinese cargo airports such as Shenzhen Baoan Airport, Guangzhou Baiyun Airport, Hong Kong Airport, Shanghai Pudong Airport, Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, Beijing Capital Airport, Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport, etc.
Destination airports
Kennedy International Airport, Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, Seattle International Airport.
