With more and more trade between China and the United States, it is no surprise that shipping from China to USA has become a hot topic. Do you know all about the logistics of importing from China?
What do you need to consider when shipping to USA from China ?
Requirements for importing from China
All customs fees, import duties, duties and taxes must be paid before the item enters the United States.
All necessary documents (as listed earlier in this article) must be provided.
All customs broker fees and agency fees must be paid.
Imported products may be subject to inspection to ensure compliance with all U.S. regulations.
What documents are required when shipping to USA from China?
The following documents are required when shipping to USA from China:
Import goods declaration
General imported goods should be filled in in duplicate; goods that need to be written off by the customs, such as processing trade goods and bonded goods, etc., should be filled in special customs declaration forms in triplicate; if the goods need domestic tax refund after export, another special tax refund should be filled out. Customs declaration.
Bill of lading
This lists all items included in the import.This should list the country of origin of the goods, the purchase price of the imported goods, and the tariff classification of all goods.
Packing list detailing all imported goods.
Arrival reminder. This should be provided by the freight forwarder.
What shipping method to use when shipping to USA from China?
Express delivery
Shipping to USA by express is the fastest method when using shipping companies like FedEx, UPS and DHL. Express is very cost-effective if you are shipping goods with a gross weight of less than 200 kg and a volume of less than or equal to 1 cubic meter. Courier services will usually charge you based on weight or volume, whichever is higher.
The express delivery time is generally 3-7 days.
Air transport
If you use Air + UPS, it will take 8 to 12 days to shipping to USA from China. The shipment will be processed upon arrival in the U.S.
Your agent must clear the shipment from U.S. Customs and then deliver the shipment to the UPS warehouse. From there, UPS will send the items to their final destination. These handlers will add up to the total transit time.
If you want to ship your goods faster, you can use Air Express. Air freight from China to USA only takes 6-8 business days by air; however, their shipping is much more expensive.
Sea freight
Ocean freight from China to US is a way of using ships to transport goods between ports in different countries and regions through sea routes, including FCL and LCL.
Sea shipping will take longer than air shipping to USA from China. If you want faster shipping from China to the US, you can choose Ocean Shipping + UPS. It is faster than normal container shipping due to the shipping method or system.
The approximate time of shipping from China to different parts of the United States is as follows (LCL stands for “less than container load”, FCL stands for “full container load”):
- Western US LCL: 25-30 business days
- Western US FCL: 18 business days
- US East LCL: 35-40 business days
- East US FCL: 28-30 business days
Choose a freight forwarder when shipping to USA from China
When considering a specific freight forwarder, consider whether they have experience of shipping to USA from China .
1. Must be familiar with the common sense of maritime geography.
First of all, as an international freight forwarder, since ships enter and leave different countries, they should be familiar with world geography and routes, the location of ports, transshipment places and their inland distribution centers.
2. You should be familiar with the applicability of different types of transportation to the goods.
There are 4 modes of transportation in the world shipping market: liner shipping, charter shipping, NVOCC shipping and multimodal shipping. The characteristics of liner transportation are fixed time, fixed route, fixed port sequence and fixed rate. Chartered transportation means irregular transportation, which means that there is no fixed route and timetable.
According to the supply and demand relationship in the shipping market, it can operate on any route, and the freight rate can be negotiated, which is suitable for bulk cargo transportation.