Importing from China to the USA is a sequence of decisions, not a single purchase. Before your goods reach a US warehouse, someone has to choose a supplier, agree on who is responsible for what, produce a set of documents that match the cargo, clear US customs, pay duty, and arrange delivery.
Most first-time importers underestimate two things: the number of steps that can stall, and how many of those steps depend on paperwork that was decided weeks earlier.
This guide walks through the process in the order it actually happens. Each section ends with the decision you need to make before moving on.
The Process at a Glance
Supplier selection → Order & payment terms → Incoterms → Production & inspection → Booking → Export clearance in China → Ocean or air freight → US customs entry → Duty payment → Final delivery
Not every step applies to every shipment, and who performs each one depends on your Incoterms and your service arrangement. But the order is stable, and a delay in an early step shows up as a delay in all the later ones.
For a fuller breakdown of gateways, service types and transit options, see China to USA shipping.
Step 1: Choose and Vet a Supplier
This step carries more risk than every logistics decision combined, because most import problems originate here rather than at the port.
What to verify before you pay a deposit:
- Business registration. A Chinese business license (营业执照) shows the legal entity, its registration number, and its business scope. Confirm the entity you are paying is the entity on the license, and that its scope covers what you are buying.
- Export rights. Not every Chinese factory can export under its own name. Some sell through trading companies. Ask which entity will appear on the export documents — mismatches here cause problems later.
- Product compliance. US requirements vary by product: FDA for food, drugs and cosmetics; FCC for electronics; CPSC for consumer products; USDA for plant and animal products. Confirming this before production is far cheaper than confirming it at the port.
- Production capacity and lead time. Ask for a realistic production schedule in writing, then add your own buffer for the shipping line.
- Sample and specification agreement. Keep the approved sample. Disputes about whether delivered goods match the order are usually decided by whether a written, signed specification exists.
Decision before moving on: do you have the supplier’s legal name, business license details, and a signed specification?
Step 2: Agree on Incoterms
Incoterms decide which tasks and costs belong to the seller and which belong to you. They are the single most consequential line in your purchase order, and they are frequently misunderstood.
| Incoterm | Who arranges main freight | Who clears US customs | Who pays US duty |
|---|---|---|---|
| EXW | You | You | You |
| FOB | You | You | You |
| CIF | Seller books, you pay via the price | You | You |
| DAP | Seller | You | You |
| DDP | Seller | Seller (or its appointed party) | Seller |
Two practical notes:
FOB is the most common choice for importers who want control. You choose the forwarder, you see the freight cost, and you keep the relationship. The trade-off is that you now own the coordination.
DDP bundles the most into one price. It is convenient and widely used, but under DDP you may not hold the importer of record role, which affects your visibility into valuation and classification. Confirm in writing who the importer of record will be. See DDP shipping from China to the USA for how that arrangement is structured in practice.
Decision before moving on: which Incoterm is written on your purchase order, and do you know what it obliges you to do?
Step 3: Know the Documents Before You Book
Customs clearance is largely a document-matching exercise. The documents have to agree with each other; when they disagree, the shipment stops.
Commercial documents
- Commercial invoice — seller, buyer, description, quantity, unit value, total value, currency, Incoterm.
- Packing list — how the goods are packed, carton count, weights, dimensions, marks.
- Bill of lading (B/L) or air waybill — issued by the carrier, and the document that controls title in most ocean shipments.
US customs documents
- Entry summary (CBP Form 7501) — filed by your customs broker for each entry.
- Importer of record information — an EIN or CBP-assigned number, plus a customs bond.
- ISF (Importer Security Filing) — required for ocean shipments, and it must be filed before the cargo is loaded at the origin port. This is the deadline that most often catches first-time importers, because it depends on data the supplier must provide in time.
- HTS classification — the code that determines the duty rate. It is your responsibility as importer, even when a broker prepares it.
Common supporting documents
- Certificates of origin, when a trade agreement or a specific program requires one.
- Product-specific certificates or registrations (FDA, FCC, CPSC, USDA, and others).
- Fumigation or heat-treatment certificates for wood packaging.
Decision before moving on: does your supplier know which data they must send you, and by when? Ask for the ISF data as soon as the booking is confirmed.
Step 4: US Customs Clearance
Clearance is not a single event. There are two filings, and they happen at different times.
- ISF, filed before loading at the origin port.
- Entry, filed when the cargo arrives, which produces the entry summary and the duty calculation.
A licensed customs broker files both on your behalf. Coordination is not the same as a guarantee: whether CBP examines a shipment, and how long that examination takes, is not something a forwarder or broker can promise. What a good broker does is file accurately, respond quickly, and tell you early when a commodity tends to attract attention.
Where the process gets complicated: goods subject to other agencies, goods with an ambiguous classification, and goods whose declared value does not look plausible next to the invoice.
For the document-level detail, see US customs clearance for imports from China.
Decision before moving on: have you appointed a customs broker and confirmed a customs bond is in place?
Step 5: Duty and the Real Cost
The duty rate depends on the HTS classification and the country of origin, and additional measures — Section 301 tariffs, antidumping or countervailing duty orders — may apply to specific products.
Beyond duty, the total cost of importing usually includes:
- Goods value and freight
- Duty, plus any additional tariffs that apply
- Customs brokerage and entry fees
- Destination charges: terminal handling, chassis, drayage, and delivery
- Bond, ISF filing, and any examination costs if CBP inspects
- Storage or demurrage if the cargo sits
The freight rate is the number everyone compares. The destination charges and duty are the numbers that decide whether the shipment was profitable. For a structured breakdown, see how much it costs to ship from China to the USA.
Decision before moving on: can you state your landed cost per unit before you place the order, not after?
Common Mistakes First-Time Importers Make
Treating the freight quote as the total cost. Ocean freight is one line item. Destination charges frequently add a meaningful percentage on top, and duty is calculated on the goods value, not on the freight.
Leaving the Incoterm unspecified. If your purchase order does not name one, both sides will assume the other is handling the port charges. This is a reliable source of invoice disputes.
Missing the ISF deadline. The filing has a hard cut-off before loading. Late filing triggers penalties, and it is entirely avoidable.
Assuming a supplier’s certificate solves product compliance. A supplier declaration is not a US regulatory clearance. Confirm the requirement applies, and who is responsible for meeting it.
Not confirming the importer of record. The IOR carries legal responsibility for classification, valuation and duty. In our experience, importers who assume the forwarder is handling this often discover otherwise only when a problem needs resolving, and then there is no record of who was responsible.
Skipping the inspection. An inspection before loading costs a fraction of what re-shipping or disposing of non-conforming goods costs.
Key Takeaways
Importing from China to the USA is a chain of decisions: verify the supplier, set the Incoterm, prepare the documents before booking, appoint a broker, and calculate the landed cost before the order rather than after.
The importers who run this smoothly are not the ones with the cheapest freight rate. They are the ones who settled the IOR, the classification and the document responsibilities before the cargo moved. Those three items are cheap to fix early and expensive to fix late.