How to Import from China to the USA in 2026: A Step-by-Step Guide for Businesses

Importing from China to the USA comes down to nine decisions made in order, from what to buy to how it reaches your site. Get them right and a container from China is routine; get one wrong and it can be the most expensive line on the project. Here is each step, the way we run it for business buyers.

Step	What you decide	What goes wrong if you skip it
1. Scope	Specification, quantity, pallet or container	Freight and duty per unit blow out
2. Factory	Who makes it, and whether they are real	Middlemen, fake capacity, lost deposits
3. Samples	The approved reference	No objective standard for the bulk order
4. Contract and payment	Price, Incoterm, tolerances, payment schedule	Disputes and payment fraud
5. Inspection	Inspection stages and AQL levels	Defects found after you have paid
6. Shipping	FCL, LCL or air; FOB or DDP	Wrong mode, unclear responsibility
7. Customs	Importer of record, bond, ISF, entry	Holds, penalties, demurrage
8. Duties	HTS code, tariff layers, anti-dumping	Landed cost far above budget
9. Delivery	Last mile and installation	Goods stuck at a port or warehouse

1. Decide what you’re buying, and how much

Write a specification before you contact a factory, then decide whether you need a pallet, part of a container or a full one. Volume sets your freight cost per unit, and it often decides whether importing beats buying from a US distributor.

A usable specification covers dimensions, materials, finishes, colors (with a physical swatch), performance requirements, packaging, labels, and any certification your client, code official or insurer will ask for.

Then size the order:

Volume	How it usually ships	Typical fit
One to a few pallets	LCL (less than container load), consolidated with other cargo	First orders, replenishment, a trial run
Around half a container and up	FCL 20-foot	Mid-size projects, dense goods such as stone
A full project	FCL 40-foot or 40-foot high cube	Furniture and fit-outs (bulky, relatively light)

Once LCL cargo approaches half a container, a full 20-foot box is often worth pricing: it is sealed at the factory and handled less. Our container load calculator estimates how many units fit.

Before you commit, check the three things that can kill a business case: whether the product is under an anti-dumping order, whether it falls under a Section 232 tariff, and whether it needs US testing or certification you will have to pay for. Our minimum order is one pallet, and orders run from a single pallet to several containers.

2. Find the factory, and check it

Shortlist three to five manufacturers in the right industrial cluster, then verify each one before any money moves: business license, real production capacity, export experience and a working quality system. A trading company is not automatically a problem, but you should know which one you are dealing with.

China’s manufacturing is clustered: furniture around Foshan, lighting around Guzhen in Zhongshan, small commodities in Yiwu. Marketplaces and trade fairs find candidates; verification is a separate job.

Check	What to look for
Business license	The company name matches the contract and the bank account; the registered scope includes manufacturing
Factory visit or audit	Machines, workforce, raw-material stock and work in progress for your type of product
Export history	Previous shipments to the US or Europe; familiarity with US standards, labels and packaging
Quality system	Incoming material checks, in-line checks and final inspection records
Capacity and lead time	Whether they can run your quantity alongside their other orders
Raw-material traceability	Where key materials come from (this matters for forced-labor rules, see step 8)

We check every manufacturer’s background and quality before any work starts, and a factory audit is also available on its own if you already have a supplier in mind.

3. Samples: approve one, keep one

Never start mass production without a signed-off sample, and make sure two identical reference samples exist: one with you and one wherever the bulk order will be checked. That pair is the objective standard for the whole order.

When you review a sample, check dimensions, materials, finish, color in daylight, function, packaging and labels. Record everything in photos and a short sample sheet, then sign and date it. Any change after approval means a new sample. Small substitutions (a cheaper foam, a thinner gauge, a different veneer) creep into long production runs, and without a sealed reference there is nothing to argue from.

This is how we work: two reference samples, one kept by us and one sent to you, and the bulk is checked against the sample at the factory, piece by piece, before shipping. Our sample-match guarantee is simple: “If your goods don’t match the approved sample, you choose a remake, a replacement or a refund, at no cost to you.” The full terms are on our guarantees page.

4. Price, contract and payment

Put the price, specification, Incoterm, lead time, tolerances, packaging and remedies in a written contract, and pay in stages tied to milestones. Don’t wire money to a supplier you have not verified, and never act on an emailed “change of bank details” without confirming it by phone with someone you already know.

A workable contract covers:

• the specification and a reference to the approved sample;
• quantity, unit price, currency and Incoterm (for example, FOB Shenzhen);
• lead time, and what happens if it slips;
• the quality standard, AQL levels and your right to inspect;
• packaging, labels and country-of-origin marking;
• the payment schedule and the bank account, in the factory’s own company name;
• confidentiality and IP terms (an NNN agreement where your design matters).

Why the caution: international wires are hard to recall once sent, and a common fraud is an email, apparently from your supplier, announcing new bank details mid-order. Pay only into the account named in the contract.

Our standard terms are a 30% deposit and 70% before shipping, with duties paid before delivery, in USD, EUR or your local currency. We can also pay the factory on your behalf. Quotes come back in 8 to 36 hours and are valid for 7 to 14 days. Once we commit to a price we stand behind it; the price lock does not cover government tariff and duty changes, or changes you request.

5. Production and inspection

Inspect before the balance is paid, not after the goods land. A pre-shipment inspection with AQL sampling is the standard, and larger orders add checks during production and at container loading.

AQL (acceptance quality limit) sampling uses the ISO 2859-1 tables (ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 in the US): the sample size follows the lot size, and the lot passes if defects stay within your limits. Buyers set separate limits for critical, major and minor defects, and many accept no critical (safety) defects at all.

Stage	When	What it catches
Pre-production	Before cutting, molding or welding starts	Wrong materials or components
During production	Once the first units are finished	Systematic defects while they can still be fixed
Pre-shipment	Production complete, most cartons packed	Finished-goods defects, quantities, packaging
Loading check	As the container is loaded	Counts, damage, stowage, seal number

A live video call during inspection lets you see the goods yourself and ask the inspector to open a specific carton. Our quality inspection uses our own inspectors, and you receive photos, video, a live video call and a written report.

If your product needs lab testing or US certification, plan it before production, not after. We arrange testing and certification for goods bought through us, but electronics certifications (FCC, UL, UN 38.3) stay with the client.

6. Shipping: FCL, LCL or air, and FOB or DDP

Sea freight is the default for business goods: FCL when you fill most of a container, LCL for a few pallets, and air only for urgent or small, high-value items. Your Incoterm decides who books that freight and, more importantly, who is the US importer.

Mode	Best for	Trade-offs
FCL	Half a container and up	Sealed at the factory; lowest cost per cubic meter at volume
LCL	One to a few pallets	Charged by volume; extra handling at consolidation warehouses; often slower
Air	Samples, urgent parts	Far higher cost per kilo; impractical for bulky goods

The Incoterms 2020 rules published by the International Chamber of Commerce define who does what. The two most common choices for China imports compare like this:

	FOB (Free On Board)	DDP (Delivered Duty Paid)
Seller’s job ends	When goods are loaded on the vessel in China	At your door, with duties paid
Who books ocean freight	You	The seller
US importer of record	You	The seller or its US agent
Who pays US duties	You	The seller, priced into the quote
Best for	Importers with their own forwarder, broker and bond	Buyers who want one landed price

We ship DDP door to door, with freight handled by our sister company American Global Freights, cargo insurance always included, and a China warehouse for consolidating goods from several factories. Every service is also available on its own, so you can use your own customs broker if you prefer.

7. US customs: importer of record, bond, ISF and entry

Every commercial shipment needs an importer of record who is legally responsible for the entry, a customs bond, an Importer Security Filing for ocean cargo, and an entry filed with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), usually by a licensed customs broker.

Importer of record (IOR). The IOR declares the classification, value and origin and owes the duties, including anti-dumping bills that can arrive years later. It can be you, or, on a DDP shipment, it can be us. Our customs and importer-of-record service works with a partner customs broker.

Customs bond. A bond guarantees CBP gets paid. You can buy a single-transaction bond per shipment or a continuous bond; CBP sets the minimum continuous bond at $50,000 or 10% of the duties, taxes and fees paid in the previous 12 months, whichever is greater (CBP bond guide, as of October 2026).

ISF (“10+2”). For ocean cargo, the importer’s ten data elements (seller, buyer, manufacturer, ship-to party, country of origin, HTS number, stuffing location, consolidator, IOR number, consignee number) are due at least 24 hours before the goods are loaded on the vessel in China. Late or inaccurate filings can draw liquidated damages of $5,000 per violation (CBP ISF overview, as of October 2026).

HTS classification. The 10-digit code in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule drives the duty rate, Section 301 and 232 coverage and, often, anti-dumping exposure. Search CBP’s CROSS rulings for similar products, and for anything uncertain ask a licensed customs broker, or request a binding ruling from CBP.

Entry. Entry documents are due within 15 calendar days of arrival, and the entry summary (CBP Form 7501) with estimated duties within 10 working days of entry (CBP entry summary). Two fees ride on most ocean entries: the merchandise processing fee of 0.3464% of value, with a minimum of $34.58 and a maximum of $670.86 per formal entry for the fiscal year that began October 1, 2026 (CBP Dec. 26-14, verified October 15, 2026), and the harbor maintenance fee of 0.125% of value (CBP user fee table, as of October 2026).

Other agencies can apply too: wood and plant products may need a Lacey Act declaration, now filed only electronically (USDA APHIS), and consumer products, food-contact items and electronics have their own agency rules.

8. Duties: the layers on Chinese goods

Duty on a Chinese product is a stack, not a single rate: the normal tariff, plus the original Section 301 tariff, plus the newer Section 301 forced-labor tariff unless Section 232 applies, plus Section 232 where it applies, plus anti-dumping or countervailing duties if the product is under an order. Work it out per HTS line before you order. The rates below are as of October 2026.

Layer	In plain words	Rate (as of October 2026)
MFN (normal) duty	The ordinary US tariff for that HTS line	Set per line in the HTS
Section 301, Lists 1–4A	China-only tariffs from 2018–2019	7.5% or 25% on covered lines (STR, October 2026); higher on some strategic goods
Section 301 forced-labor action	Tariff on 60 economies since July 24, 2026	12.5% for China, not charged on goods already under Section 232 (91 FR 47318)
Section 232	National-security tariffs by product, all countries	For example 25% on certain upholstered wooden products and on kitchen cabinets and vanities (Proclamation 10976); 25% or 50% on metal goods (Proclamation 11021)
Anti-dumping / countervailing (AD/CVD)	Product- and exporter-specific duties	Set per order; see our anti-dumping guide
UFLPA	Not a duty: goods linked to Xinjiang are presumed banned	Detention unless the importer proves otherwise

The tariffs imposed under IEEPA were struck down by the Supreme Court in February 2026 and are being refunded, and the temporary Section 122 surcharge expired in July. The full timeline, with dates and sources, is in our China tariffs 2026 tracker.

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act can stop a shipment outright: since June 21, 2022, CBP presumes that goods made wholly or partly in Xinjiang, or by listed entities, are barred unless the importer proves otherwise by clear and convincing evidence (CBP). Ask factories for raw-material sourcing records.

To turn the layers into a number, the landed cost calculator adds duties, fees and freight to your factory price. Because duties are set by the government, they can change between quote and arrival, which is why our price lock excludes them.

9. Delivery and installation

Plan the last mile before the container leaves China: who receives it, how it is unloaded, where it waits if the site is not ready, and who installs it.

• Site access: can a container chassis reach the site, or does the cargo need transloading to smaller trucks?
• Unloading: dock, forklift, liftgate or hand unloading.
• Storage: a short warehouse stay if construction runs late.
• Installation: crew, tools and sequencing with other trades.
• Receiving: count, photograph and note any damage on the delivery receipt; insurance claims depend on it.

We work with delivery and installation partners across the USA, and the same is possible in Canada, France, Germany and the UK, where a local customs agent clears the goods.

Key takeaways

• Write the specification and size the order first: volume decides the freight mode and the cost per unit.
• Verify the factory before any payment, and pay only into the account named in the contract.
• Approve one sample and keep its twin; the bulk order is judged against it.
• Inspect before the balance is paid, with AQL sampling and, ideally, a live video call.
• Choose FOB or DDP based on who should be the importer of record.
• The bond, ISF, classification and entry are the importer of record’s legal responsibility.
• Duties on Chinese goods come in layers, so calculate them per HTS line before ordering.
• Arrange delivery, unloading and installation before the goods ship.