Get Your Importer Details In Order
You import under an identification number on file with CBP, and most commercial importers need a customs bond.
Classify The Product
The HTS code sets your duty. Classification is your legal responsibility as the importer of record.
File On Time
Ocean shipments need an Importer Security Filing before the cargo is loaded in China.
Clear And Pay
Your broker files the entry, duties and fees are paid, and CBP releases the goods.
You Are The Importer Of Record
This is the part new US importers underestimate. Whoever is named as importer of record is legally responsible for the entry: correct classification, correct valuation, correct country of origin, and payment of duties. Not the supplier, and not the freight forwarder.
That means a mistake made by someone else on your behalf is still your problem. It is worth understanding what is being filed in your name rather than leaving it entirely to a broker and hoping.
Most commercial importers need a customs bond on file. Brokers arrange these routinely, as either a single entry bond or a continuous bond covering a year, and if you are importing regularly the continuous option is usually the sensible one.
Classification Sets Everything
Your HTS code decides your duty rate, which additional tariffs apply, and which other agencies might have an interest in the shipment. It is the foundation of the whole entry.
Classification is genuinely technical, and similar-looking products can sit under quite different codes. Getting it wrong is not a clerical issue, it is a compliance issue, with penalties and back duties attached. If the classification is not obvious, get a professional opinion before you import rather than after.
Ask your supplier which code they use, but do not rely on it. They are classifying for Chinese export, not for US entry.
The Tariff Position Changes, So Check It
US duty on Chinese goods is not a single rate. There is a base rate for your HTS code, and there have been additional tariff layers applied to Chinese-origin goods on top of it, plus processing fees on formal entries.
We are not printing current percentages here, and we would be cautious about any page that does. US tariff policy on Chinese goods has changed repeatedly, including court decisions and measures that were introduced and then replaced within the same year. A page with a hard number on it goes out of date fast, and acting on a stale number is how importers get a bill they did not budget for.
Check the current position for your specific code at the time you order, through your customs broker or the official schedule. If a supplier quotes you a duty-paid price, ask which code and which layers they have accounted for.
Filing Deadlines Are Real
Ocean shipments need an Importer Security Filing submitted before the cargo is loaded onto the vessel in China. It is not something to deal with when the goods arrive. Missing it carries penalties and can hold your cargo.
This is one of the practical reasons to get your broker involved early rather than at arrival. They need information from you and from the supplier ahead of loading, and chasing it at the last minute is how deadlines get missed.
Landed Cost, Again
As with any import, the factory price is the beginning of the calculation. Add freight, insurance, duty and the additional tariff layers, the processing fees, the broker, drayage from the port, and warehouse handling.
For goods coming from China into the US, the duty layers can be a significant proportion of the product cost depending on the category. That is exactly why the calculation has to be done properly and with current rates, and why a product that worked last year may not work this year without being re-costed.
Do the maths on the actual current numbers before you commit to an order, not on what it cost the last time.
Our US Side
Our Elmhurst, Illinois office handles the United States market. We are licensed and registered in the USA, and we bring goods in on our own account.
For a US buyer that means you can buy from us domestically rather than importing yourself. No customs bond, no classification exposure, no ISF deadline, and no tariff surprise between placing an order and receiving it.
If you do want to import directly, everything above still applies, and a good customs broker is the first person to talk to.
Produced For Export
US Import Questions
Do I need a customs bond to import from China?
Most commercial importers do. Bonds come as single entry or continuous, and a customs broker arranges them routinely. If you import regularly, a continuous bond is usually the practical choice.
Who is responsible if the classification is wrong?
The importer of record. That is you, not your supplier and not your forwarder. Penalties and back duties follow the importer, which is why it is worth understanding what is filed in your name.
What is an ISF and when is it due?
The Importer Security Filing is required for ocean shipments and must be submitted before the cargo is loaded onto the vessel in China. Missing the deadline carries penalties and can delay your cargo.
What duty will I pay on goods from China?
It depends on your HTS code and on the additional tariff layers in force at the time. US tariff policy on Chinese goods has changed repeatedly, so confirm the current position with your broker rather than relying on a published figure.
Can I buy from Karachi Traders in the USA without importing?
Yes. Our Elmhurst, Illinois office handles the US market and we import on our own account, so you are buying domestically rather than taking on bonds, classification and tariff exposure yourself.
Related Pages
Buy Domestically In The USA
We import into Elmhurst, Illinois on our own account. You order from us in the USA, with no bond, no broker and no tariff exposure.