Importing from China? Here are 9 Things You Must ...

06 Jan.,2025

 

Importing from China? Here are 9 Things You Must ...

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Now one of the world&#;s biggest economies, China is the world&#;s largest exporter and the UK&#;s third largest import partner. China&#;s unrivalled ability to build and manufacture large quantities of goods quickly and cheaply means demand is only increasing for freight forwarding services for importing from China. Products typically exported from China include:

  • &#; Computers and electrical items
  • &#; Furniture and household items
  • &#; Construction materials and prefabricated buildings
  • &#; Clothing, footwear and accessories
  • &#; Medical equipment
  • &#; Toys
  • &#; Vehicles

It should come as no surprise that nine of the world&#;s top ten container ports are in China and the Far East. The busiest container port in the world, Shanghai, handles over 37 million TEUs (Twenty-foot equivalent unit) every year and with consecutive year on year growth, the region shows no signs of slowing down.

As China is outside the European Union, as a commercial importer, you have certain obligations. Even if you&#;re a seasoned importer from the EU, it&#;s important you familiarise yourself with the documentation you need to import from China and clearing customs goods without any issues.

 

 1) Use the correct commodity code

Find the right commodity code for the products you&#;re importing. You can locate these by using the UK Government Trade Tariff, where you can look up commodity codes, duty and VAT rates. Commodity codes are required to classify your goods so you can:

  • &#; complete declarations and other paperwork
  • &#; find out if there is any duty or VAT to pay
  • &#; check if there are any duty reliefs

If you&#;re not sure what commodity code is right for your goods, you can HMRC who will advise you on how to classify your goods. Simply send an to and include a full description of your product &#; what it is made from, its use and function, and how it&#;s presented or packaged.

 

2) Pay the required rate of VAT

When importing from China, importers must pay VAT on top of the total sum of the Customs Value and the Import Duty. The Customs Value is the total cost of the products, including any development costs you&#;ve paid to your supplier, the cost of shipping to the UK and any import duty.

Ensure you pay any VAT that is due. If you&#;re VAT registered, you must pay the VAT, but you can claim it back through your standard VAT return. You&#;ll usually receive a C79 certificate from HMRC to prove you&#;ve paid import VAT.

 

3) Register with the CHIEF system to declare your goods

The Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) system allows importers, exporters and freight forwarders to input customs information electronically, calculating payable duties and taxes, and checking for errors automatically. CHIEF also identifies which consignments require examination of goods or documentation, allowing faster entry for low-risk goods.

If your freight forwarder is handling your shipment for you, they should have this covered, but if you&#;re managing this yourself make sure you register with CHIEF and declare the goods.

 

4) Pay any duty required

The majority of goods imported from China to the UK will be subject to the full rate of Customs duty. The customs duty is sometimes referred to as import duty, customs tariff, import tax and import tariff, and is a tax collected on some exports by China&#;s customs authorities.

Some goods manufactured in China may be subject to anti-dumping measures and could require payment of high additional duties, so be sure to double check.

 

5) Check your goods aren&#;t banned from being imported from China to the UK or require an import licence

Some goods are subject to import controls, so it&#;s important to check if any apply to the goods you need to ship. There are currently three types of controls:

  • &#; Bans &#; no import is allowed
  • &#; Quotas &#; the volume of goods is restricted
  • &#; Surveillance &#; the import of goods is monitored with licences

 

If your goods fall under the surveillance control, make sure you obtain a licence before trying to import your goods from China. Find out more about if you need a licence and how to get one from the Department for International Trade. Some items currently prohibited from being importing from China include:

  • &#; Animal skins / Furs
  • &#; Antiques
  • &#; Asbestos
  • &#; Biological substances Category B, UN
  • &#; Dangerous goods, hazardous or combustible materials
  • &#; Firearms, or parts of
  • &#; Items that could be used as weapons
  • &#; Ivory
  • &#; Jewellery
  • &#; Military equipment
  • &#; Perishables
  • &#; Precious metals & stones

 

7) Make sure you hold an Economic Operator Registration Identification (EORI number)

An EORI number is used by UK Customs to keep a record of imported and exported goods and is required by all businesses within the EU when importing commercial cargo from China. This number is needed for a commercial invoice, when submitting an electronic export declaration, and when using the CHIEF system. If you are using a courier or freight forwarder, they will need the EORI number too. It&#;s easy to apply for an EORI number online and usually, takes three working days to receive.

 

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8) Organise a Customs Registration (CR) number and Power of Attorney (POA)

When importing from China, you&#;ll need a CR number and POA for non-document goods (except personal effects), regardless of their value. All importers and exporters in China have to register with customs authorities for an importer or exporter CR Number that must be detailed on the commercial invoice to clear customs.

A POA is a letter of authority given by the sender to the freight forwarding company to clear the shipment through customs on their behalf.

 

9) Include full details on all the labels and invoices

All the labels and invoices you use should contain details of the sender and receiver, the quantity of the goods, their value, the commodity codes and a complete description of the contents. Ensure the invoice is typed and don&#;t make any manual changes.

If you&#;re using a freight forwarding company, they&#;ll be able to advise you on all of the above, making the process of importing from China simple and hassle free. At Good Logistics, we have staff on the ground in Shanghai and provide a first class service at origin and destination. Whether it&#;s Ex Works, FOB or CIF, we offer a full turn-key service to handle FCL and LCL imports from China and the Far East from all the main ports.

Whether you&#;re a first-time importer, or you&#;re just looking for a better service from your freight forwarder, we&#;d love to hear from you to talk about how we can help make importing from China simple.

Importing tools from China to the US

Chinese manufacturers offer a wide variety of different tools. Whether you&#;re interested in importing garden tools, construction tools, or agricultural tools, the Chinese market has it all. Therefore, in China, you will surely find a supplier whose products will meet your expectations, both in design and quality. We present all you need to know about importing tools from China to the US. Check the production areas for tools, their duty rates, and more.

Production areas for tools in China

When looking for a supplier, it&#;s always worth knowing what the main production areas for a product are. In the case of tools, most of their manufacturers are located in Zhejiang Province, e.g., in Ningbo, Wenzhou, or Yongkang. You can also look for tools suppliers in Jiangsu Province. Many of them are in cities such as Suzhou or Nanjing. Other production areas for tools in China are also Guangdong and Shandong Provinces.

Importing tools from China to the US &#; Duty rates

Before importing goods from China, you have to check their tariff rates. You can quickly look them up on the Harmonized Tariff Schedule website. There, you will find both custom rates imposed on the goods and their HTS codes. To check them, enter the article&#;s name or, if you know them, the first 4 or 6 digits of its code in the search bar. The import rates on products from China are in the &#;General&#; column. Below we&#;ve compiled a list of examples of duty rates for tools:

  • Screwdrivers, and parts thereof (.40.00) &#; 6.2%
  • Hammers and sledge hammers, and parts thereof, with heads not over 1.5kg (.20.30) &#; 6.2%
  • Hand-operated spanners and wrenches, and parts thereof (.11.00) &#; 9%
  • Socket wrenches, with or without handles, drives and extensions, and parts thereof (.20.00) &#; 9%
  • Drilling, threading or tapping tools, and parts thereof (.10.00) &#; 6.2%
  • Crowbars, track tools and wedges, and parts thereof (.59.30) &#; 0%
  • Blow torches and similar self-contained torches, and parts thereof (.60.00) &#; 2.9%
  • Tools for pressing, stamping or punching, and parts thereof, suitable for cutting metal, and parts thereof (.30.30) &#; 5.7%
  • Spades and shovels, and parts thereof (.10.00) &#; 0%
  • Handsaws, and parts (except blades) thereof (.10.00) &#; 0%
  • Pipe cutters, bolt cutters, perforating punches and similar tools, and parts thereof, With cutting part containing by weight over 0.2 percent of chromium, molybdenum, or tungsten or over 0.1 percent of vanadium (.40.30) &#; 6%
  • Metal cutting shears and similar tools, and parts thereof (.30.00) &#; 0%

As one can notice, tariff rates imposed on tools are relatively low. In most cases, they don&#;t exceed 9%. That&#;s why their import may be a good idea for a profitable business. However, before making a final decision, get to know the requirements in the US for importing tools.

Requirements for importing tools to the US

The United States doesn&#;t have a standardized law that states the market&#;s requirements for imported goods. However, keep in mind that it doesn&#;t mean that there&#;re no regulations for import. Depending on a product, it must comply with specific obligatory norms regarding safety, quality, or other factors. In the US, CBP (Customs and Border Protection) has the right to examine any shipment to check if it&#;s safe to enter. Therefore, it&#;s mandatory to know its policies and ensure that the products comply with them.

Various agencies have their own requirements for importing different kinds of products into the US. For example, the CPSC organization cooperates with the CBP on the security of imports. Thus, we highly recommend checking what types of goods fall under its jurisdiction. Before entering the US, such products must be tested for compliance with the organization&#;s safety requirements. There&#;s also the US Department of Energy, responsible, among others, for household appliances.

Basic regulations

There&#;re, however, some basic regulations for every cargo imported to the US. All of the goods must have a COO label (Country of Origin). Accordingly, before shipment, check if your products or packaging has an affixed country of origin label. It&#;s also essential to have a complete set of documents, which are:

Tools trade fairs in China

There are two different ways to find a Chinese supplier. One is visiting e-commerce sites, such as Alibaba, Made-in-China, and many more. The second and best option is to attend a specialized trade fair in China. There, you can talk to the suppliers face-to-face, negotiate prices and check the quality of their products on the spot. Below we&#;ve prepared a list of some tools trade fairs organized in China.

China Import and Export Fair

  • Localization: China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair Complex)
  • Official website: cantonfair.org.cn/en

China International Machine Tool Show

  • Localization: Shanghai New International Expo Centre
  • Official website: german-group-ccmt.com

International Machine Tool Exhibition

  • Localization: Century City New International Convention and Exhibition Centre
  • Official website: cd.cwmte.com.cn

Qingdao International Machine Tool Exhibition

  • Localization: Qingdao International Convention Centre
  • Official website: jch-mj.com

Metalworking & CNC Machine Tool Show

  • Localization: National Convention & Exhibition Centre
  • Official website: metalworkingchina.com/en

China International Hardware Show

  • Localization: Shanghai New International Expo Centre
  • Official website: hardwareshow-china.com

Importing tools from China to the US &#; Summary

While China is one of the top exporters of tools globally, the US is one of the biggest importers of them. Importing tools from China to the US is profitable due to their low duty rates, a wide variety of Chinese suppliers&#; offers, and constant demand for such products. However, one must keep in mind that some goods imported into the US must meet obligatory requirements. Therefore, it&#;s crucial to check the correct regulations and comply with them.

Not every Chinese supplier is trustworthy. Before you choose one, verify your business partner.

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