Customs clearance of goods, cargo and vehicles from China

Everyone can try to order goods from China on their own, but you need to be prepared for the fact that when working with Chinese suppliers you may encounter a number of controversial issues and problems. Let's figure out how to act in order to stay ahead, correctly clear and clear customs of goods and cargo from China, and at the same time reduce financial costs.

Customs clearance of goods, cargo and machines from China

Features of finding a business partner from China

The first thing that requires special attention is your partner. To make cooperation truly profitable, you need to make sure that you are working directly with the manufacturer, and not an intermediary. To do this, you should check the following characteristics of the company:

  • year of establishment of the enterprise, its history;
  • total number of employees;
  • production capacity, technological features of product manufacturing;
  • availability of relevant documentation, in particular, certificates and diplomas;
  • position on the world stage, participation of the company in specialized exhibitions, etc.

To verify this information and obtain reliable information, you can “inspect” your partner yourself or entrust this task to a consulting company. The second approach will allow you to devote more time to solving other important issues, and its comprehensiveness will guarantee that everything will be done at a high level, and you will be provided with a full report on the work performed.

After you are convinced that you have found a reliable supplier, you will face an equally difficult stage - concluding an agreement on mutually beneficial terms, discussing payment for products, transportation conditions, delivery times, and the availability of an insurance policy.

How to properly deliver goods from China?

When you have decided on the products that will be delivered from China, you need to understand what transport you will use for these purposes. The top 3 options include the following: air delivery, container and road delivery. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages, so costs and profits need to be calculated individually.

For example, air delivery significantly increases the cost of almost any product, on the other hand, it is the optimal solution if the products need to be delivered as quickly as possible. But delivery by container will take about 35-40 days, provided that the goods are shipped in Odessa and then transported by road, but it is much cheaper, despite the fact that two types of transport are involved.

What should you know about customs processes when working with a manufacturer from China?

Even if you have enlisted customs broker assistance, you will need to delve a little into the specifics of working with foreign companies. An intermediary can tell you how to act in a particular situation, deal with organizational issues, but you must also have information about the necessary permits, potential payments, properties and features of the product in order to understand how customs control will be carried out.

Regarding the basic documents required for customs clearance of goods from China, it can be noted:

  • the presence of a contract directly with the manufacturer, additional agreements reflecting the terms of cooperation with the counterparty;
  • the so-called packing list with information about the goods, the features of its packaging;
  • certificates of origin, product quality;
  • invoices, export declaration provided by the Chinese partner;
  • invoice and proforma invoice confirming the advance payment, etc.

Key duties and taxes on products from China

Any product, regardless of whether you are importing cars, food or cosmetics, has its own commodity code. Thanks to it, you can calculate future costs and determine the amount of duty that will need to be paid. As a rule, customs duty is added to the cost of the product, after which VAT (20%) is deducted from it. Thus, you can estimate all costs and understand how profitable the delivery of goods from China is in your case. For a more accurate understanding of customs clearance stages, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with this information.