helptariff
English

United States → China clearance guide

Overview

  • · Cross-border e-commerce retail import: RMB 5,000 per transaction and RMB 26,000 per person per year; within the limits the tariff is 0% and VAT and consumption tax are levied at 70% of the statutory amount.
  • · Import VAT is 13% as standard under art. 10 of the VAT Law (in force 2026-01-01), with 9% for listed goods such as agricultural products, edible vegetable oils, edible salt, books, feed and chemical fertiliser. Consumption tax applies to listed goods, with high-end cosmetics at 15%.
  • · The consignee needs customs registration; foreign trade operator registration was abolished from 2022-12-30. The company may self-declare or entrust a registered customs broker.
  • · Overseas food manufacturers must complete GACC Decree 248 registration through CIFER before their goods can be imported.
  • · Products in the CCC catalogue need a compulsory product certification certificate; cosmetics need NMPA registration or filing and a Chinese label.
  • · The CCC catalogue is currently organised in 17 product categories (per the CNCA 2026 compilation of implementation rules); the last officially announced count was 16 categories / 96 products (SAMR Announcement 2023 No. 36), since expanded by later announcements (e-bike batteries and chargers, gas-appliance hoses, EV supply equipment from 2026-08-01, among others). Check the CNCA catalogue for your product.

Procedure

United States export side

The United States levies no export duty and has no export VAT to refund. What an exporter has to get right is the paperwork: an electronic export declaration where one is required, and compliance with export controls and sanctions.

Electronic Export Information (EEI) must be filed in AESDirect, inside CBP's ACE system, when the value of any single Schedule B or HTS commodity line in a shipment exceeds US$2,500, and whenever an export licence is required regardless of value. The rules are the Foreign Trade Regulations, 15 CFR part 30, administered by the Census Bureau. A successful filing returns an Internal Transaction Number (ITN) that the carrier needs before the goods are laded. The filing deadlines are set per mode in 15 CFR 30.4: vessel, 24 hours before the cargo is laden at the US port; air, no later than 2 hours before the scheduled departure time; truck, 1 hour before the truck arrives at the border; rail, 2 hours before the train arrives at the border; mail and other modes, 2 hours before exportation. Exporters approved by the Census Bureau for postdeparture filing may file within 5 calendar days of the date of export, and pipeline shipments within 4 calendar days after the end of the month. Used self-propelled vehicles must separately be presented to CBP at least 72 hours before export.

Goods are classified for export using Schedule B (a Census-maintained extension of the HS) or, where it also works, the HTS number. Controlled items carry an Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) on the Commerce Control List administered by the Bureau of Industry and Security; defense articles fall under the U.S. Munitions List administered by the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls. All parties to a transaction should be screened against the OFAC and BIS restricted-party lists.

Destination-side paperwork is the exporter's contribution to the buyer's clearance. For Korea that includes a KORUS certification of origin, which is a self-certification with no prescribed form. Taiwan and mainland China have no free trade agreement with the United States, so buyers there generally pay the ordinary applied rate.

China import side

Imports into mainland China are administered by the General Administration of Customs (GACC), with declarations filed through the China International Trade Single Window. The consignee must first complete customs registration as a consignee or consignor of imported and exported goods. The separate foreign trade operator registration was abolished with the 2022 amendment to the Foreign Trade Law and has not been required since 2022-12-30. Once registered, a company may declare itself or entrust a registered customs broker.

Duty is charged on the CIF customs value under the Tariff Law of the People's Republic of China, in force since 2024-12-01 (art. 72 of which repealed the former Import and Export Tariff Regulations). Art. 10 of that Law provides for MFN, agreement, preferential and general rates on imports, a tariff-quota rate for goods under quota management, and provisional rates for defined periods. Korean-origin goods can claim either the China–Korea FTA or the RCEP rate; Taiwan-origin goods on the early-harvest list are covered by ECFA-related measures; US-origin goods normally take the MFN rate. Import VAT is 13% as standard under art. 10 of the Value-Added Tax Law of the People's Republic of China, in force since 2026-01-01, and 9% for the goods that article lists: agricultural products, edible vegetable oils and edible salt; tap water, heating, cooling, hot water, gas, liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas, dimethyl ether, biogas and coal products for household use; books, newspapers, magazines, audio-visual products and electronic publications; and feed, chemical fertiliser, pesticides, agricultural machinery and agricultural film. The VAT base on imports is the customs value plus duty plus consumption tax (art. 14). Consumption tax applies to the goods listed in the Provisional Regulations on Consumption Tax; high-end cosmetics are taxed at 15%, and ordinary cosmetics have been outside the tax since 1 October 2016.

Cross-border e-commerce retail imports have their own tax regime. Under Cai Guan Shui [2018] No. 49, in force from 2019-01-01, the single-transaction limit is RMB 5,000 and the personal annual limit RMB 26,000; under Cai Guan Shui [2016] No. 18, within those limits the tariff rate is set at 0% and import VAT and consumption tax are levied at 70% of the statutory amount. The dutiable value is the actual transaction price, including the retail price, freight and insurance. Where the single-transaction limit is exceeded but the annual limit is not, and the order contains a single item, the goods may still come through this channel but are taxed in full at the goods rates; once the annual limit is exceeded, general trade rules apply. Personal accompanied and posted articles that do not use this channel are taxed under the Measures for the Levy of Customs Duty, VAT and Consumption Tax on Inbound Articles (Tariff Commission Announcement 2024 No. 11, in force 2024-12-01), which combines the three taxes into a single composite rate.

Border requirements are substantial. Overseas manufacturers of imported food must be registered through the CIFER system under GACC Decree 248, and the registration number must appear on the packaging. Products in the compulsory certification catalogue need a CCC certificate. Cosmetics need NMPA registration or filing and a Chinese label. Animals, plants and their products need a quarantine permit and are subject to inspection.

Priority categories on this lane

Pick an HS code

Search again

Other lanes

Sources: People's Daily Overseas Edition: how cross-border e-commerce retail imports are taxed (customs Q&A) · MOFCOM policy database: Notice on improving the tax policy for cross-border e-commerce retail imports · State Taxation Administration: Notice on adjusting the consumption tax policy for cosmetics · GACC online service guide: enterprise registration and declaration · China International Trade Single Window · General Administration of Customs of China · State Administration for Market Regulation · State Council Tariff Commission: Measures for the Levy of Customs Duty, VAT and Consumption Tax on Inbound Articles (in force 2024-12-01) · Ministry of Finance, Tariff Department: Tariff Law of the People's Republic of China (in force 2024-12-01) · State Taxation Administration (Hainan): Value-Added Tax Law of the People's Republic of China (in force 2026-01-01) · Ministry of Finance: Notice on the tax policy for cross-border e-commerce retail imports (Cai Guan Shui [2016] No. 18) · State Council Gazette: Provisions on the Declaration of Import and Export Goods (GACC Decree 277, in force 2025-05-01) · China CNCA — SAMR Announcement 2023 No. 36 (CCC catalogue description and definition table, 2023 revision: 16 categories / 96 products) · China CNCA — compilation of CCC implementation rules (2026) · Census Bureau: Foreign Trade Regulations frequently asked questions · eCFR: 15 CFR part 30, Foreign Trade Regulations · CBP: Automated Export System (AES) · International Trade Administration: Electronic Export Information (EEI) · Bureau of Industry and Security: Export Administration Regulations · Census Bureau: Schedule B search engine · eCFR: 15 CFR 30.4 — Electronic Export Information filing procedures and deadlines by mode · eCFR: 15 CFR 30.10 — retention of export information (five years)