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 and 9% for listed goods such as grain, edible oil, books and agricultural products; 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.
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.
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 assessed on the CIF dutiable value under the Import and Export Tariff, which sets MFN rates, agreement rates, general rates and provisional rates published annually. Goods of Korean origin may use either the Korea-China FTA or RCEP rate; goods from Taiwan on the ECFA early harvest list use the ECFA arrangement; goods of U.S. origin normally take the MFN rate. Import VAT is 13% as standard and 9% for listed goods such as grain, edible vegetable oil, books and agricultural products. Consumption tax applies to the goods listed in the Provisional Regulations on Consumption Tax; high-end cosmetics are taxed at 15%, while ordinary cosmetics have been outside the consumption tax since 2016-10-01.
Cross-border e-commerce retail imports have their own regime: the single-transaction limit is RMB 5,000 and the annual limit per person is RMB 26,000. Within those limits the tariff rate is set at 0% and import VAT and consumption tax are levied at 70% of the statutory amount. Where the price exceeds the single-transaction limit but stays under the annual limit and the order contains a single item, ordinary goods rates apply in full. Personal articles arriving by post outside that channel are taxed under the postal article tax.
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
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 · 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