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United States → Taiwan clearance guide

Overview

  • · De minimis: a consignment with a dutiable value of NT$2,000 or less is free of duty, business tax and commodity tax. More than six such exempt releases by the same taxpayer in a half-year makes them a frequent importer, and the exemption stops.
  • · Business tax is 5%, collected by customs. A trade promotion service fee of 0.04% also applies, plus commodity tax on listed categories and tobacco and alcohol tax.
  • · Using a customs broker is not mandatory; the taxpayer may file directly, but the declaration still goes through the Single Window electronically.
  • · Express consignments are graded by dutiable value: X1 (documents), X2 (NT$2,000 or less, exempt), X3 (NT$2,001 to 50,000, dutiable) and X4 (over NT$50,000, which requires a full import declaration).
  • · Before importing from mainland China, check the import-rule column for MW0 (not permitted) or MP1 (permitted with conditions). For express consignments addressed to an individual, the declaration is only accepted once the consignee has completed real-name verification in the EZ WAY app.

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.

Taiwan import side

Imports into Taiwan are cleared by the Customs Administration of the Ministry of Finance. The import declaration is transmitted electronically through the Customs-Port-Trade Single Window. The taxpayer, that is the importer, may file directly, or appoint a licensed customs broker; in practice most importers use a broker.

Duty is assessed on the CIF dutiable value under the Customs Import Tariff of the Republic of China. The tariff has three rate columns: column 1 applies to WTO members and to countries or areas granted reciprocal treatment, which covers most imports; column 2 applies to specified goods from designated least-developed or developing countries and from free trade or economic cooperation agreement partners; column 3 applies to goods that qualify for neither. Where columns 1 and 2 both apply, the lower rate is used (Customs Import Tariff, General Rule 2). Goods from Korea, the United States and mainland China have no agreement with Taiwan, so column 1 applies. Customs also collects business tax at 5%, calculated as (dutiable value + import duty + commodity tax or tobacco and alcohol tax + tobacco health and welfare surcharge) x 5%, under Article 41 of the Value-Added and Non-Value-Added Business Tax Act.

On de minimis, goods in one consignment with a dutiable value of NT$2,000 or less are exempt from duty and from the business tax and commodity tax that customs collects. However, a taxpayer who exceeds six such exempt releases within a half-year period, January to June or July to December, is treated as a frequent importer and loses the exemption. Tobacco, alcohol and tariff-quota agricultural products are excluded from the exemption in any case.

Goods originating in mainland China have their own rule. The import-rule column of the tariff schedule carries the codes MW0 and MP1: under the International Trade Administration's notice, MW0 means "mainland goods not permitted to be imported" and MP1 means "mainland goods permitted to be imported subject to conditions". If neither code appears, the mainland goods are permitted and no import permit is needed. Separately, inspection-listed commodities must be presented to the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI), and food and cosmetics follow the border inspection and product-listing rules of the Food and Drug Administration (TFDA).

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Sources: Ministry of Finance: frequent importers and the low-value exemption · Customs Administration: how customs collects business tax on imported goods · Customs Administration: taxes and fees payable on imported goods · Customs Administration: which mainland Chinese goods are permitted · Taipei Customs: notes on simplified declaration for imported express consignments · Ministry of Finance regulations database: rules for simplified clearance of air express consignments · International Trade Administration: special rules for importing mainland Chinese goods · TFDA: cosmetic product listing · MOF law system: Regulations Governing the Inspection, Taxation and Release of Inbound Passengers' Baggage (art. 11 allowances) · Customs Administration: real-name verification for express consignees (EZ WAY) · International Trade Administration: rules governing imports of mainland goods (MW0 and MP1 definitions) · International Trade Administration: trade promotion service fee (rate and basis) · Laws and Regulations Database of Taiwan: Customs Act article 16 (import declaration deadline) · Laws and Regulations Database of Taiwan: Customs Import Tariff, General Rules (which of the three rate columns applies) · 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)