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 whether the import regulation column of the commodity classification table shows MW0 or MP1.
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.
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 columns: column 1 for countries and areas with an agreement or granted preference, column 2 for WTO members and reciprocating countries, which covers most imports, and column 3 for the rest. 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 of mainland Chinese origin carry special rules. If the import regulation column of the commodity classification table shows MW0 or MP1, the goods are respectively not permitted or permitted subject to conditions; if neither code appears, the mainland goods are permitted. The list is maintained by the International Trade Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Separately, goods on the inspection list must be presented to the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI), and food and cosmetics must satisfy the border inspection and product listing rules of the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA).
Priority categories on this lane
Pick an HS code
Other lanes
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 · 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