Import Duty on Chinese Goods to the US

Import duty

Import duty is a tax collected on imported goods by a country’s customs authorities, a percentage of the goods value, levied when the goods first enter the country.
It’s also known as import tariff, import tax, customs duty or tariff.

Why import duty

Import duty exists for mainly 3 purposes:
1. Create income for the local government
2. Provide advantages for and protect local manufacturers or local products, for they are not subject to import duties.
3. Penalize a particular country by imposing heavy duties on certain products of that country.

How to calculate import duty on Chinese goods to the US

HS CODE/HTS CODE

Import duty varies by country and the type of product. First of all, you have to understand HS CODE (stands for Harmonized System Code. It is an international index used for categorizing goods, enabling consistent classification and taxation). The CBP uses extended version – Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUS) published by International Trade Commission.

How to calculate import duty

Different duty rates are applied on imported products depending on the origin of country and type of product. Search result will be shown after entering the correct HTS CODE, the general rate applies to countries that have normal trade relations with the United States. The special rate is for countries that are not developed or are eligible for an international trade program.
Determined by the HTS Code, for duty rate pls refer to http://hts.usitc.gov/ Other tariff:
Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF): 0.3464% of the value (applied to both sea & air)
Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF): 0.125% of the value (applied only to sea shipment)
For example, you are importing $40000 worth of goods by sea, and the general rate is 6.5%, so you are going to pay:
General duty $2600
MPF: $138.56
HMF: $50
Total duty cost is 2600 + 138.56 + 50 = $2788.56

The min threshold for import duty is USD800, any goods under this value are not subject to duty.
So if you are sending a package worth of $600 from China to the US by DHL, duty is exempt.

US-China Trade War Additional duty

Additional duty/US-China Trade War Tariff

You might find it troublesome, however, with the right shipping broker, a stress-free door to door shipping from China to the USA is guaranteed, of course including customs clearance and import duty.

Import Duty on Chinese Goods to the US|UCS