To prevent the harm of alien species and restrict illegal felling of trees, exporting wooden furniture to the United States must comply with relevant laws and regulations of the United States.
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Regulations–APHISRegulations
APHIS requires that all timber entering the country go through a specified disinfection program to prevent exotic pests from affecting native wildlife.
APHIS recommends two treatments for lumber and wood products: heat treatment using a kiln or microwave energy dryer, or chemical treatment using surface pesticides, preservatives or methyl bromide fumigation, etc.
APHIS can be visited to accept the relevant form (“Timber and TimberProducts ImportPermit”) and learn more about the process involved.
According to the Lacey Act, all wood products need to be declared to APHIS in the form of PPQ505. This requires submission of the scientific name (genus and species) and source of wood for confirmation by APHIS, along with other import paperwork required.
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)–CITESRequirements
Wood raw materials used in furniture exported to the United States that are covered by regulations related to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) are subject to some (or all) of the following requirements:
General license issued by USDA (valid for two years)
A certificate issued by the CITES representative of the country where the timber raw material is harvested, stating that the act will not harm the survival of the species and that the goods were obtained legally.
CITES stands for Certificate issued in the United States.
Arrives at a U.S. port equipped to handle CITES-listed species
Duties and other customs charges
general tariff
By HTS code and country of origin, the corresponding tax rate can be estimated using the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS). The HTS list already classifies all types of goods and details the tax rates levied on each category. Furniture in general (including wooden furniture) falls primarily under Chapter 94, the specific subheading depending on the type.
general tariff
By HTS code and country of origin, the corresponding tax rate can be estimated using the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS). The HTS list already classifies all types of goods and details the tax rates levied on each category. Furniture in general (including wooden furniture) falls primarily under Chapter 94, the specific subheading depending on the type.
other customs fees
In addition to general and anti-dumping duties, there are two charges on all shipments entering U.S. domestic ports: the Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF) and the Merchandise Handling Fee (MPF)
Customs clearance process for exports to the United States
There are various trade methods for exporting goods to the United States. For some goods, the US import customs clearance fees and taxes are paid by the consignor. In this case, the US Customs Clearance Association requires Chinese exporters to sign a POA power of attorney before delivery. It is similar to the power of attorney for customs declaration that is required for customs declaration in my country. There are usually two ways of customs clearance:
01Customs clearance in the name of the US consignee
● That is, the American consignee provides the POA to the American agent of the freight forwarder, and the Bond of the American consignee is also required.
02Customs clearance in the name of the consignor
● The consignor provides the POA to the freight forwarder at the port of departure, and the freight forwarder then transfers it to the agent at the destination port. The American agent will help the consignor apply for the importer’s customs registration number in the United States, and the consignor is required to purchase Bond.
Precautions
● No matter which one of the above two customs clearance methods is adopted, the US consignee’s tax ID (TaxID, also called IRSNo.) must be used for customs clearance. IRSNo. (TheInternalRevenueServiceNo.) is a tax identification number registered by the US consignee with the US Internal Revenue Service.
● In the United States, customs clearance is impossible without Bond, and customs clearance is impossible without a tax ID number.
Customs clearance process under this type of trade
01. Customs declaration
After the customs broker receives the arrival notice, if the documents required by the customs are prepared at the same time, they can apply to the customs for customs clearance within 5 days of preparing to arrive at the port or arriving at the inland point. Customs clearance for sea freight will usually notify you within 48 hours of release or not, and air freight will notify you within 24 hours. Some cargo ships have not yet arrived at the port, and the customs have decided to inspect them. Most inland points can be declared in advance (Pre-Clear) before the arrival of the goods, but the results will only be displayed after the arrival of the goods (that is, after ARRIVALIT).
There are two ways to declare to the customs, one is electronic declaration, and the other is that the customs needs to review written documents. Either way, we must prepare the required documents and other data information.
02. Prepare customs declaration documents
(1) Bill of Lading (B/L);
(2) Invoice (CommercialInvoice);
(3) packing list (PackingList);
(4) Arrival Notice (ArrivalNotice)
(5) If there is wood packaging, a fumigation certificate (Fumigation Certificate) or a non-wood packaging statement (NonWoodPackingStatement) is required.
The name of the consignee (consignee) on the bill of lading needs to be the same as the consignee shown on the last three documents. If it is inconsistent, the consignee on the bill of lading must write a letter of transfer (Letter of Transfer) before the third party can clear the customs. The name, address and telephone number of S/&C/ are also required on the invoice and packing list. Some domestic S/ documents lack this information, and they will be required to supplement it.
Post time: Dec-30-2022
