[jamiel]

Hi,

Does anyone know what is the customs import taxes/tariffs imposed by the US on t-shirts coming into the US from Indonesia? Are there any suggested best practices in importing and dealing with the US customs and the associated paperwork?

I'm ordering about 1,000 cotton t-shirts

 

[helenh]

Importing is quite interesting process. I have just finished doing my first one from China. Will advise on final bill which I have not received yet, (seems to be a secret at this point), but a lot people get paid in this process, you have to pay
bond,
power of attorney,
agent,
broker
customs clearance,
warehouse x 2 or 3
sea shipping of course,
handling x 2 or 3
I am guessing about $1,000 as a bill, but cannot get one out of the broker yet, maybe today.
Also it takes a good 2 months.

 

[jamiel]

Actually, so far I haven't gone through any of that I'm using UPS air freight which will get me the merchandise in a week (but is expensive). However, nobody has an answer on what tariffs I need to pay on cotton t-shirts and on what number the tariffs will be based on.

The laws in this area are hard to decipher, I'm wondering if anyone has any experience.. or do I have to find out the hard way?

 

[taricp35]

2 months to receive your goods means that you must be buying a truck load and they are being shipped by boat otherwise I would never use that method. When I buy from overseas the shipper use EMS, TNT, or DHL and I receive my goods within a week.

I have only purchased t-shirts once from overseas and I did not have to pay tarrifs/import taxes because the were marked samples...which they were. Some suppliers will mark them as 'Gift" to prevent the tax but I do not recommend that.

Here is a video that may clarify things and aid you in finding out how much you will have to pay.

FTD - AES - Taxes and Tariffs

Tari

 

[amphibious]

I'm in the process of importing a load of custom manufactured products... for the small size/small run products using an air express service makes sense. But when you're ordering a couple thousand shirts or when time the product isn't time sensitive it gets prohibitively expensive, so ocean freight is your only option.

Manufacturers typically quote prices as FOB, which basically means the cost to drop it off at the port is included in manufacturing. But then you have to arrange with a freight carrier, and if you aren't shipping an entire container load of goods you're going to get tagged with some big penalties... then you have to pay for a customs broker, and then you have to pay to get it from the port of entry (probably somewhere on the west coast) to wherever you are.

After exploring all the options, I decided that going with FedEx Trade Networks Direct Distribution Ocean Services. The biggest plus is that they take care of everything, from the manufacturer to your doorstep (or local airport as the case may be). They also allow your to ship a partial container without penalty and they take care of all customs paperwork. The total price is, at worst, just about the same as the option discussed in the previous paragraph, and, at best, a good deal less. Even if it were more expensive the ease of setup and peace of mind would be worth it.

 

[DimSum]

Here is your info on the tarriff code and duty rate Jamiel: 16.5% duty,

6109.10.0004 for all white men's and boys T-shirts, 6109.10.0040 for all white women's T-shirts

Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States

 

[tee united]

hi

It is seem like very complicated to export by sea to USA.
.
but in otherhand cost for fedex it self is much more expensive than the thirst.

 

[DimSum]

Importing requires a certain set of knowledge. We as importers take care of the headaches for people who don't want to deal with all the paperwork. If you buy small quantities, you are better off buying from whoelsalers. You can't always buy direct from overseas and expect to save money.

 

[wfll]

Hi,

Does anyone know what is the customs import taxes/tariffs imposed by the US on t-shirts coming into the US from Indonesia? Are there any suggested best practices in importing and dealing with the US customs and the associated paperwork?

I'm ordering about 1,000 cotton t-shirts

At the beginning of the year I had 2000 license plate frames made and shipped to Texas. From the day I wired the money to China, about $7,200 till the time the shipment was in Long Beach, it was 3 weeks. I worked thru a broker in China who earned 5% of the $7,200 or $360. When the shipment arrived in Long Beach, I used a company that was recomended to me and they handled everything, including customs, thru a power of attorny I signed. They paid all the fees up front, then when the shipment cleared customs, I wired their fee plus all of the expenses the freight forwarding company incurred. About $1,400.
This is probably on the high side as the frames weighed 1800 pounds and $475 of the $1,400 was for freight from Long Beach to San Antonio. The charges added about 75 cents to each frame by the time it was said and done. Hope this helps and this was may first experience importing and all things considered, the process was pretty straight forward since I did very little except pay money.

 

[wfll]

Also the customs fee for these frames was 5%, or $360 of the $1400 that I paid out in total expenses. So I spent lesss than $600 for the freight forwarding company who had additional fees I had to pay, such as insurance, off loading fee from container, fork lift fee, etc., etc., the forwarding company's fee was about $300. Again $1400 total expenses after the frames left China or about 18% of $7560 I spent in China.

 

[airf]

2 months are very long time.... We import Tshirts in Holland from Pakistan as its cheap then China, India and Indonesia, the frieght charges are $ 310 for 50kg & $ 610 for kgs & delivery in just 5 days from Pakistan. I think frieht charges in Pakistan are less than China or any other country....... We have 2 friends from Pakistan from Which we are buying from last 2 years.............
About Tax or import duty in USA i have no idea........ Ok dear........ Byeeeeeeeee
Cheers ......... & good luck for your business

 

[dragonknight]

Hi Jamiel,
We are also a blank T-Shirts manufacturer from Indonesia
If you are interested in our products (Screen Printed T-Shirts, DTG/Direct To Garment Printed T-Shirt, or Blank T-Shirt) I can help you for port to door service from Indonesia to USA without the headache for custom paperworks by a sea forwarder (they usually do the homework you just receive your goods in your warehouse or store). I use their service a lot. Drop me a PM if you are interested.

 

[helenh]

Anything light we bring in via UPS. It takes 2 days and there is no customs duty. Anything large or heavy needs to go via sea. Takes 2 months very small customs bill compared to fees, but overall on my shipment which was 700 kgs I paid 1,000 $ which added .40 to each item. DB Schenker handled everything, they are pretty good, you just have to follow up with them, overall it was well worth it, the only really bad thing, is every time we all do this, we are putting on of our fellow Americans out of a job since it is so easy to buy product to sell here from people who earn 2.00 a month. But when in Rome do as the Romans, no body cares about their neighbor anyway, just a dog eat dog kind of world