Incoterms 2020: who pays, who carries the risk
An incoterm is three letters long and decides several thousand euros.
Updated September 2026Understanding imports from China
The rules that decide what an import really costs and where your legal liability sits, with two calculators to put figures on your own case. No sales pitch, no house method: regulation, verified and dated.
Customs duty and VAT on an import from China
The price paid to the factory is never the landed cost.
Updated September 2026Compliance: CE marking and GPSR on import
By placing a product on the European market, an importer does not merely buy goods: it takes on the manufacturer's obligations.
Updated September 2026Paying a Chinese supplier: the instruments and their limits
A payment sent to China is very hard to call back.
Updated September 2026The Chinese public holiday calendar and its effect on production
Two annual shutdowns bring Chinese industry to a halt, and neither falls on a fixed date in our calendar.
Updated September 2026Import documents: who issues what, and why
Goods held at a port are almost always held for a documentary reason, not a customs one.
Updated September 2026Calculating customs duty and import VAT
Three amounts are added to the factory price, and each is calculated on a different base from the last.
Updated September 2026What makes up the price of a shipment from China
A freight quotation rarely announces the final figure.
Updated September 2026Working out your volume and filling a container
Two questions come back with every order: will it fit, and what will the carrier charge on.
Updated September 2026Contracting with a Chinese supplier: what holds and what does not
A purchase order signed by email is reassuring, but binds little.
Updated September 2026Protecting your brand and your moulds in China
Two assets are regularly lost in China for want of timely protection: the name you sell under, and the tooling you paid for.
Updated September 2026Extended producer responsibility: the importer's obligations
This is the obligation almost nobody sees coming.
Updated September 2026Glossary of importing from China
A Chinese quotation often consists of acronyms.
Updated September 2026These guides are general information. They replace neither a customs agent's opinion on a tariff classification nor professional advice on a specific situation.
Understanding imports from China
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