Shipping from China to Acajutla
China → Acajutla · via SAL air / Acajutla sea · clearance by Dirección General de Aduanas de El Salvador
Freight from China into Acajutla clears through SAL air / Acajutla sea. Acajutla is the country's main Pacific port, and the inland leg is same-day, so the clearance date is effectively the delivery date.
Clearance itself is handled by Dirección General de Aduanas de El Salvador, and typical dwell at the gateway runs 3–8 days.
Import duty and tax position for Acajutla
Imports into El Salvador are cleared by Dirección General de Aduanas de El Salvador. The headline position is: IVA 13%; Central American common tariff 0–15%. The de-minimis threshold is USD 200 for courier consignments.
Conformity is the part most first-time importers underestimate: Health registration for food and cosmetics; conformity for regulated goods. Getting this wrong is expensive because it usually cannot be fixed after the cargo has landed.
Restrictions and known friction points for El Salvador: Acajutla has limited direct Asian calls — most cargo transships. Compare the Guatemala routing, which is sometimes faster overall.
What the routing looks like in practice
El Salvador uses the US dollar, which simplifies pricing, and Acajutla on the Pacific gives a shorter routing from China than the Atlantic Central American ports. Many consignees also clear through Puerto Quetzal in Guatemala and truck across, so it is worth comparing both when quoting.
| Air gateways used | SAL (San Salvador) |
|---|---|
| Air transit, China to gateway | 4–7 business days |
| Sea gateways used | Acajutla |
| Sea transit, China to gateway | 22–30 calendar days |
| Gateway serving Acajutla | SAL air / Acajutla sea |
| Inland leg to Acajutla | Same day from the gateway |
| Typical clearance / dwell | 3–8 days |
| Peak season to plan around | Sep–Nov |
Pre-shipment checklist for Acajutla
- Get the conformity paperwork moving early: Health registration for food and cosmetics; conformity for regulated goods.
- Declare lithium batteries, magnets, liquids and powders up front — retro-declaring after booking usually means re-planning the whole shipment.
- Confirm the consignee in Acajutla can act as importer of record — Dirección General de Aduanas de El Salvador will not release cargo to an unregistered party.
- Put the Acajutla delivery address, contact name and phone number on the invoice, not just the packing list.
- Plan around the China-side windows too: Chinese New Year and Golden Week both compress capacity on the El Salvador lane.
- Compare gross weight against volumetric weight (L×W×H ÷ 6000) — the higher figure is what gets billed on air and express.
Air, sea or overland into Acajutla?
| Mode | Transit to gateway | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|
| ✈️ Air Freight | 4–7 business days | time-critical, high-value and low-volume cargo |
| 🚢 Sea Freight | 22–30 calendar days | volume cargo where cost per kilo matters more than speed |
Transit shown is China departure to the El Salvador gateway and excludes the same-day inland leg to Acajutla and 3–8 days of clearance.
Mode guides for Acajutla
Frequently asked questions
How long does shipping from China to Acajutla take?
China to the El Salvador gateway is 4–7 business days by air, 22–30 calendar days by sea. On top of that, allow 3–8 days of clearance with Dirección General de Aduanas de El Salvador and a same-day inland leg to Acajutla.
What duty and tax will I pay importing into Acajutla?
Dirección General de Aduanas de El Salvador applies: IVA 13%; Central American common tariff 0–15%. The de-minimis position is USD 200 for courier consignments. Under a DDP arrangement these are pre-paid, so nothing is collected on arrival in Acajutla.
Which port or airport does cargo for Acajutla clear through?
Cargo for Acajutla is routed via SAL air / Acajutla sea. Sea gateways for El Salvador are Acajutla; air gateways are SAL (San Salvador). We pick whichever gives the shortest total door time for your address.
What certification do I need for El Salvador?
For regulated goods, plan for: Health registration for food and cosmetics; conformity for regulated goods. Missing conformity paperwork is the single most common cause of a hold, and in most cases it cannot be remedied once the cargo has arrived.
When is the busiest time on the China–El Salvador lane?
Space and rates tighten around Sep–Nov, plus the China-side windows of Chinese New Year in January or February and Golden Week in early October. Book one to two weeks earlier in those periods.
Is sea freight cheaper than air freight into Acajutla?
Per kilo, yes — usually by a wide margin. The trade-off is time: 22–30 calendar days by sea versus 4–7 business days by air to the El Salvador gateway, before clearance and the same-day inland leg. The crossover point is normally somewhere between 100 and 300 kg depending on the density of your cargo.
Other delivery cities in El Salvador
References & official sources
Duty rates, thresholds and conformity requirements for El Salvador change by ministerial decision, sometimes mid-year. The figures on this page are buyer-planning references, not a customs ruling — confirm the current position for your own HS code with Dirección General de Aduanas de El Salvador or your broker before you ship.
- Dirección General de Aduanas
- WTO — Tariff Profiles (applied MFN duty by country)
- World Bank — Logistics Performance Index
- ICC — Incoterms 2020 rules (DDP, DAP, FOB definitions)
- IPPC — ISPM 15 wood packaging standard
- WCO — Harmonized System nomenclature
Page data last reviewed: 10 月 2026.
Shipping by industry
This page covers the route and clearance picture for the destination. Packing, classification and the compliance step that actually holds a shipment depend on what you are sending — these guides cover that by commodity.
- Tableware Furniture & Home Products
- Display Stands Retail, Display & Commercial Fixtures
- Umbrellas Consumer Goods & Gifts
- Bearings Metal Products & Industrial Components
- Solar Panel New Energy, Power & Electrical
- Prefabricated Building Building Materials & Construction Products
- Pallet Wood, Bamboo & Paper Products
- Conveyor Belts Plastics, Rubber & Packaging
- Hotel Furniture Furniture & Home Products
- Textiles Textiles, Apparel, Footwear & Leather
- Restaurant Furniture Retail, Display & Commercial Fixtures
- Metal Fabrication Metal Products & Industrial Components
Checking the El Salvador duty position yourself
Duty and tax figures on this page are planning estimates. The binding assessment is made by Dirección General de Aduanas de El Salvador against your declared HS code at the time of entry; where the amount is material, verify the current rate through ITC Market Access Map before committing to an order.
If you want to sanity-check a duty figure yourself, start from the heading rather than the product name — the WCO Harmonized System is the underlying nomenclature, and the WTO Tariff & Trade Data portal holds the applied rates by country pair.
For ocean cargo, restricted commodities move under the IMO's IMDG Code, and the container has to be declared and stowed accordingly. Batteries, flammables and corrosives all have a compliant ocean path; what causes rolled bookings is finding out about them after the container is packed.
On the origin side, export declaration and any commodity inspection requirement fall under China Customs (GACC); we handle that filing as part of the service, but the requirement is theirs, not ours.
For a wider view of how importing into El Salvador actually works — documentation norms, inspection behavior, the paperwork that tends to hold shipments — the U.S. ITA guide to El Salvador customs regulations is a useful independent read alongside our own lane notes.
Watch: the process behind this route
This guide covers routing and clearance for Acajutla. The video below covers the wider shipping process that sits around it.
Marine Insurance Explained - Understand the Cargo Insurance You're Getting — ABTS®. Published on YouTube by a third party; we link it because it explains the process well, not because we produced it or endorse the provider.
Customs clearance in El Salvador
Duty and tax position, certification, typical port dwell and what actually holds shipments at this border — plus who files the entry.
El Salvador clearance requirements →