Cost to Ship 1KG from China to United States
What this shipment size actually costs, and whether consolidating up to the next bracket would be cheaper.
A 1KG shipment from China to United States is priced on whichever is greater of actual and volumetric weight. Air suits this size at 5-10 days; sea becomes economical on larger consignments at 25-45 days. Duty is assessed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
- Customs authority
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
Indicative planning references only, not a quotation. Actual cost depends on the product and its HS code, chargeable weight, declared value, destination duty and tax and the exchange rate on the day, and can be higher or lower.
Current Rates — China to United States (1 KG)
Rate data for this combination is currently on request. Contact us directly →
Trade Terms Explained — Who Pays for What
The rate above is quoted on one specific trade term. Change the term and you change how much of the journey to United States is already inside the price. The table below maps the eleven common Incoterms® against the twelve cost stages of a door-to-door shipment, so you can see exactly where our responsibility ends and yours begins.
- Seller — Cost and arrangement sit with the seller / shipper.
- Buyer — Cost and arrangement sit with the buyer / consignee.
- Negotiable — Not fixed by the rule — agree it in the contract.
| Term | 1 Loading on truck | 2 Export customs declaration | 3 Carriage to port of export | 4 Unloading at port of export | 5 Loading on vessel / aircraft | 6 Main carriage | 7 Cargo insurance | 8 Unloading at port of import | 9 Loading on truck at import | 10 Carriage to destination | 11 Import customs clearance | 12 Import duties & taxes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXW Ex Works | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck | Buyer Buyer — Export customs declaration | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to port of export | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of export | Buyer Buyer — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Buyer Buyer — Main carriage | Buyer Buyer — Cargo insurance | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| FCA Free Carrier | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to port of export | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of export | Buyer Buyer — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Buyer Buyer — Main carriage | Buyer Buyer — Cargo insurance | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| FAS Free Alongside Ship | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Buyer Buyer — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Buyer Buyer — Main carriage | Buyer Buyer — Cargo insurance | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| FOB Free On Board | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Buyer Buyer — Main carriage | Buyer Buyer — Cargo insurance | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| CFR Cost and Freight | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Buyer Buyer — Cargo insurance | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| CIF Cost, Insurance and Freight | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Seller Seller — Cargo insurance | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| CPT Carriage Paid To | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Negotiable Negotiable — Cargo insurance | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of import | Seller Seller — Loading on truck at import | Seller Seller — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| CIP Carriage and Insurance Paid | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Seller Seller — Cargo insurance | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of import | Seller Seller — Loading on truck at import | Seller Seller — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| DAT Delivered At Terminal (DPU) | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Negotiable Negotiable — Cargo insurance | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| DAP Delivered At Place | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Negotiable Negotiable — Cargo insurance | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of import | Seller Seller — Loading on truck at import | Seller Seller — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| DDP Delivered Duty Paid | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Negotiable Negotiable — Cargo insurance | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of import | Seller Seller — Loading on truck at import | Seller Seller — Carriage to destination | Seller Seller — Import customs clearance | Seller Seller — Import duties & taxes |
EXW Ex Works
Buyer takes over at the seller's door and carries every cost from there. Lowest quoted price, highest buyer workload.
FCA Free Carrier
Seller clears the goods for export and hands them to the carrier the buyer nominated.
FAS Free Alongside Ship
Sea and inland waterway only. Seller delivers alongside the vessel; loading is on the buyer.
FOB Free On Board
Sea and inland waterway only. Risk passes once the goods are on board. The most common buying term.
CFR Cost and Freight
Seller pays the main carriage but carries no insurance obligation; risk still passes on loading.
CIF Cost, Insurance and Freight
As CFR, plus the seller must buy and pay for cargo insurance (minimum cover unless you agree more).
CPT Carriage Paid To
Any mode. Seller pays carriage through to the named destination; insurance is not obligatory.
CIP Carriage and Insurance Paid
As CPT, plus the seller must insure the cargo through to the named destination.
DAT Delivered At Terminal (DPU)
Seller delivers unloaded at the named terminal. Renamed DPU (Delivered at Place Unloaded) in Incoterms® 2020.
DAP Delivered At Place
Seller delivers to your address ready for unloading; import clearance and duty stay with the buyer.
DDP Delivered Duty Paid
Seller carries everything through to your door, duty and tax included. Highest quoted price, least buyer workload.
Two things worth flagging. Under CIF and CIP the seller is obliged to buy cargo insurance and pay the premium; under every other term insurance is optional, and we recommend buyers arrange their own cover so a loss or damage in transit is recoverable. And this table is a working summary for planning purposes — the binding definitions are the ones published by the International Chamber of Commerce in the Incoterms® rules, so confirm the exact term wording in your sales contract before you ship.
Sample-Stage Consignments
Under 1 KG you are almost always looking at a pre-production sample, a replacement part, or the first unit of an order still being negotiated. Nothing this size belongs in a container: the groupage minimum alone would dwarf the goods. Courier or consolidated air is the honest answer, and the useful question is not the rate but whether the paperwork accompanying the sample matches what the bulk order will later declare.
- Declare the sample honestly — a mismatch against the later bulk entry invites a query
- Ask the supplier to mark cartons "SAMPLE — NO COMMERCIAL VALUE" only if that is true
- Courier is priced on volumetric weight; a light bulky sample can cost triple its scale reading
- Use this shipment to test your HS classification before the money is on the water
What Affects the Shipping Cost to United States?
- Density before anything else — one cubic metre is billed as roughly 167 kg, so light bulky cargo pays on the space it occupies
- How well the cargo is packed — wasted void inside a carton is volume you are paying to move
- Sailing week — rates move with vessel space, and the fortnight before Chinese New Year is the sharpest swing of the year
- Where in United States it is going — the ocean leg is the stable part; the inland run from the quay is what varies
- Declared value, because duty is assessed on it and an optimistic invoice is the most expensive kind
When Does a Full Container Beat Groupage into United States?
The switch is decided by volume, not weight. Groupage is billed per cubic metre with a one-cubic-metre floor, so its cost climbs in a straight line with your cube. A container is a flat price for the box whether you fill it or not. Those two lines cross somewhere between roughly 12 and 15 m³ on most lanes — below that a consol is cheaper, above it you are paying groupage rates for space a 20GP would have given you outright.
| Box | Usable cube | Payload | What it suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20GP | 33 m³ | ≈ 28 t | Dense cargo — the payload runs out long before the cube does. |
| 40GP | 67 m³ | ≈ 26 t | Twice the space for far less than twice the price. The default for most consolidated buyers. |
| 40HQ | 76 m³ | ≈ 26 t | The extra foot of height pays for itself on anything light and stackable. |
Two things move the crossover on a real booking. Cargo denser than about 167 kg per cubic metre hits a container's payload limit before its cube, so the box fills on weight and the calculation shifts down. And a container starts accruing free-time charges at destination the moment it is discharged — demurrage on the quay, detention off it — which is a cost a consol never hands you. If your cargo sits near the line, send the packed dimensions and we will price both against each other rather than guess.
Free 3D Loading Tools
Shipping to United States by air or sea? Plan cartons and container loading in 3D before requesting a quote.
3D Carton Packing Calculator
Optimize cartons before tendering cargo to United States: build the packing plan in 3D and download it for your supplier or forwarder.
Open Packing Tool →3D Container Loading Planner
Not sure if your United States cargo fills a 20GP or needs a 40HQ? Simulate cartons, crates, pallets, and mixed box sizes in the 3D container planner.
Open Container Planner →Transit Times — China to United States
| Method | Transit Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Air, consolidated | 5–10 business days | Origin warehouse to the door in United States |
| Courier | 3–7 business days | Integrator door to door — sensible at this size |
Which Shipping Method is Best for 1 KG?
Air Freight
Sea Freight
Rail Freight
China to United States — Shipping Reference Data
Country-specific logistics anchors for shipments arriving in United States:
| Main sea gateways | Los Angeles/Long Beach, New York/Newark, Savannah |
|---|---|
| Destination customs authority | U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) |
| De-minimis / duty-free threshold | USD 800 |
| Import tax & duty regime | No federal VAT; duties vary by HTS code (often 0–6.5% for general goods) |
| Local currency | USD |
| Typical port/airport dwell time | 2–5 days |
| Peak / busy season | Aug–Oct (pre-holiday peak) |
| Conformity & certification | FCC for radio devices; FDA Prior Notice for food/supplements |
| Main air gateways | LAX (Los Angeles), ORD (Chicago), JFK (New York) |
Thresholds and bands here are planning references for buyers, not rulings — confirm the exact HS-code rate for your goods before shipping.
Price Trend — United States
Historical freight rates from China to United States for 1 KG shipments. Data sourced from live carrier price feeds.
Customs & Documentation for United States
- A low-value threshold may let small consignments through without duty — worth checking before you split a shipment
- The entry stands or falls on three documents: a commercial invoice that matches reality, a packing list with real weights and dimensions, and an HS code you can defend
- Under a duty-paid booking we file and settle on your behalf; the duty figure itself still follows your commodity, its declared value and the rate applied on the day
- Cells, aerosols and anything liquid need their paperwork ready before the cargo leaves the factory, not after it lands
- FDA Prior Notice required for food, supplements, and certain health products
- FCC certification required for electronic devices with radio frequency
Where these United States duty figures come from
Every duty and tax figure quoted on this page is our working estimate for planning, not a ruling. The binding rate for your consignment is whatever U.S. Customs and Border Protection applies against your declared HS code on the day of entry, and their published guidance is the source to check before you commit stock.
Most landed-cost surprises trace back to classification rather than freight. the WCO Harmonized System defines the heading structure every customs administration builds on, and ITC Market Access Map will show you the duty a given heading attracts in this destination.
On the air side, anything with a cell or a battery in it, plus liquids, powders, magnets and aerosols, is governed by the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations. Those articles are not refused outright, but they need to be declared at booking so the shipment is built correctly — declaring them late is the single most common cause of an air consignment being offloaded.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I budget to move cargo into United States?
What you pay into United States turns on size, mode and what the goods actually are. On the tax side: No federal VAT; duties vary by HTS code (often 0–6.5% for general goods). Send your weight and dimensions and we return a full door-to-door quote within 24 hours.
What is the duty position on imports into United States?
Imports into United States are assessed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The applicable regime is: No federal VAT; duties vary by HTS code (often 0–6.5% for general goods). The duty-free / de-minimis position is USD 800. Under our DDP service these charges are pre-paid and included in the per-KG price, so there is nothing to settle on arrival.
Which terminals actually handle this cargo into United States?
Ocean cargo for United States discharges at Los Angeles/Long Beach, New York/Newark, Savannah; air arrives via LAX (Los Angeles), ORD (Chicago), JFK (New York). Which one your consignment routes through is decided by the sailing or allocation we book, and it moves the inland cost far more than it moves the ocean cost. We pick the gateway with the best onward delivery time to your final address and price it into the DDP rate.
When does space get tight on the United States lane?
Capacity to United States tightens around Aug–Oct (pre-holiday peak), on top of the China-side surcharge windows of Chinese New Year (Jan/Feb) and Golden Week (early Oct). Booking 1–2 weeks earlier during these windows protects both space and rate.
What conformity paperwork does United States expect?
For regulated goods entering United States, plan for: FCC for radio devices; FDA Prior Notice for food/supplements. Missing conformity paperwork is the most common cause of clearance holds with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), so confirm requirements for your HS code before the cargo leaves China.
How is chargeable weight calculated?
Chargeable weight is the greater of actual gross weight and volumetric weight, where volumetric weight is L × W × H in centimetres divided by 6000. One cubic metre therefore equals 167 kg. If a consignment weighs 300 kg but measures out to only 200 kg volumetric, it is charged on the 300 kg — the higher of the two always wins.
Realistically, how long does the United States run take?
Measured door to door into United States: air 5–10 business days, groupage 30–50 calendar days, a full box 28–45. On arrival, allow roughly 2–5 days of clearance/dwell at the gateway. All times include customs clearance under DDP.
How small a consignment is worth booking to United States?
It depends which door you come in by. Consolidated air opens around 21 kg, occasionally 12; groupage starts at one cubic metre and rounds up to it; single parcels go integrator. Under 21 kg into United States, courier almost always wins on total cost.
Watch: how this shipment works end to end
The rates above answer the cost question. This covers the mechanics — useful if you have not shipped to United States before and are still working out how to structure the order.
4 Key Stages to US Customs Clearance — USA Customs Clearance. 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.
Shipping to United States by industry
Rates above are lane rates and apply to general cargo. Packing specification, HS classification and the clearance step that matters are all commodity-specific — these guides cover them industry by industry.
- Aluminum Coils Steel & Metal Materials
- Pipe Fittings Metal Products & Industrial Components
- Generators New Energy, Power & Electrical
- Ceramic Tiles Building Materials & Construction Products
- Paper Packaging Wood, Bamboo & Paper Products
- Packaging Materials Plastics, Rubber & Packaging
- Laboratory Furniture Furniture & Home Products
- Fabric Textiles, Apparel, Footwear & Leather
- Salon Furniture Beauty, Personal Care & Wellness
- Sheet Metal Metal Products & Industrial Components
- Compressors General Machinery & Industrial Equipment
- Electrical Cabinets New Energy, Power & Electrical
Customs clearance in Usa
Duty and tax position, certification, typical port dwell and what actually holds shipments at this border — plus who files the entry.
Usa clearance requirements →