China to US Moving & Shipping by Sea

Are you planning to ship furniture, luggage, or other personal belongings from China to the United States by sea?

The United States is the world's largest economy, accounting for about a quarter of global GDP, and is the world's largest importer and second-largest exporter of goods. Although its population is only 4.3% of the world total, the U.S. accounts for 33.4% of global wealth. The United States ranks highest on several socioeconomic performance indicators, including average wages, human development, GDP per capita, and productivity per capita. The United States possesses the world's most powerful military, political, cultural, and scientific strength. In recent years, an increasing number of Chinese elites have chosen to study, work, or immigrate to the United States.

For shipping furniture, luggage, or other personal belongings from anywhere in China to the United States (moving from China to the U.S.), Seapoe provides you with a complete one-stop service — including door-to-door packing and pickup, assistance with complete documentation, customs clearance and duty-free assistance in both China and the U.S., insurance, transportation, warehousing, and inland transportation, home delivery, and even more additional services, making the entire process easy and worry-free for you.

Service Content

1. Free on-site assessment anywhere in China for sea freight moving customers
2. Cardboard boxes, packing materials, tape, and other items can be provided in advance for you to pack your luggage and belongings yourself as needed
3. On-site packing, furniture disassembly and packing, item inventory registration, overall packing and reinforcement
4. Declaration after sea arrival in the U.S., customs inspection, duty declaration, sorting and pickup at the bonded warehouse
5. Delivery to your U.S. home with placement, furniture assembly, unpacking, and cleanup

Origin Service Options

Depending on the condition of the customer's items at the origin, we typically offer three types of transportation solutions (using furniture transport as an example):

1. Used furniture, luggage, or other used personal belongings: Complete door-to-door transportation. Our professional team will visit at the scheduled time to carefully pack different types of items, pick up and inventory items at the warehouse, provide warehousing, export packing reinforcement, domestic port container loading, FCL or LCL sea freight, destination country customs clearance, port unloading, destination home delivery and in-home delivery, removal of large packaging, and cleanup of all packaging debris.
2. If you have purchased brand-new furniture in China, as well as doors, windows, flooring, tiles, and other building materials for a self-built home, and you are in the United States hoping we provide door-to-door transportation service, you can ask the manufacturer to ship the newly purchased furniture directly to Seapoe's nearest centralized logistics warehouse nationwide. We provide complete warehouse services including dedicated receiving, inspection on your behalf, export repacking and reinforcement, photo confirmation of item details, and subsequent full customs, port, sea freight, destination port clearance, delivery, and door-to-door services.
3. For brand-new furniture custom-made at a furniture factory, if you or the manufacturer require it, Seapoe can also arrange a fleet to go directly to the manufacturer's location to complete the pickup service.

Shipping Methods

For Seapoe's sea freight services to the United States, in addition to regular LCL and container shipping, we also offer the exclusive advantage of groupage (consolidated shipping). For details, please refer to:

• What are the differences between LCL, FCL, and groupage for U.S. sea freight? How to choose?

Service Process

1. Customers contact us through various channels for initial communication. Seapoe's professional transportation consultants will provide customs policy consultation, transportation solutions, and quotations based on cargo conditions, moving methods and routes, shipping schedules, and other information.
2. After a second round of communication based on Seapoe's proposed solutions and quotations, once the order is confirmed, the "International Moving Carriage Contract" is signed, shipping schedules and other information are confirmed, and Seapoe arranges for the packing team to visit and pack and reinforce the goods within the agreed timeframe.
3. Seapoe consultants assist in preparing packing lists and other customs declaration documents based on the relevant documents provided by the customer, ensuring smooth customs release of the goods.
4. Upon arrival at the U.S. destination port, different basic/value-added services will be provided according to the contract, including destination port customs clearance, home delivery, removal of packaging materials, placement of items in designated positions, and debris cleanup.
5. After the customer confirms receipt of goods, a satisfaction survey will be conducted. Any opinions and suggestions will be carefully recorded. Continuously improving customer satisfaction is Seapoe's consistent pursuit.

U.S. Customs Notes

• Since the 9/11 attacks, U.S. Customs has strengthened security and inspection of all international cargo entering the country.
• All types of documents are thoroughly inspected. Incomplete or incorrect documents will be rejected, and "held" shipments will incur demurrage charges.
• Most goods entering the United States are subject to X-ray inspection.
• An increasing number of containers are randomly selected for "physical" inspection. This may cause clearance delays, resulting in demurrage and/or daily allowance charges.
• Customs clearance may need to be completed within 4-8 days of the arrival date.
• Seapoe recommends providing all documents, including Form 3299, supplemental declaration, passport photos, and visa copies, to us as early as possible.
• Upon arrival of items in the United States, all "non-U.S." citizens must complete customs clearance in the United States (Seapoe will provide assistance).

For more details, please refer to:

• US Customs: Prohibited Items & Import Duties
• Guide to U.S. Customs Clearance for Sea Freight of Furniture and Personal Belongings

Shipping Time and Cost

For sea freight from China to the United States, the entire process from door-to-door pickup to door-to-door delivery generally takes between 45 and 75 days.

Since the international moving business is relatively complex, it is irresponsible to directly provide a specific service timeline and cost without understanding your specific needs. If you would like to know the price of sea freight from China to the United States, please contact us for a quotation.