Landed Cost of Imported Parts: What the Quote Skips
The landed cost of imported parts adds freight, duty, broker and exam fees to the FOB price. What the importer of record owes, per CBP, and how to compare.
An FOB price is a price at a port on the other side of the ocean. The landed cost of imported parts is what they cost once they're on your dock, and the gap can be big.
Why Does an FOB Price Leave So Much Out?
Because FOB stops when the goods are loaded on the ship at origin. Freight, insurance, duty, customs fees, brokerage and delivery from the U.S. port are on you, and none of it shows up in the unit price.
An r/manufacturing user asked what it would cost to get a 20-foot container from Yantian, China, to Portland, Oregon. It's a fair question, and the honest answer depends on how the part is classified and how it ships.
What goes into the landed cost of imported parts
Start with who's on the hook. CBP's tips for new importers says that even when you use a broker, the importer of record "is ultimately responsible for the correctness of the entry documentation presented to CBP and all applicable duties, taxes and fees". If you're the importer, that's you.
Duty depends on the Harmonized Tariff Schedule classification of the part. CBP says you can ask a port import specialist for classification advice or request a binding ruling. Rates change, so check the current schedule when you place the order. This post deliberately quotes no rates.
Ocean freight brings paperwork of its own. CBP requires an Importer Security Filing for cargo arriving by vessel, and a licensed customs broker can file it for you.
Then there's the exam bill. CBP can examine any shipment, and the importer pays to make the goods available. CBP's own page says a complete devanning at an exam station "may cost several hundred dollars", plus moving and storing the cargo.
Add freight, insurance, broker fees, inland trucking and the inventory you're carrying while it all sits on the water. That's a lot of line items for a quote that looked simple.
Comparing quotes fairly
Put every quote on the same basis: delivered to your door, with finish and inspection included or excluded the same way. Cost drivers on a CNC quote and instant quotes for unmakeable parts cover what else hides in a number.
You can get a price from our quote page, and a manufacturing engineer reviews every request before production. For shipping costs and where your parts ship from, ask us when you quote.
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