Importing from India into the US, step by step

India as a source

India is a large supplier to the US: US goods imports from India came to $103.8 billion in 2025^[1]. Which products India makes well, and in which regions, is a sourcing question that manufacturers in India covers; this guide leaves it aside. It is about the import itself: what has to happen, in what order, between an accepted quote and goods in your warehouse.

The steps

1. Check that the exporter can export. India's foreign trade rules require an Importer Exporter Code (IEC): no export or import shall be made by any person without obtaining an IEC unless specifically exempted^[2]. A firm needs a PAN, bank account in the name of the firm and a valid address^[2] before applying for the code. Ask the exporter for its IEC and make sure the same company name appears on the code, the pro forma invoice and the bank account you pay. When the exporter is a trading house rather than the maker, it holds the code, and it should tell you which unit produces the order. If a go-between offers to run the order for you, read India sourcing agent or buying house first: it shows how US customs tells an agent from a seller.
2. Classify the product and work out the duty. Find the product's tariff classification and its normal duty rate, then add the additional duties that apply to goods from India, as the next section explains. A classification you are unsure of is worth a broker's opinion before you order, because the rate follows the code.
3. Agree the shipping terms. A quote FOB the port of loading leaves ocean freight, insurance and everything after the ship to you. Decide who books the freight: you, through a freight forwarder, or the supplier. The Incoterms rule on the quote tells you where the supplier's costs stop.
4. Appoint a customs broker and arrange a bond. The broker files your entries and the security filing. For a formal entry, CBP does not release the goods unless a single entry or continuous bond^[3] has been filed, so set up both the broker and the bond before the goods are ready, not after they sail.
5. Make the security filing before loading. For ocean cargo, the Importer Security Filing is due no later than 24 hours before the cargo is laden aboard the vessel at the foreign port^[4]. Your broker needs the seller, manufacturer and shipment details from the supplier to file it, so ask for them when you confirm the booking.
6. Collect the shipping documents and check the marking. Before the goods arrive you need the commercial invoice, the packing list and the bill of lading. Check that the descriptions, quantities and values match each other and the purchase order, and that, unless an exception applies, each article, or its container, is marked with the English name of the country of origin of the article^[5]: India.
7. File the entry and pay the duty. Goods must be entered within 15 calendar days after landing^[6], and the broker can file before arrival. CBP releases the goods, and the duty is paid on the entered value.
8. Meet the product rules. Textile labeling, product safety testing and FDA rules apply to goods from India in the same way as to goods made anywhere else. Confirm which ones apply before the supplier prints labels.

Duty on goods from India

India no longer gets preferential rates under the Generalized System of Preferences. The presidential proclamation reads: the designation of India as a beneficiary developing country is terminated, effective June 5, 2019^[7]. So the starting point is the normal rate for the product's tariff classification.

On top of that, the tariff schedule now carries heading 9903.05.44^[8] for articles that are the product of India. It follows the country of origin, not the port the goods sail from. Its rate reads: the duty provided in the applicable subheading + 10%^[8], with some products excluded. The added duty comes from a Section 301 action by the US Trade Representative, and applies to goods entered on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern time on July 24, 2026^[9].

That line is not the whole picture. The note behind it says the goods also stay subject to antidumping, countervailing or other duties, taxes, fees, exactions and charges^[9], and to the general rates of duty imposed under subheadings in chapters 1 to 97 of the tariff schedule^[9]. Ask your broker to list every tariff line that applies to your product and origin, and recheck before each order, because lines like these change more often than normal rates.

What a first shipment costs, landed

2,500 cotton tote bags from an Indian supplier, shipped by sea

Line	Amount
Unit price quoted, 2,500 bags at $2.35, FOB the Indian port	$5,875
Ocean freight and insurance, shared container	$720
Normal duty at 6% (assumed) of the quoted price	$353
Additional duty for goods from India at 10%[8] of the quoted price	$588
Broker, bond, security filing and customs entry fees	$310
Delivery from the port to your warehouse	$350
Landed cost	$8,196
Landed cost per bag	$3.28

Illustrative figures, not a quote. Real prices depend on the spec, quantity and factory.

Duty in the example is worked out on the quoted price, not on the freight, because the price US customs starts from is exclusive of any charges, costs, or expenses incurred for transportation, insurance, and related services incident to the international shipment of the merchandise^[10]; the import duty and landed cost guide walks through the full calculation. Here the two duty lines together cost more than the ocean freight, so leaving the India line out would understate the landed cost of every bag when you set this quote beside one from elsewhere.

Getting quotes

Send us the product and the quantity, and we introduce you to manufacturers in India that fit, and to some in other countries if you want a comparison, each one named; if none fits, we tell you. It is free for brands, and we are not a party to the sale: the manufacturers quote you directly, and any order is between you and the manufacturer you choose. Ask each one to state its shipping terms in its quote, so you can fill in the freight and duty lines above with real figures before you decide.