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Food, Supplement and Medicine Air Freight from China to the USA, Door to Door DDP: Five Channels and Their Rates

Price follows product attribute here, not weight. The same 3 kg carton of sampling tubes and of supplements sits in two different channels, and at 21 kg+ the gap between them is around RMB 20 per kilogram.

The rates below cover mainland China origin, transfer through Korea, pickup at Los Angeles (LAX) and UPS delivery to a US address, in RMB per kilogram with export declaration, US import clearance and duty inside — DDP, Delivered Duty Paid. The receiver does not need US importer status or a customs bond.

Five channels split by attribute: sampling tubes, personal care, packaged food, supplements and medicines, and agri inputs. A mixed carton is charged at the strictest tier it contains, so splitting a shipment is often cheaper than consolidating it.

Five channels compared at 21 kg and above

The spread between channels comes from document and inspection cost, not from weight. Supplements sit at the top because the paperwork is heaviest and the regulatory attention highest; sampling tubes sit at the bottom because the liquid volume per unit is small and the packaging is standardised. Compare at the 21 kg break, then read the four-break table for the channel that fits.

Supplements and medicines are the most expensive tier because documents and inspection costs are the highest; sampling tubes are the cheapest because the liquid volume per unit is small and packaging is standardised. A mixed shipment pays the strictest tier — sending them as two shipments is usually clearer.

Why five channels instead of one

A single rate for food, medicine and fertiliser would either overprice the simple cargo or underprice the regulated cargo. Splitting by attribute is what makes the cheap tiers possible.

FDA and USDA requirements on food and medicine

Food does not clear the US border on arrival; the filing happens before departure. Under the Bioterrorism Act and the Food Safety Modernization Act, imported food must be covered by an FDA Prior Notice before it arrives — at least four hours ahead for air, eight for ocean and two for rail. The notice is filed through the FDA Prior Notice System Interface or the CBP ACE single window, and carries the product code, manufacturer, shipper, importer and estimated arrival details.

Two obligations sit with the importer alongside it. Food facility registration is required for facilities that manufacture, process, pack or store food for the US market, and must be renewed between 1 October and 31 December of every even year. The Foreign Supplier Verification Program requires the US importer to assess and verify its foreign supplier, and the ACE entry has to carry the FSVP importer name and the unique facility identifier (DUNS).

Cargo of animal or plant origin adds a third layer. Products containing meat, dairy, fresh fruit or vegetables may fall under USDA FSIS or APHIS admission requirements and need an import permit or a phytosanitary certificate. Chinese herbal ingredients and soup packs are assessed on their actual composition, so a blanket answer is not possible.

Channel 1: sampling tubes and reagent kits, liquid under 10 ml

Body fluid tubes, blood draw tubes, reagent tubes and pipette tubes carrying up to 10 ml of liquid use this channel. Small liquid volume per unit and standardised packaging make it the cheapest of the five. Any single retail pack above 15 ml should be confirmed before dispatch.

Rates are in RMB per kilogram and include export declaration, US import clearance, duty and the UPS delivery leg. Surcharges are charged on top.

• Up to 10 ml per retail pack can be quoted as a special case; above 15 ml, confirm before dispatch
• A production licence and undamaged commercial packaging are required for receipt
• No delay compensation; where cargo is not picked up 9 business days after departure, the inspection sheet or air waybill number can be supplied

Channel 2: personal care, liquid under 30 ml

75% alcohol hand gel, 75% alcohol gel wipes, low-alcohol wipes, alcohol-free wipes and functional wipes carrying plant extracts use this channel. Up to 30 ml per retail pack can be quoted as a special case; a single container above 300 ml is confirmed per shipment.

Rates are in RMB per kilogram and include export declaration, US import clearance, duty and the UPS delivery leg. Surcharges are charged on top.

• Up to 30 ml per retail pack can be quoted as a special case; a single container above 300 ml is confirmed per shipment
• A 75% alcohol formulation is declared as a flammable liquid, and the flash point and concentration must appear on the safety data sheet
• Production licence and undamaged commercial packaging required for receipt

Channel 3: packaged food, liquid under 30 ml and powder under 30 g

Tea, rice, beans and nuts, soup packs (preserved dates, coix seed, lotus seed, glehnia, lily bulb, polygonatum, Chinese yam, red dates, codonopsis, astragalus, ginseng, rehmannia, ficus hirta, white fungus, dried bamboo shoot, dried shiitake, morel, termite mushroom, matsutake, lion's mane, dried vegetables), instant noodles and vermicelli, self-heating rice, hot pot base, dried fruit and meat floss, five-spice and pepper blends, chicken bouillon, cumin, chilli and Sichuan pepper powder, cooking wine, soy sauce, vinegar and bean paste, non-pressurised drinks and wine below 17.5% all use this channel.

Rates are in RMB per kilogram and include export declaration, US import clearance, duty and the UPS delivery leg. Surcharges are charged on top.

• No white solids and no white powders; seasoning powder in 100 g packs can be quoted as a special case
• Up to 30 ml of liquid or 30 g of powder per retail pack can be quoted as a special case; above 300 ml or 300 g, confirm per shipment
• Production licence and undamaged packaging required; reprocessed meat products need the manufacturer's production date

Channel 4: supplements and medicines

Supplements, vitamins, antibiotics, antibacterial skin ointments, oral liquids with plant extracts, animal worming preparations, non-patented compound injectables and patent medicines, and patches for strains and bruises use this channel. It carries the highest rate of the five and the heaviest document requirements.

Rates are in RMB per kilogram and include export declaration, US import clearance, duty and the UPS delivery leg. Surcharges are charged on top.

• Up to 30 ml of liquid or 30 g of powder per retail pack can be quoted as a special case; above 300 ml or 300 g, confirm per shipment
• Production licence, undamaged packaging, safety data sheet and letter of guarantee are all required before receipt
• Patented medicines, prescription drugs and controlled substances are outside the scope of this channel

Channel 5: agri inputs, growing media and fertiliser

Growing media for indoor plants, flower fertiliser, chemical minerals, organic pesticides and chemical fertilisers use this channel. The liquid and powder ceilings are wider than the tiers above, but the composition check is stricter.

Rates are in RMB per kilogram and include export declaration, US import clearance, duty and the UPS delivery leg. Surcharges are charged on top.

• Up to 300 ml of liquid or 300 g of powder per pack can be quoted as a special case; above that, confirm per shipment
• Production licence, undamaged packaging, safety data sheet and letter of guarantee required
• Materials of animal or plant origin may fall under APHIS admission requirements, confirmed on the import side

Billed weight and minimum charge

All five channels bill on chargeable weight, the greater of actual and volumetric weight, with volumetric calculated as length × width × height in centimetres divided by 6,000. Tea, dried mushrooms and wipes are light for their volume, so the volumetric figure is usually closer to the real cost than the scale reading.

• The rate table starts at 21 kg; anything billing below 21 kg is charged as 21 kg
• A single piece reaching 21.85 kg triggers the overweight surcharge at RMB 215 per piece
• 10–22 kg per piece is the practical range; light, bulky cargo is priced on volumetric weight
• A single piece above 67.85 kg leaves the rate table and is quoted separately

Surcharges

Weight and dimension surcharges are calculated per piece and stack with each other. Dried goods and wipes hit the dimension charge more often than the weight charge.

Weight and dimensions

Girth is the longest side plus twice the sum of the second-longest and the shortest side, in centimetres. For light food cargo, carton dimensions move the bill more than weight does.

Delivery coverage and remote-area charges

Delivery covers the 48 contiguous states. PO boxes, military addresses and offshore islands are not served; ZIP 006–009 (Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands), 966–969 (Hawaii, Guam) and 995–999 (Alaska) fall outside the network, and payment does not open them.

Fulfilment centres and commercial addresses carry no delivery charge. Charges apply at residential and remote addresses only, decided by UPS zone data, and an address that is both residential and remote pays both.

The delivery leg is UPS throughout. How a UPS service of its own prices and what it accepts is covered under air freight to the USA.

Documents required before the cargo is accepted

Document requirements are layered by channel: sampling tubes need the least, supplements and medicines the most. The common floor is a production licence and intact commercial packaging, which none of the five channels waives.

• Safety data sheet and letter of guarantee — mandatory for supplements, medicines and agri inputs, and for any personal care product with an alcohol formulation. The letter is the shipper's confirmation that the declared name and ingredients match.
• Production licence and commercial packaging — the shared threshold across all five channels. No licence, no manufacturer name or damaged packaging means no receipt.
• Manufacturer production date — required for reprocessed food such as meat floss and dried fruit, with packaging intact. Food without a production date, or past its date, cannot be shipped.
• FDA reference numbers — the Prior Notice and facility registration are handled by the importer or its agent. On a DDP shipment we file the entry, but product-side registration and listing stay with the owner of the goods.

Packing and marking

The risk for food and medicine in one carton is cross-contamination and odour transfer, not weight. Separating categories is the first rule; sealing liquids and ointments independently is the second.

• Liquids and ointments sealed individually so a leak cannot reach food in the same carton
• Food and non-food packed in separate cartons, to avoid taint and cross-contamination
• Tea and dried goods in a moisture-barrier bag
• Outer cartons rigid and square; UN boxes and soft bags are not accepted
• 10–22 kg gross per piece; light, bulky cargo billed on volumetric weight

Before the cut-off

The steps from receipt to cut-off are fixed. For food and medicine the cost of missing one is higher, because an inspection that starts at the US end rarely ends quickly.

Three changes on the US import side in 2026

The USD 800 de minimis allowance is gone

The low-value exemption was suspended on 29 August 2025 under Executive Order 14324 and extended by a further order on 20 February 2026, and CBP has suspended 19 U.S.C. §1321(a)(2)(C) indefinitely by regulation. Small parcels of food and supplements now need an entry and pay duty; entries under USD 2,500 can use informal entry. The old method of splitting shipments into small parcels has to be rebuilt.

Low-value food still has to clear the FDA bar

With the exemption gone, the Prior Notice, product code, facility registration and FSVP importer identifier all have to appear correctly on the entry. There is no longer a low-value corner where the detail did not matter. For air freight the Prior Notice deadline is four hours before arrival. Multi-parcel, multi-batch shipping is the model most affected.

Why the DDP rate includes duty

Under DDP the carrier files the import entry and pays duty, so the receiver pays nothing further and needs neither importer status nor a bond. The trade-off is that value and description must be truthful, and food and supplements have less tolerance for a loose declaration than general cargo.

What the transit time actually measures

Pickup time counts from landing at Los Angeles to the cargo being available to UPS; inspection and public holidays are not counted inside it. Sampling tubes are 5–7 days to pickup at the US West plus 1–3 business days for delivery; personal care runs 6–8 days; food, supplements and agri inputs run 7–9 days plus 4–6 business days at the far end.

Typical shipments

One scenario per channel. Where a shipment does not fit, the attribute usually spans two tiers, which means declaring at the strictest one or splitting the cargo into two shipments.

Claims on the food and medicine channel

A claim starts either from a shipment that was never picked up, which begins with an FBA inventory check, or from cargo already with UPS, which begins with a carrier trace. The deadlines differ and the wrong route is returned.

How to file

• Where part of a shipment is not picked up or not signed for, check FBA inventory first, within 7–10 business days
• From business day 10, submit a screenshot of the FBA inventory showing the units are not received, with the real clock time visible on screen, and the claim can be opened
• Nothing is accepted beyond 20 business days
• Once UPS holds the cargo, the carrier trace window is 120 days and the result follows the carrier's reply

What is paid

High-value food and supplement cargo should be insured separately. Damage and shortage in delivery are outside the settlement table. Seizure arising from under-declaration, a wrong description, missing certification or infringement rests with the shipper, and FDA-related rejections follow the same rule.

Frequently asked questions

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