Home / Shipping to Sint Maarten
Freight Forwarding from China to Sint Maarten
Sea freight into Point Blanche at Philipsburg, air freight into Princess Juliana International (SXM), and consolidation through the regional hubs that actually serve the eastern Caribbean.
Sint Maarten is the southern, Dutch side of an island that is shared with a separate jurisdiction on its northern side. It is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, associated with the European Union as an Overseas Country and Territory, and it runs its own customs administration. Almost everything the island consumes arrives by sea or by air, which makes the freight lane unusually important relative to the size of the market.
The commercial port is Point Blanche at Philipsburg, operated as Port St. Maarten. Air freight arrives at Princess Juliana International Airport, SXM, one of the better-connected airports in the eastern Caribbean. Neither is served by a direct service from China in the ordinary course: cargo is transhipped through a regional hub — Caucedo, Kingston and San Juan are the names that come up most often — and then carried down on a feeder.
What makes this destination different from its neighbours is the customs treatment. Published guidance describes Sint Maarten as a free port in which the customs service functions as a border and enforcement agency rather than as a revenue office, and in which the only levy the island imposes on imports in its own right is an excise on unleaded gasoline. Read before you assume that means nothing to pay: it does not, and the sources conflict.
At a glance
Status: autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands; EU Overseas Country and Territory · Capital: Philipsburg · Sea port: Point Blanche / Port St. Maarten · Airport: Princess Juliana International, SXM · Customs character: free port; customs acts principally as a border and enforcement agency · No VAT; TOT turnover tax at 5% applies to business turnover, not to imports · Currency: Caribbean guilder XCG, pegged to the US dollar at 1:1.79 · Hurricane season: June to November · Note: the northern side of the island is a separate customs and tax regime
What we move, and how
Sea freight, FCL and LCL
Containerised cargo is consolidated in China, moved on a mainline service to a regional hub, and transhipped to the feeder that calls at Point Blanche. Full container load suits building material, hotel fit-out, vehicles and stock for a distributor. Less than container load suits a first consignment, and spares the buyer the risk of committing a whole container to an indirect routing.
Air freight and express
Air freight into SXM is genuinely practical for spares, samples, documents and anything where a missed feeder costs more than the freight premium. Express courier works for small parcels and documents, with the usual weight and dimension limits.
What we do not promise. We will not invent a transit time or a rate. Tell us the commodity, the packed dimensions and gross weight, the pickup city in China and the delivery address, and we will confirm the actual service, the hub it tranships through and the feeder connection before you commit.
Customs: a free port, but not a free-for-all
Published guidance describes Sint Maarten as a free port in which the customs service is best understood as a border and enforcement agency rather than a tax office, with the island's own excise on unleaded gasoline the one levy consistently attributed to imports. Other published sources describe a tariff of up to fifteen percent with a consumption-type tax on top. Those sources conflict and we are not going to pretend to resolve them.
What this means in practice. Confirm the current treatment of your product with the Sint Maarten customs administration before you price or promise anything. On a lane where the honest answer may well be "very little to pay", losing the sale to a confidently quoted wrong number would be a poor trade.
The second point is the one that most quotations get wrong. The TOT — belasting op bedrijfsomzetten, a tax on business turnover — is charged at five percent, but it applies to the turnover of businesses established in Sint Maarten, not to goods arriving at the port. It belongs on your buyer's ledger, not in the landed cost of the container.
The northern side of the island is a different jurisdiction
The island is divided. The southern side is Sint Maarten; the northern side operates under an entirely separate customs and tax regime. The border between the two is famously open in everyday life, which is exactly why shippers get caught out: what looks like a short drive across the island is, in customs terms, an entry into another jurisdiction.
Say which side in writing. "Philipsburg" and "Marigot" are not the same delivery. Name the side, the town and the consignee, and treat any movement between the two as a customs event that has to be planned and documented rather than as a local transfer.
Planning around the calendar
Hurricane season runs June to November. The island sustained severe damage in 2017 and the reconstruction that followed has kept demand for building material, roofing, fixtures, generators and marine equipment high ever since. Two rules follow. Avoid scheduling critical arrivals into the peak where the schedule allows. And where it does not, remember that the risk is as much at the transhipment hub as it is on the island — a feeder out of San Juan stops running when San Juan is the problem.
Documents we will ask you for
| Document | Why we need it |
|---|---|
| Commercial invoice | Names the product precisely. On a lane where the value question matters less than the description question, this is the document that gets examined. |
| Packing list | Must match the invoice and the manifest exactly — same description, same quantities, same weights. |
| Bill of lading or airway bill | The transport contract and the document of title. |
| Permits and licences | Where the product is regulated. Check what the product needs before it is packed, not after it lands. |
| Certificate of origin | Where a preference or a specific treatment is claimed. |
Wood packaging should meet ISPM 15 and bear the mark. It is not a permit, and it is the single most common cause of a hold on a Caribbean consignment — entirely preventable at the packing stage.
Tell us what it is before we tell you what it costs
Send us the commodity, the packed dimensions and gross weight, the pickup city in China and the delivery address on the island. We will confirm the transhipment routing and the feeder connection into Point Blanche, quote the sea leg and the air alternative through SXM separately, check the wood packaging requirement with you, and flag any permit the product needs. Where the question belongs to the Sint Maarten customs administration — the treatment of your product, the requirements for moving goods to the northern side — we will say so plainly rather than guess.
Get a quote Talk to usRelated pages
Frequently asked questions
Does Sint Maarten charge import duty?
Published guidance describes a free port where customs acts as a border and enforcement agency, with the only import levy the island sets itself being an excise on unleaded gasoline. Other sources describe a tariff of up to fifteen percent with a consumption tax. The sources conflict; confirm the treatment of your product with the customs administration before pricing.
What is the TOT?
Belasting op bedrijfsomzetten, a five percent tax on business turnover. It applies to the turnover of businesses established in Sint Maarten, not to goods arriving at the port, so it is not a border charge and does not belong in the landed cost of the container.
Which port does sea freight use?
Point Blanche at Philipsburg, operated as Port St. Maarten, is the commercial port on the Dutch side. Cargo is generally transhipped through a regional hub such as Caucedo, Kingston or San Juan rather than shipped direct from China.
Which airport handles air freight?
Princess Juliana International Airport, SXM. It is one of the better-served airports in the eastern Caribbean, so air freight for spares, samples and urgent cargo is genuinely practical rather than theoretical.
Is Sint Maarten the same as Saint-Martin?
No. The island is divided, and the northern side operates under a separate customs and tax regime. The border is open in practice, but crossing it is a customs event that has to be planned and documented.
What currency is used?
The Caribbean guilder, XCG, became the official currency at the end of March 2025, replacing the Netherlands Antillean guilder and pegged to the US dollar at 1:1.79. US dollars are very widely accepted.
When is hurricane season?
June to November, with the most active period in late summer and early autumn. Plan critical arrivals outside the peak where the schedule allows, and remember the transhipment hub can close as easily as the island.
Can you ship door to door?
We can quote the sea or air leg to Point Blanche or SXM, the China-side pickup and export clearance, and the consolidation. Final delivery and customs clearance on the island are handled by the consignee or their broker; we will tell you exactly where our service ends before you book.