Furniture Logistics for US Importers

ISPM-15 is the international standard for treating wood packaging used in international trade. The wood has to be heat-treated or fumigated and stamped with the IPPC mark. CBP enforces it at port of entry, and any pallet, crate, or dunnage without the stamp can hold the whole container. The fix at that point is to re-export or destroy at your expense. We verify ISPM-15 stamps at origin during loading inspection so the issue gets fixed before sailing rather than turning into a port hold after the goods arrive.

Wooden bedroom furniture from China has been under an anti-dumping duty order since 2005, with rates that vary by manufacturer and run over 200 percent for many producers. Wooden cabinets and vanities from China have been under combined AD and CVD orders since 2020, with cash deposit rates that can clear 250 percent on scoped products. Scope rulings keep moving, so a product that is out of scope today can fall in scope on a Commerce ruling six months from now. We check your product mix against active scope determinations before every PO cycle.

TSCA Title VI caps formaldehyde emissions on hardwood plywood, particleboard, and medium-density fiberboard used in composite wood furniture. If your furniture is built with those panels, the supplier needs Third Party Certifier records showing they meet the emission limits. We collect TPC documentation during supplier onboarding and confirm it is still valid on every shipment so a stale or missing certificate does not show up at customs after the container has already sailed.

California Prop 65 requires a warning label on products sold or distributed in California that expose consumers to listed chemicals above safe harbor levels. For furniture that usually means formaldehyde from composite wood, lead from finishes or hardware, and flame retardants in upholstery. The label is the supplier responsibility, but importer-side enforcement has been increasing, and plaintiff firms target retailers and importers as much as manufacturers. We flag Prop 65 risk during supplier review and confirm labeling before the container books.

When dimensions exceed FCL limits, the piece ships breakbulk on conventional or roll-on roll-off vessels. We coordinate crating at origin, port-side handling, and over-dimensional drayage on arrival. If your program has regular oversized SKUs, we plan capacity ahead of peak season so you are not negotiating breakbulk on the spot market in October.

Vietnam to US West Coast averages 18 to 22 transit days from Ho Chi Minh or Hai Phong into LA or Long Beach, plus 7 to 10 days for origin booking and 5 to 7 days for destination drayage. Indonesia to the US West Coast averages 23 to 28 transit days from Surabaya or Semarang. Peak season can extend transit by 5 to 10 days because of vessel rolling and port congestion. Door-to-door planning windows for both lanes typically run 45 to 55 days from PO confirmation to DC arrival.

Section 301 adds 7.5 to 25 percent on top of standard MFN duty for most Chinese furniture categories under List 1 through List 4A. Exclusions are limited and the active ones expire and get renewed on USTR schedules nobody is tracking on your behalf. We track active and expired exclusions against your HTS codes and flag any product where a renewal or sunset would change your landed cost in the next quarter.

Yes. Duty drawback recovers up to 99 percent of paid duties on furniture re-exported within three years of import. Manufacturing drawback covers products that go through value-added work in the US before re-export. For accounts with regular re-export volume, we run quarterly drawback eligibility reviews so the money does not sit in CBP indefinitely.