It has been nearly a year since the outbreak of the epidemic. The international freight industry has also been affected greatly. So far, no matter where you tend to ship, in most cases, you would run into some snags, such as high shipping rates, container shortage, or cargo delays. For the shipment from China to the United States, the current congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has left West Coast ports facing a backlog of 43 ships, with large volumes of containers arriving and unable to unload.
Strong demand, a shortage of containers and soaring freight rates have run almost through Christmas and the Chinese New Year, with freight forwarders and carriers saying there is little chance of seeing any relief in the market before the Chinese New Year holiday in February. Thus, if you have any plan shipping from China to USA, then please prepare well.
Notes You Should Pay Attention to When Shipping from China To USA
With the approaching of Chinese New Year, from February 11th to 17th, 2021. it is a cargo congestion period during the Spring Festival holiday and a week before and after. Because most of people would be likely to stock up on commodities or essentials at this period. Thus, there are some notes that you need to focus on if you tend to proceed with a shipment.
Order Goods in Advance, Arrange Customs Clearance Plan And Make Advance Reservation If Necessary
At this period, it is necessary to be fully prepared. There are three main reasons introduced here.
- As the Spring Festival is a traditional Chinese festival, customs departments will have a holiday during this period. Second, manufacturers and freight forwarding agents will also be on holiday, which will result in missing information. Generally speaking, it is a block period to deliver cargoes from February 4th to 24th, 2021, which lasts a long time. Thus, avoid shipping cargo during this period can help you save money and time. Because in this congestion period, it must take more days to deliver your cargoes to your final destination. Besides, cargo delay would lead to some other problems, which will cost you more.
- As has mentioned above, container shortage is a difficult trouble that all shippers run into. According to the Southern California Ocean Exchange, at least 47 vessels, 34 of them container ships with a total container capacity of more than 270,000 TEU, are waiting to enter the anchorage outside the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. At present, the local regular anchorage has been fully occupied, part of the emergency anchorage has also been occupied. The average waiting time for ships is estimated to increase to about two weeks. The reason for this phenomenon is mainly because the overcrowding of warehouses and distribution centers and the shortage of drivers slow down the shipping of containers from the docks and allow more goods to be unloaded. The congestion at the docks squeezes the input capacity in the ports in large numbers, thus affecting the overall logistics turnover.
- At a time when the US ports are overloaded, wharf workers are also burdened with extra pressure, that is, the risk of an epidemic. The epidemic is not controlled well in the United States, which also infects wharf worker On Jan. 20, the Los Angeles Times reported that nearly 700 wharf workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach had been infected with the novel coronavirus, and hundreds more were on leave and in quarantine. The shortage of workers leads to a series of problems.
Prefer Airfreight or Express If You Want to Import Epidemic Prevention Items
In this period, protecting yourself and your family is a significant and necessary affair. Epidemic prevention items play an important role in our daily life. If you intend to import some, then airfreight or Express is suggested. Air freight from China to USA is applied into shipping a great volume of cargoes.
If you are running a company or store that needs a lot of epidemic prevention items, then air freight is a preferred way for you. If you only want to import some for private use, there is no doubt that Express is the best option, which is delivered quickly and conveniently.
Avoid Buying Fake Products
In recent weeks, U.S. customs officials have been cracking down on counterfeit and infringing goods. The inspection of container cargo arriving at the port of Long Beach and Los Angeles is particularly strict. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have been hunting down the growing number of counterfeit and infringing goods mixed in with holiday and peak season merchandise.
From toys to counterfeit branded consumer goods, container inspection reports as part of a wave of containers arriving at ports on the East and West coasts of the United States show a surge in counterfeit goods, with a market value of more than $33 million recently seized. Thus you should pay attention when you purchase products on Electric business platforms. Once your cargoes are detained, there are only two options: risk of destruction, forfeiture of the goods, or fines.
Prepare All Files Needed in Advance
The process of an international shipment is quite complex and it needs a number of documents so that it is better to prepare in advance. Here, I will introduce some of them for you.
Certificates of Origin
A certificate of origin is a very significant document, which is needed for sea freight and air freight form China to USA. This document is used by the United States Customs to confirm where the goods come from. With a CO document, China as being the country of origin of your cargo can be identified.
Commercial Invoice
This document includes all the information about the whole shipment when the cargo is delivered to the owner. There are an order number and a customer reference number inside, including insurance information.
Packing List
A Packing List sets out the details of packing as agreed between the buyer and the seller in the letter of credit (or contract) and makes it convenient for the foreign buyer to present the goods to the customs for inspection and verification upon their arrival at the port of destination. In this document, you can also provide any other information which are required to deliver the cargo to its final destination safely. Without this packing list, your shipment will run into trouble.
Bill of Lading
A Bill of Lading refers to the basis for handling the rights and obligations of both parties in the carriage between the carrier and the shippers. The bill also serves as your receipt as evidence that your items are on board their vessel or plane.
Conclusion
With the approaching of Spring Festival, you should pay attention to the changes of each points. For example, when the Chinese customs, manufacture and freight forwarding agent are on holiday and on work; what about the freight market, etc. British Admiralty must be an important fact in this.
Even though it is not convenient for you to make a correct and timely decision during the Spring Festival, don’t worry, please feel free to contact us if you have any plan to ship cargoes or you want to query the status of an order in transit.
