Customs Clearance

Importing from China means HS codes, customs values, import VAT and documentation. We handle all of it, so you never have to deal with customs formalities in the EU.

In the EU you receive the goods DDP to your door, cleared and delivered, with an invoice from our German company including VAT ID (DATEV-compatible, Hamburg as place of jurisdiction). For EU business customers outside Germany, VAT treatment depends on the delivery route and destination country; we clarify how it appears on the invoice before you order and state it in the quotation. For Switzerland we deliver DAP: you clear Swiss duty and VAT locally, and we provide the documents. Before every order we check the HS code so there are no surprises with duties or anti-dumping.

Tariff classification follows the objective characteristics of the goods. Material, construction, use and product type therefore need to be described clearly. The resulting code affects the duty rate and may trigger other trade measures such as anti-dumping duties.

We review classification for the project in the European customs tariff systems before the quotation is finalised. TARIC combines measures under the Common Customs Tariff; national levies such as VAT are considered separately.

Reliable clearance needs consistent information across product specification, commercial invoice and packing list: description, quantity, value, material, weights, packages, origin, sender and recipient. Conflicting or overly generic descriptions create questions and avoidable delays.

Under our DDP arrangement, DS Trading handles the agreed import formalities and delivers to the named destination. The International Chamber of Commerce describes DDP as placing extensive seller obligations through to import-cleared availability at destination.