Guide
Guide
How to import Christmas lights from China: the tariff line, the duty and the landed cost
What it costs to land holiday lighting from China, line by line: which tariff line the goods enter under, why duty runs above the rate in the schedule, how bulky lit goods are priced to ship, and who carries a tariff change.
Landed cost
What landing holiday lighting costs, line by line
A unit price from a factory is the first line of several. These are the lines between the factory and your door.
| Line | What it covers | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| The goods | The factory price for what you ordered, packed | Quantity, the specification and the packing you choose |
| The export side | Trucking to the port in China and export clearance | How far the factory is from the port |
| Ocean freight | A container, or your share of one, port to port | The season, the lane and how much space the goods take |
| Filing and entry | The Importer Security Filing, the entry and the broker's fees | How many lines the entry carries |
| Duty | The tariff on each line, at the rate in force on the entry date | The tariff line and where the goods were made |
| Fees on value | The Merchandise Processing Fee and, by sea, the Harbor Maintenance Fee | The declared value of the goods |
| Delivery | Port or rail ramp to your door, with a liftgate or storage if needed | Distance, and how quickly the container is emptied |
Import duty from China, line by line explains each of these without figures, and the landed cost calculator adds them up with yours.
Our own landed-cost price lists for displays fold the same trip into four columns: the unit price, a shipping estimate, the import tax and the final arrival cost per unit. Every one of those columns has moved from one list to the next, which is why a landed quote carries a date.
Classification
Which tariff line your goods enter under
Every item on a US entry is classified under a line in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Holiday lighting does not share one line. Light strings, LED bulbs, lit signs and lit steel structures are different goods in the schedule, so a guide that gives one code for "Christmas lights" is right for some of them at best. Commercial C9 LED Christmas lights and lit steel displays enter under different lines, for example.
Most lit fittings and displays sit in heading 9405, which covers lamps, lighting fittings and lit signs. The heading was reorganised in the 2022 revision of the schedule, with separate subheadings for fittings designed only for LED light sources, so older guides can cite lines that no longer read the way they did.
To check a line, look the product up in the official schedule at hts.usitc.gov, search the CBP rulings for comparable goods, and ask your customs broker, who files the line and answers for it. We file our own entries through our broker, and each quote names the line we intend to file under.
Duty
How much duty, and why the figures disagree
Look up the duty on Christmas lights and you will find figures from about three percent to well over a hundred. One supplier's import guide gives three to six percent. News reports in late 2025 quoted far higher numbers. They are measuring different layers.
The general rate in the schedule is the first layer. Goods made in China can carry additional duties on top of it, set by trade actions that have changed more than once in the last few years and that apply on the date of entry. A figure that shows only the general rate is showing one layer.
Our own price lists show how far the total can move. On our landed-cost lists for displays, the import-tax line read 35% on the list dated September 2025, and 50% on each later list in our records, from December 2025 on. That is our planning line for the goods on those lists, dated to them. It is not a rate for your goods: the rate on your order is the one your broker files.
Tariff changes
The rate is set on the entry date, so agree who carries a change
The rate that applies is the one in force on the day of entry, not the day of the quote. For a custom order, the time between the quote and the day the container lands runs to months, and rates on goods from China have moved inside gaps like that. Our own planning line moved fifteen points between September and December 2025.
Ask any supplier to put three things on the quote: the tariff line, the rate it quoted against, and which party carries the difference if the rate changes before entry. Ours are on every quote, and who carries a tariff change between the quote and landing is set out on How we work.
A city buying decorations can write the same question into its tender. The municipal guide has what a city should ask bidders about origin and duty, with clause wording.
Freight and timing
Freight for bulky lit goods, and when to order
The calendar works back from your install date for C9 bulbs, through production, export, the ocean and rail legs, the entry and a buffer.
Holiday lighting is light for its size, so freight follows the space it takes more than its weight. Bulbs and socket wire pack densely in cartons. Displays are mostly air, the crate count sets the freight, and that is why frames that knock down and crate flat make such a difference to the landed cost.
A full container is priced per box, and a part load by the space it uses. When we last captured the times, in September 2026, transit from South China ran 11 to 40 days to Long Beach and 23 to 66 days to Chicago with the rail leg.
For another date, see when to order so the container lands before install on the buying calendar.
Documents
The paperwork on a holiday lighting entry
Who prepares each document depends on who is the importer of record. When we sell the goods landed, we file the entry through our broker; when you import yourself, the entry is yours or your broker's.
Commercial invoice
Names the seller and the buyer, describes each item, gives its value and states the country of origin. Ours state China.
Packing list
Cartons, weights and measurements for each line, matching the invoice.
Bill of lading and release
The carrier's document for the shipment. A telex release lets the goods be released at destination without the paper original travelling.
Importer Security Filing
The ISF, filed with US Customs no later than 24 hours before the container is loaded in China.
Entry and bond
The entry your broker files, with the tariff line and value of each item. A formal entry also needs a customs bond.
Origin marking
The goods, or their packaging where the rules allow, have to be marked with the country of origin.
Canada
Importing into Canada
We have also delivered to an inland city in Canada, by sea to a Canadian port and on by rail, with the carriage paid to the destination: CPT terms, which fit a container that goes on by rail past the port. The duty and tax lines on a Canadian entry differ from the US ones, and this guide does not give them. Ask for a quote to your Canadian destination and say how you want the entry handled.
Arrangements
Buying through a trading company, or importing yourself
You can buy from a factory in China and import the goods yourself. You then contract with the factory, book the freight, file the entry and carry the duty, including any change in it. Which of those legs the factory's price already covers depends on the trade term printed beside it, and FOB, EXW and DDP compared line by line shows what each one leaves to you.
With us there are two arrangements. When we sell you the goods, the quote is landed at your door and we file the entry. When we act as your buying agent, you contract with the factory directly and we run the order for a fee written on the quote. Either way, if you would rather clear the goods yourself or through your own broker, say so and we price it that way.
Depending on the order, the commercial invoice comes from our China company or from our US company, and we tell you which one before you order. How we work sets out both arrangements and when each applies.
Where this applies
The products this guide covers
Each product page has the price drivers, the order-by calendar and the quote form for that product.
C9 LED Christmas bulbs
Replacement and new-install C9 LED bulbs for professional displays. We have shipped them to the same customers season after season, usually with the socket wire and plugs that go with them.
See the C9 bulbs
Custom LED motif displays
Walk-through arches, animated figures, tunnels and photo-op structures for light attractions, downtowns and parks. We build from your drawing or make one from your sketch, crate the structures to fit the container, and clear them through customs at the other end.
See the displays
Commercial LED mini lights
Wide-angle and smooth LED mini lights for wrapping trunks, branches and hedges, made in China to the colour, bulb count and spacing you set. A reorder is matched to the sample kept from your last one, and every order is quoted landed and planned back from your first install date.
See the mini lightsWhere to go next
- Landed cost calculatorYour goods value, freight, duty and fees, added up for one shipment.
- Shipping and dutiesEach line of a landed quote, explained without figures.
- How we workWho invoices you, who files the entry, and who carries a tariff change.
- The buying calendarOrder-by dates worked back from any install date.
More guides
More guides: Commercial Christmas lights and displays
GuideStarting a Christmas light installation business: what to buy, where and when
The kit an installer buys, when to order it, whether to buy from US stock or by the container from China, and what commercial clients ask for.
Read the guide
GuideMall Christmas decorations: the plan, the approvals and the order date
What a shopping center has made to fit its spaces, who approves each piece before it goes up, and when to order so it lands before install.
Read the guide
GuideHow a custom Christmas light display is made, from sketch to container
The steps from a sketch to a crated, lit steel display, and what the factory needs from you at each one.
Read the guide
Questions
Questions buyers ask
How much does it cost to import Christmas lights from China?
The goods, plus the export side, the ocean freight, the entry, the duty, the fees on value and delivery to your door. None of those is fixed, and duty moves the most. Put your own figures into the landed cost calculator, or ask for a landed quote with every line itemised.
What documents do I need to import lighting from China?
A commercial invoice stating the country of origin, a packing list, the bill of lading or a telex release, the Importer Security Filing, and the entry your broker files. The goods also need origin marking.
Do I have to pay tariffs on Christmas lights from China?
In most cases, yes. Imported lighting pays duty at the rate for its tariff line, and goods made in China can carry additional duties on top of the general rate. The importer of record pays at entry. When we sell the goods landed, the duty is a line on our quote.
What is the HS code for LED Christmas lights?
It depends on the product. Light strings, LED bulbs, lit signs and lit steel displays sit under different lines, and many lit fittings fall in heading 9405. Look the product up in the official schedule at hts.usitc.gov and confirm the line with your broker, who files it.
Can I import directly from a factory in China?
Yes. You then act as the importer: you contract with the factory, arrange the freight and the entry, and carry the duty and any change in it. Or a trading company sells you the goods landed and takes those steps on. We work both ways, and How we work explains when each applies.
Request a quote
A landed quote with every line shown
Send the product, the quantity and where it is going. We reply within 1 business day, and the quote names the tariff line, the rate and who carries a change, with the freight and the entry on their own lines.
- Reply within 1 business day
- Landed cost, itemised
We take on the orders we can do well, and we will say so if yours isn't one of them.
