Printable Version Importing goods from the United States

The U.S. is a major producer and exporter. It could be advantageous for you to import certain products for selling in your own country.

A major producer of agri-food products, electronic goods and IT, the United States ranks among the world’s top importers and exporters. And for a very good reason! It is the world’s leading importer and exporter. The European Union is the leading U.S. partner in terms of trade and investment, making this the world’s largest bilateral trading relationship. In 2005, the European Union imported U.S. goods worth 160 billion euros, and the United States imported around 235 billion worth of goods from the EU. In addition, the EU imported services worth 100 billion from the United States, and exported nearly 120 billion euros worth.

But importing goods from the U.S. requires going through customs, and paying import duties. These must be paid by the recipient named on the declaration form. The European Union has recently raised custom duties by 15% on several American products, with an entry into force on May 1st 2005. The list has been updated and is published in the JOEU L86, 03.27.2008. It is available on http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/en/index.htm (EC Regulation 283/2008 of the Commission dated 27 March 2008 replacing Annexe 1 of EC Regulation 673/2005 of the Council establishing additional customs duties on imports of certain products from the U.S.)

One more thing: imported goods must be declared with a specific classification commodity code. The classification system involves an EU standard 8 digits with additional country digits and an alphabetical character in many cases.
Applicable import and registration rules apply accordingly. The EU standard customs import declaration document is known as the “SAD”. You can contact an intermediary agent, who will take care of everything. Or simply obtain information from the official customs website.

For assistance finding the right customs classification and information on customs duties applicable in the European Union (except specific tariffs) see JOEU L286, 10.31.2007 on http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOIndex.do?ihmlang=en

Find suppliers in the U.S.: see U.S. companies directories on
www.usdirectory.com


Source: http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat/