Operator glossary
DDP shipping (double-clearance channels)
The all-inclusive door-to-FBA channel — one per-kg price covering freight, both customs clearances, and duties — the default for China-to-US parcels, and a compliance bet you are silently making.
DDP quotes bundle everything: pickup, export clearance, freight, US import clearance, duties, and delivery to FBA — priced per kg, paid once. In the China-freight trade the channel is sold as 'double clearance, tax included' — the name and the promise in one phrase. Convenience is genuine; so is the delegation: the forwarder decides how your goods are declared, valued, and classified.
The silent bet: aggressive channels under-declare values or misclassify HTS codes to hit their price points — and seizure, penalties, and supply interruption land on cargo owners, not just forwarders, with enforcement tightening sharply since the 2025 tariff escalations killed the de-minimis game. Diligence questions that separate channels: declared-value policy, bond and IOR structure, and what happens (contractually) when CBP holds a container.
The numbers
- Bundle: freight + export clearance + US import clearance + duties + FBA delivery, priced per kg all-in.
- The risk transfer is illusory: under-declaration and misclassification consequences reach the cargo owner.
- Post-2025 tariff enforcement makes channel diligence (declared values, bond/IOR structure) a real underwriting question.