We understand that selling and exporting products internationally can be challenging, with requirements and guidelines varying for each country. As a brand on Faire, you are the exporter of record. Ensuring your products can be exported, sold and imported for B2B purposes in other countries falls under your responsibility.
We want to help you feel confident selling and shipping to international retailers.
This resource consists of tips and advice for brands selling and importing products into the US.
Please note, this list is non-exhaustive and purely indicative.
Documentation for shipping to the US
As the exporter of record, any brand selling on Faire is responsible for complying with all laws, rules, and regulations in all countries/regions they choose to sell their products to on the platform. This includes but is not limited to: product safety, labelling requirements, testing, warnings, copyright, import/export regulations, and other consumer protection law requirements.
(The retailer is the importer, and is responsible for covering any applicable import duties and taxes at import)
| Document type | Faire provided | Brand provided |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial invoice | ✔️ | |
| Packing slip | ✔️ | |
| Product specific documentation if applicable | ✔️ | |
| Documentation specific to your company (if required) | ✔️ | |
| Documentation specific to your manufacturing practices or information (if applicable) | ✔️ | |
| Any export documentation required by the country you ship from and to, for the products you sell | ✔️ | |
| Proof of Origin documentation if required for your products | ✔️ |
Faire does not provide documentation specific to your products, your company, manufacturing practices or information. This type of documentation has to be provided by yourself as the exporter of record.
For every international order, Faire generates a commercial invoice, populated with the product information in your account.
Please note, depending on the products, additional fields might be required on the commercial invoice; or longer tariff codes (visit Updating your product information) in this case, we recommend you create your own commercial invoice.
How to determine if your products can be imported and sold in the US
To determine if your products can be imported and sold in the US, we recommend:
- Consulting legal counsel and/or a customs broker and/or an FDA agent if applicable to determine your readiness to sell and ship your products to the US.
- To find out about country specific regulation for tightly controlled categories, consult legal counsel or a customs broker.
- Visiting US governmental websites.
- As a reminder, your sales territories can be adjusted in your shop settings, to learn more click here.
- Consulting product specific requirements for importing your products (requirements may vary by country), visit : Importing and exporting and the US Customs and Border Protection information center.
- Ensuring your products packaging and labelling comply with the requirements in the US. You can check the latest packaging and labelling requirements for importing. Visit the Federal Trade Commission’s Packaging and Labeling Act
- Visiting carrier websites that have helpful and up-to-date Import/Export Country or Territory Regulations guidelines.
Highly regulated product categories in the US
Some product categories are tightly regulated in the US, and will likely require additional documentation or certification for customs purposes.
The most common categories we have noticed are:
- Any product containing materials and substances that may be regulated by the The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) : Chemicals, Pesticides, paints, Plastics and Polymers, Cleaning Products, Electronics, Products Marketed to Children, products with High Environmental Impact, etc. You most likely need to include certification if you are shipping products that are subject to TSCA regulation or may raise TSCA scrutiny. To learn more, click here.
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Textile, Wool, Fur, Apparel and Leather Matters: Federal law requires that most textile and wool products have a label that lists the fiber content, the country of origin, and the identity of the manufacturer or another business responsible for marketing or handling the product.
- To learn more, visit the FTC (Federal Trade Commission)'s requirements which you are responsible for complying with before shipping your products to the US.
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Food and drinks, Food supplements
- To learn more, visit Importing Food Products into the United States and the US customs border protection information center.
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Sunglasses, lenses, spectacles
- Sunglasses, spectacle frames, spectacle lenses, and magnifying spectacles are categorized as Class 1 medical devices by the FDA. As such, covered products manufactured, imported, and sold in the US market should comply with the applicable FDA 21 CFR requirements. Learn in Impact Resistant Lens Requirements (FDA resource)
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Products containing animal substances
- To learn more, visit the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 9.
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Plant and seed products
- To learn more, visit Importing plants and plant products from the US Customs and Border Protection information center.
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Fish and wildlife products
- To learn more, visit the Wildlife, fish, amphibians (lizards, snakes, etc.) and animal parts guidance in the US Customs and Border Protection information center.
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Pet food products
- Regulated by the FDA, to learn more, visit Importing Animal Food
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Dangerous goods (DG), are substances that when transported are a risk to health, safety, property or the environment. Certain dangerous goods that pose risks even when not being transported are known as hazardous materials.)
- To check if your products are categorized as dangerous goods, we recommend referring to the shipping carrier classification.
- If your products are classified as dangerous goods, use Ship on your own.
Please note, this list is non-exhaustive and purely indicative. Faire takes no responsibility in updating these websites, the resources linked are governmental pages only.
- If your products fall under these categories, be aware they may be subject to additional controls, or require more specific information fields on the commercial invoice to ensure smooth import into the EU.
- If required fields are missing in the Faire generated commercial invoice, or your products require additional tariff code digits (see Updating your product information) we recommend you create your own commercial invoice and provide any additional information, certification, documentation required by the country you are shipping to.
Updating your product information
Ensuring the details in your product information are as accurate as possible will ensure the information on the commercial invoice is correct, and help prevent customs issues.
Tariff codes
- Harmonized system (HS) codes (or tariffs) are an international customs classification system used by most trading nations throughout the world. Tariff codes will be required on any cross-border commercial invoices. These are universal codes, you can use any tariff code finder.
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We have listed a few international tariff code finders below:
- tariff code finder if you ship from the US
- tariff code finder if you ship from the EU
- tariff code finder if you ship from the UK
Please note, the Faire generated commercial invoice only supports 6 digit tariff codes, if the products you are shipping require longer tariff codes, we recommend you create your own commercial invoice to ensure import duties are applied correctly for your retailer.
Country of origin of your products
- We strongly recommend you set Made in country on a product level if you list products made in different countries. This will ensure the right country of origin is surfaced for each product on the commercial invoice, and will prevent customs complications. To learn how to edit this in your product page, visit How do I add or edit products?
How do import duties apply to your US shipments?
Between May 2, 2025 and August 28 2025, the de minimis exemption no longer applied to imports made in and shipped from China. On July 30, 2025, the US announced that it will remove the de minimis exemption for all goods from all countries, effective August 29, 2025. Under the new policy, all international shipments — regardless of value or origin — will be subject to import duties and formal customs processing.
Duties are determined by the tariff codes you assign to your products, based on their type and country of origin. We use a third-party service to estimate duties at checkout, but the final charges are set by the shipping carrier and US customs. Retailers receive an invoice from the carrier, which they need to pay in order to clear the shipment for import.
Estimates are only available on a per-order basis. Multiple orders placed or delivered on the same day aren’t combined.
To learn more about how recent tariff updates will impact the import duties your US retailers will be charged, visit What’s changing with US import duties starting August 29, 2025
What if customs agencies or carriers require additional information to clear my shipments?
If you ship products internationally, and additional information or documentation is required by the country of import for your products, you might be contacted by a customs agent, carrier, or your retailer to provide the necessary information to help clear customs.
Here are a few things to keep in mind :
- You are the exporter. Ensuring your products can be exported, sold and imported for B2B purposes in other countries falls under your responsibility.
- The retailer is the importer and is responsible for complying with all import rules and regulations when importing goods into their country.
- The customs agent and/or carrier may reach out to you via phone, or via Faire support on an email thread if you are using Ship with Faire.
- Faire cannot provide information or certificates for your products to be exported and imported smoothly.
- Orders can typically be stalled at a border for a limited time, (this tends to vary between 3 and 5 days)
If you are unresponsive, or fail to provide the required information/documentation/certification, the customs agency may decide to abandon, destroy, or return the shipment to sender. This decision is outside of Faire’s control, and is informed by local regulations, depending on the product types and the ability of a carrier to proceed to Return to Sender.
To prevent these situations from arising, we recommend you follow the guidelines outlined in How to determine if your products can be imported and sold in the US, and adjust your selling territories in your shop settings accordingly to your readiness to export.
Shipping methods
When shipping an order to the US, depending on your location and shipping method(s) available, you will have access to:
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Ship with Faire
- Ship with Faire is currently available to brands in select countries. To learn more, visit Ship with Faire
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Ship on Your Own
- Ship on your Own isn’t currently available to all brands. Brands shipping from the US can’t use Ship on your own for sending international orders. To learn more, visit Ship on your own
Here are additional resources you can consult to answer shipping related questions:
- Ship with Faire Insurance
- How do I create a commercial invoice?
- How are shipping cost estimates calculated?
Managing shipping options and costs
International shipments can be costly. Here are some important key factors and information to consider when shipping your products internationally:
- Faire does not support pallet shipping through Ship with Faire
- If your products are heavy and/or bulky, selling internationally will automatically result in higher shipping costs. We recommend lowering your order minimum for intercontinental orders. This will help balance the product value / shipping cost ratio.
- We have noticed brands selling heavy and bulky products that have a low to medium price point focus their targeting on more local markets, as the shipping costs associated with selling this type of product internationally does not always allow for margin.
- When using Ship with Faire, Faire will be the account holder in relation to the carrier, but you are still the exporter of record. The guidelines and responsibilities detailed in this article still apply.
What’s changing with US import duties starting August 29, 2025
Effective August 29, 2025, all international commercial shipments—regardless of their value or origin will be subject to import duties and formal customs processing.
For the first six months, shipping carriers can choose between two calculation methods:
- Ad valorem duty: A percentage-based fee based on product value and the tariff rate for your country.
- Specific duty: A temporary flat fee of $80 to $200 per item, depending on the country of origin.
After the transition period, all shipments will default to the ad valorem method.
This is an active and fast-changing policy area. For the latest updates, we recommend reviewing The White House Executive Orders. To learn more about these updates, you can also visit 2025 Tariffs Updates, impact to Brands
Shipping products to the US from Canada after the July 31, 2025 executive order
A July 31, 2025 US executive order confirmed that effective August 1, 2025, the tariff rate for most goods imported from Canada will increase to 35%.
However, products that qualify under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) rules of origin will remain duty-free (0%).
To help reassure your US retailers and avoid confusion about the new tariff rate, we recommend taking the following steps if your products qualify under USMCA:
- USMCA Compliance: Products must originate from Canada, the United States, or Mexico, with sufficient materials and manufacturing from these countries to meet the USMCA rules of origin.
- Marking Products as USMCA Compliant: You can designate your products as USMCA compliant directly from your product page or in bulk. Learn more here.
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Required Documentation:
- For shipments under $2,500 USD: Include a self-certified statement of origin with your shipment, confirming the product meets USMCA rules.
- For shipments over $2,500 USD: Include a certified statement of Origin.
To learn more about how USMCA works on Faire visit How do I mark my eligible products as duty-free under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)?
This is an active and fast-changing policy area. For the latest updates, we recommend reviewing The White House Executive Orders. To learn more about these updates, you can also visit 2025 Tariffs Updates, impact to Brands
How do I ship into the US during the postal suspension?
A number of national postal providers have temporarily paused shipments to the US. This is due to uncertainty around new technical requirements tied to upcoming tariff changes to the de minimis exemption, which are currently scheduled to take effect on August 29, 2025.
If your local postal carrier has paused shipments, we strongly recommend exploring alternative options to fulfill US-bound orders.
Shipments sent through UPS, DHL (Express service) and FedEx remain unaffected, so these are all great alternative options to consider. These carriers are also available via Ship with Faire, and brands can continue to send orders via these carriers to the US without disruption.