Full container load

Sea Freight from China to USA

Full container load shipping from Chinese load ports to US discharge ports — what the rate covers, what shows up on the invoice afterwards, and how to compare two container quotes without being misled by the headline number.

Get an FCL quoteSee transit times by coast

No obligation — every figure we send states its caliber and the date it was issued.

12–22 days

US West Coast, port-to-port

Door-to-door adds 6–8 days. A planning range, not a carrier commitment.

20GP · 40HQ

Quoted per container, not per CBM

One shipper's cargo, sealed at origin and opened at destination.

~40%

Of US imports from China through LA/LB

Deepest sailing frequency on the lane — and the first port pair to congest.

Data last verified:

What this service actually covers

Four things that decide the price and the risk on this lane. Each one is expanded below.

Sealed at origin, opened at your warehouse

One shipper's cargo in one container. Nothing else goes in, so damage and short-landed cartons stop being an argument you have with a consolidator.

The container rate covers the ocean leg

Origin haulage, US terminal handling, chassis, entry filing and duty sit on separate invoices, from different parties.

The discharge coast changes the total

For the Midwest, a West Coast discharge plus intermodal rail often beats all-water to the East Coast once ramp handling and drayage are priced.

Surcharges arrive after you book

BAF, PSS, GRI and congestion surcharges are announced on short notice. Ask whether a quote is all-in or base plus current surcharges.

What is included, and what is priced separately

A quote is only comparable when both sides are named. This is the boundary on this service — anything on the right is quoted on its own line, with its own date.

Inside this service

  • Ocean freight from the load port to the US discharge port
  • Carrier surcharges in force on the booking date
  • Booking, bill of lading and shipping instructions
  • Container release at destination on the carrier's terms

Priced separately

  • Origin haulage from your supplier to the load port
  • US terminal handling, chassis and per-diem
  • Entry filing, the customs bond and duty
  • Inland transit to your address — that is door-to-door

Sea Freight from China to USA: what an FCL rate actually covers

Full container load means one shipper’s cargo in one container, sealed at origin and opened at destination. The commercial advantage is not just price — it is that nothing else enters your container, so damage and short-landed cartons stop being an argument you have with a consolidator.

The price, though, is where most importers get surprised. A container rate published by a carrier covers the ocean leg and the carrier’s own surcharges. It does not cover getting your cargo from a factory in Dongguan to a load port in Yantian, it does not cover US terminal handling or chassis, and it certainly does not cover duty. Every one of those appears on a different invoice, from a different party.

Before you compare anything, read the 2026 US duty stack — because on many consumer goods the duty is now a larger number than the freight, and it is the one line most quotes leave out entirely.

20GP and 40HQ container shipping cost from China to USA: what moves the number

Four things account for almost all of the variation between two quotes for the same port pair:

  • Load port. Yantian, Shanghai and Ningbo have the deepest sailing frequency; a load port that needs feeder service adds both cost and days.

  • Discharge coast and port. West Coast and East Coast are different markets with different capacity, and within a coast the port choice changes terminal charges and inland distance.

  • Surcharges in force on the booking date. BAF, PSS and GRI are announced on short notice and are frequently excluded from a headline figure.

  • Contract versus spot. A named-account rate and a spot rate for the same sailing can differ by 30% or more.

Run your own numbers in the landed cost calculator to see which of those actually dominates your shipment — on high-value goods it is usually duty, not freight.

US West Coast or East Coast: choosing a discharge port

Los Angeles and Long Beach together handle roughly 40% of US imports from China, and that concentration is both the reason they have the best sailing frequency and the reason they congest first. Oakland and Seattle–Tacoma serve the same coast with less volume.

For inland destinations the question becomes intermodal: a West Coast discharge followed by rail (IPI) to Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City or Memphis is frequently faster and cheaper than an all-water routing to the East Coast plus a long truck leg. The comparison only works if you price the rail ramp handling and the drayage, which is exactly where quick comparisons fall apart.

Ocean freight from China to USA: the surcharges that arrive after you book

Ask any forwarder two questions about a container quote: is it all-in, and if not, which surcharges are excluded. In practice the exclusions are worth more than the rate. The recurring cast:

  • BAF / bunker adjustment — fuel, adjusted periodically.

  • PSS — peak season surcharge, typically announced weeks before it applies.

  • GRI — general rate increase, carrier-wide.

  • Congestion or war-risk surcharge on affected routings.

  • US side: terminal handling, chassis, per-diem and freight release fees.

Shipping time from China to USA by sea — both columns

Port-to-port and door-to-door are different numbers. Capacity context follows the transit table.

Transit time: port-to-port and door-to-door are different numbers

Data last verified:

A forwarder quoting “12–22 days to the US” is describing the vessel, not your shipment. Your goods land inside that window only if pickup, export clearance, vessel discharge, US entry and final delivery all behave. Both columns below are planning ranges — the second column is the one your customer will ask about.

Ocean and air transit ranges, US-bound from China. Planning ranges — see the last-verified date above.
LanePort-to-port (P2P)Door-to-door (D2D)Basis
China → US West Coast (LA / Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle–Tacoma)12–22 days18–30 daysOcean transit plus rail or truck to the final door. Planning range, not a carrier commitment.
China → US East Coast (NY/NJ, Savannah, Norfolk, Charleston)32–45 days36–52 daysAll-water routing through the Panama Canal or Suez. Add rail for inland destinations.
China → US Gulf (Houston, New Orleans)30–42 days35–50 daysAll-water or West Coast discharge plus domestic rail.
China → inland US via West Coast rail (IPI: Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Memphis)20–30 days to the rail ramp25–38 daysWest Coast discharge then intermodal rail. Usually faster and cheaper than all-water to the East Coast for Midwest points.
China → US (air freight, major gateway to gateway)3–5 days5–10 daysAirport-to-airport flight time plus customs clearance and final-mile.

Ranges are planning estimates for standard cargo in normal conditions, not commitments. They exclude blank sailings, terminal congestion, CBP holds and weather. Ask for the current figure before you book a downstream commitment.

Why the same lane re-prices within weeks

Capacity and blank sailings move the spot market faster than any duty change. These are the published numbers behind "rates are volatile" — each with its own publisher and date.

Capacity and schedule context, published figures.
MeasureFigureAs ofPublisher
Asia → North America West Coast scheduled capacity, four-week window1.49 million TEU (+18% year on year)2026-09-22Sea-Intelligence
Asia → North America East Coast scheduled capacity, four-week window935,200 TEU (+17% year on year)2026-09-22Sea-Intelligence
Effective Asia → US capacity, October2.30 million TEU (September: 2.28 million)2026-09eeSea
Blank sailings announced, weeks 41–4539 sailings cancelled2026-10Drewry Cancelled Sailings Tracker
Share of US imports from China handled by Los Angeles / Long Beachabout 40%2026Industry estimate, not a published statistic

Published capacity and sailing counts are third-party measurements, not our operating data. They are useful for understanding direction, not for quoting a shipment.

Where to go next

What goes inside a shipping cost

Every component of a container quote, itemised.

LCL: when a container is not justified

Per-CBM consolidation and the 15 CBM break-even.

DDP: duties paid

When the duty should sit in the price you are quoted.

Sea Freight from China to USA: common questions

How much does a 40ft container cost to ship from China to the USA?
It changes weekly and depends on the discharge coast, the surcharges in force and the date of the quote. We do not publish a fixed price for this reason. What we will tell you is exactly what any figure you see includes: a port-to-port container rate excludes origin haulage and export clearance, US terminal handling and chassis, entry filing, the bond, and duty. Ask for the date and the inclusions before comparing.
How long does sea freight from China to the USA take?
Port-to-port, roughly 12–22 days to the US West Coast and 32–45 days to the US East Coast. Door-to-door adds 6–8 days either way. The ranges widen substantially during peak season, and blank sailings can add a week without notice.
Is sea freight or ocean freight the same thing?
Yes, and the search engines treat them as the same intent, so both live on this page rather than being split into two pages that compete with each other.
Should I ship to the West Coast or the East Coast?
If your delivery address is west of the Rockies, the West Coast is almost always cheaper and faster. For the Midwest, West Coast discharge plus intermodal rail often beats an all-water routing to the East Coast on both cost and time. For the Northeast and Southeast, all-water to an East Coast port usually wins once you count the inland leg.
What are PSS and GRI, and can I avoid them?
PSS is a peak-season surcharge and GRI is a general rate increase; carriers announce both on short notice. You cannot avoid them on spot bookings, but you can ask whether a quote is "all-in" or "base plus current surcharges" — the two are different products.

How we work

A China-based forwarder on the US lane. No US subsidiary, no borrowed logos.

China-based, US-lane only

One Shenzhen office, one trade lane. That focus is why the tariff detail stays current.

Every rate is dated

Date, caliber and inclusions on every quote. No undated price sheets.

US brokers and 3PLs, named

Licensed US brokers file the entry; vetted 3PLs run the warehouse. We tell you who does what.

We say what we do not know

Where a tariff measure is unsettled in law, the page says so rather than picking a number.

Get a container quote that says what it excludes

Send the origin city, the load port you can reach, the delivery ZIP and the container size. You will get a dated figure with the surcharge position written out, plus the door-to-door number for the same shipment.

WhatsApp us