How to Export from the USA: A Step-by-Step Guide

1. Make sure your product is ready for the destination market

Before you look for buyers, check that your product can legally and practically be sold in the target country. Many markets have their own technical standards, certifications, labeling rules and language requirements. Common examples include CE marking in the European Union, local electrical or safety approvals, food and agricultural import permits, and metric units and local-language labels.

Ask a prospective buyer or their customs broker what the destination requires. It is far cheaper to find out before production than after your goods are sitting at a foreign port.

2. Classify your product

Every product that crosses a border needs a classification code. Importing countries use the international Harmonized System (HS), and the United States adds digits for its own tariff schedule (the HTS for imports) and its export statistics (Schedule B for exports). The first six digits are shared internationally, so your buyer can match them to their own country's duty rates.

Knowing the code lets your buyer estimate import duties, and it is required on your export paperwork. You can look up US tariff codes and current duty rates with our free tariff tool, and read more in our guide to HTS codes.

3. Check export controls and screen your buyer

Most US exports do not need a government license, but that depends on four things: what the item is, where it is going, who will receive it, and what it will be used for. Items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), which the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) administers, are classified with an Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) or as EAR99, the category for most ordinary commercial goods.

Separately, you must not do business with parties on US government restricted-party lists. Screen every buyer, consignee and end user before you quote. Our denied-party screening tool searches the major lists in one place.

4. Agree on price and Incoterms

Incoterms are the standard international trade terms that say who arranges and pays for transport and insurance, and at which point the risk of loss passes from seller to buyer. Choosing them deliberately, and writing them into your quote and invoice with the named place (for example "FCA Houston, Incoterms 2020"), prevents most shipping disputes.

5. Decide how you will get paid

The right payment method balances your risk against the buyer's. From safest for you to riskiest, the usual options are:

• Cash in advance (wire transfer before shipping): lowest risk for the seller, often hard to negotiate with a new buyer.
• Letter of credit: a bank guarantees payment once you present the required documents. Secure but has fees and strict document rules.
• Documentary collection: banks handle the shipping documents and release them against payment or acceptance, with no bank guarantee of payment.
• Open account: you ship first and are paid later. Only for buyers you know and trust, ideally with export credit insurance.

Export credit insurance (from private insurers or the US Export-Import Bank, EXIM) can protect you if a buyer does not pay, and can make it safer to offer open-account terms to a new market.

6. Arrange shipping and prepare the documents

Most exporters work with a freight forwarder, who books transport and prepares documents, and the buyer or seller uses a customs broker for clearance. The standard document set is:

• Commercial invoice with the full product description, HS/HTS code, value, Incoterms and parties.
• Packing list with weights, dimensions and package counts.
• Bill of lading (sea) or air waybill (air).
• Certificate of origin, when the buyer, the destination or a trade agreement requires it.
• Any destination-specific documents, such as phytosanitary or health certificates for food and plant products.

In most cases you (or your forwarder) must also file Electronic Export Information (EEI) through the Automated Export System (AES). As a general rule this applies when the value of the goods under a single Schedule B number is over $2,500, or when an export license is required. The rules have exceptions, so confirm the current requirements in the Foreign Trade Regulations.

7. Find buyers

Once the fundamentals are in place, the hard part is being found. Trade shows, your state economic development office, the US Commercial Service and B2B marketplaces all work, and the best results usually come from combining several. A complete, honest company profile and clear product descriptions in the language your buyer searches in matter more than anything else.

Fromerica lists active US exporters on a map so importers can find manufacturers by product, and lets buyers post a request for quote that reaches every matching exporter.

Frequently asked questions