China–US merchant onboarding: confirm gateways, entry and responsibilities
Define origin receiving, gateway, importer, postal entry and exception ownership before approving a China–US parcel trial or changing a quoted route.
Reviewed 2026-10-08 · 3 min readPrepare the parcel profile before choosing a route
Give the consolidator the actual goods, packed size and weight range, destination ZIP sample, order volume and target dispatch dates. Identify supplier locations and which units need receiving or repacking. These details let the team review a route for the intended workload.
For the Jeton brief, LAX, ORD and JFK are gateway options in the China–US plan. The quote and approved shipment instructions identify the routing for a particular batch; listing several gateways does not establish that a parcel has departed.
Assign each handover and its supporting record
Document who receives stock in China, books international transport, arranges import review and transfers parcels to the final carrier. Name the importer and broker through the actual agreement. CBP’s general guidance is background for their shipment-specific requirements.
| Check | Record or next action |
|---|---|
| Origin receiving | Supplier references, units accepted and packing instructions. |
| International movement | Booking owner, route and movement reference. |
| Import | Responsible parties, requested documents and release evidence. |
| Postal handover | Receiving party, permitted product and carrier-reference mapping. |
Approve a sample and the exception rules
Agree a representative trial before releasing a larger queue. Check a normal parcel and relevant exceptions such as a held SKU, changed address or incomplete receiving quantity. Decide who pauses the dispatch and who authorises a corrected instruction.
Include returns and failed-delivery handling in the brief. Confirm the return destination, receiving reference and decision owner. A linehaul price comparison cannot explain the cost of a route whose exception responsibilities are still missing.
Keep the approved quote version with the first dispatch
Retain the agreed service, estimate scope, charging assumptions and handover records. For a proposed gateway change, ask which receiving, import and postal arrangements also change. Have the shipment owner approve that plan before changing buyer-facing delivery information.
USPS says a shipping-partner event awaiting the item does not indicate postal possession. Use that distinction when reconciling the trial’s milestones. The retained route-change checklist below remains available for later onboarding reviews.
Reconfirm responsibilities when a proposed route changes
A carrier announcement can prompt an onboarding review. Before approving a revised plan, ask which contracted product, receiving address, importer, broker, postal handover and return arrangements change. Keep these answers together so a cheaper transport quote can be assessed against the full responsibility chain.
Record the effective shipment or batch reference for an approved change. Preserve the earlier route for parcels already dispatched, and identify the person who will resolve a missing handover or a rejected receiving appointment. Give customer support the approved service scope and actual tracking references.
- Confirm the account and product that can accept this origin, goods and destinations.
- Agree the records needed at each international, customs and postal handover.
- Obtain the importer or broker’s checklist for the actual shipment.
- Approve the return destination and exception contact before a trial dispatch.