Import business guide
Import Business Financing: Paying for Inventory, Freight and Duties Before Goods Are Sold
Every import order spends cash for weeks or months before it sells. Here is what comes due, when customs requires it and how to match financing to your cycle.
Share your import cycle and recent statements so an advisor can review financing options that may fit your orders.
By Correia Financial
The short answer
An importer pays for goods long before it sells them. Supplier deposits and balances, freight, customs duties and fees, broker charges and inland delivery all come due before the first sale, and customers on terms pay later still. The right financing bridges that stretch and is repaid from the sales the order produces.
A business line of credit may fit regular orders, revenue based working capital may fit a one time seasonal buy, and invoice factoring may fit when business customers pay slowly. Price the full landed cost and a realistic timeline, including delays, before you decide how much to finance.
Choose the situation closest to yours
Regular container orders
You import from the same suppliers several times a year and sell steadily once goods land. Each order ties up cash from the supplier payment until customers pay.
What may fit: A business line of credit may fit, because you can draw for each order and repay as it sells.
Seasonal buy
Holiday or summer goods must be ordered and shipped well before the selling season. Supplier, freight and customs costs land months before most of the revenue.
What may fit: Working capital may fit a one time seasonal bridge, and a line of credit may fit if the pattern repeats each year.
Selling to retailers
Your goods sell quickly, but retailers and distributors pay invoices weeks after delivery. The wait after the sale is the longest part of your cycle.
What may fit: Invoice factoring often fits when your customers are creditworthy businesses that pay slowly.
Held at port
A shipment arrives late or is held for examination, and storage charges build while customers wait. Costs keep coming while sales move later.
What may fit: A line of credit already in place may fit an unplanned delay better than a new application made in the middle of one.
On this page
What an imported order costs before the first sale
The supplier invoice is only the first bill. By the time goods reach your shelf, you have usually paid for freight, customs duties and fees, a customs bond, broker services, port handling and the truck to your warehouse. Together these make up the landed cost, and all of it leaves your account before the first sale.
Financing an import business starts with an honest landed cost per order, because that is the number your cash or financing must cover until customers pay.
Hypothetical example: the landed cost of one container order
An importer buys $100,000 of goods. Ocean freight and insurance come to $8,000. Its broker classifies the goods at a hypothetical duty rate of 10% on a $100,000 customs value, so the duty deposit is $10,000.
Federal fees add $346 for the merchandise processing fee (0.3464% of value) and $125 for the harbor maintenance fee (0.125% of value). Broker fees and the bond cost a hypothetical $1,000, and port handling and inland trucking another $3,000.
The order’s landed cost is about $122,500, or about 22.5% more than the supplier invoice, and every dollar of it is spent before the goods sell.
Round numbers for illustration only, not a quote. Duty rates depend on the classification, value and origin of your goods, and freight, broker and port charges vary by shipment.
- Goods (supplier invoice)$100,000
- Customs duty$10,000
- Freight and insurance$8,000
- Port handling and trucking$3,000
- Broker and bond$1,000
- Processing and harbor fees$471
Hypothetical figures from the example above. Your costs depend on the goods, the route and your service providers.
When each cost comes due, and when cash comes back
An import order spends cash in stages and collects it in one stretch at the end. Laying the stages side by side shows how long the money is out.
- Order placedA supplier deposit, if required, leaves your account.
- Goods shipAny balance due at shipment is paid and freight is booked.
- In transitWeeks at sea or days by air, with no sales yet.
- Arrival and entryEntry filed, bond in place, duties and fees deposited.
- Into stockGoods are trucked to your warehouse and start selling.
- Customer paysCash returns at the register, or weeks later on terms.
A general illustration. Supplier terms, transit times and customs timing vary.
Customs sets several of these dates. Under CBP regulations, duties accrue when the goods arrive, on arrival of the importing vessel for ocean freight, and the liability for them is a debt owed by the importer to the United States. Merchandise that requires entry must be entered within 15 calendar days after landing, and if the entry summary is not filed at the time of entry, it is due with estimated duties within 10 working days after entry. Importers in the periodic monthly statement program can instead pay no later than the 15th working day following the month of entry or release.
The duty you deposit is an estimate. Federal law treats an entry that is not liquidated within one year as liquidated at the importer’s asserted amounts, the period can be extended up to four years, and increased or additional duties found due at liquidation are billed with interest and due 30 days after the bill. Keep a reserve for that possibility rather than counting every entry as closed.
Hypothetical example: if a supplier deposit goes out on day 0, the balance and freight around day 30, duties near day 60, and the goods sell from day 70 through day 130 to customers who pay in 30 days, cash is out for about five months before the last dollar returns.
Customs related costs to plan for
Customs costs come from a few sources, and each has its own timing. The two federal fees below are set in CBP regulations; the rest depend on your goods and providers.
| Cost | What sets it | When it is paid |
|---|---|---|
| Duties | The goods’ classification in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, their customs value and origin | Estimated with the entry summary; final amount at liquidation |
| Merchandise processing fee | 0.3464% of the value of formally entered goods, within a minimum and maximum that CBP may adjust each fiscal year | With the entry summary |
| Harbor maintenance fee | 0.125% of the value of commercial cargo loaded or unloaded by vessel at covered ports | With the entry summary |
| Customs bond | A single entry or continuous bond from an approved surety, or cash or government obligations | In place before goods can be released |
| Customs broker | The broker’s own fee schedule | As agreed with the broker |
| Storage and delay charges | Port, terminal and warehouse rates, plus general order storage if entry is late | As they accrue while goods wait |
You may handle customs business yourself: CBP regulations exempt an importer transacting customs business solely on its own account from the broker license requirement. Anyone acting on behalf of others must hold a broker license, and a licensed broker can handle classification and filing for you. If you use one, ask for the fee schedule so it goes into your landed cost.
The Harmonized Tariff Schedule is maintained and published by the U.S. International Trade Commission. Because duties accrue when goods arrive, not when you place the order, a rate change in between changes what you owe. Confirm the current treatment of your goods with your broker before you size financing, and leave room in the budget for a change.
How delays turn into a cash problem
Delays cost an importer twice. Charges keep building while goods wait at a port or terminal, and the sales that would repay the order move later. A shipment held for examination, missing paperwork or a missed connection can do both at once.
Federal rules add a backstop. Under CBP regulations, merchandise not entered within the time the law allows becomes general order merchandise, placed in a general order warehouse at the consignee’s expense and risk. Prompt filing is one of the few delay costs you control.
Seasonal goods carry an extra risk. If holiday or summer stock lands after its selling window, it may sell more slowly or at lower prices, and the financing taken to buy it still has to be repaid on schedule.
Size financing to a realistic timeline, not a perfect one. Add a delay of a few weeks to your plan and check whether payments, storage and your reserve still work.
Which financing fits an import cycle?
The right structure depends on which part of the cycle you need to fund and how often the need repeats.
A line of credit for regular orders
If you import on a regular rhythm, a business line of credit lets you draw for each order and repay as the goods sell. Interest generally applies only to what you draw. Ask about draw and maintenance fees, whether the rate is variable, how often the line is reviewed and whether the provider takes a lien on inventory and receivables.
Working capital for a one time or seasonal buy
Revenue based working capital gives you a lump sum now, and the provider buys a portion of your future sales or receivables in return. Because it is a purchase rather than a loan, there is no interest rate: you remit an agreed fixed total, in remittances that can be daily or weekly and can begin soon after funding, possibly before your goods arrive. Compare the total remitted with the amount you receive, and test the remittance against the weeks when nothing is selling yet. Our guide to daily, weekly and monthly payment schedules shows how.
Invoice factoring after the sale
If you sell to retailers or distributors on terms, invoice factoring turns their unpaid invoices into cash before they pay. You are selling those invoices to the factor rather than borrowing, and its fees come out of what you collect. Factoring does nothing for the months before the goods are sold, so it usually needs to work alongside another source for the purchase itself.
Whatever you compare, line up the amount you receive after fees, the total you will repay or remit, the payment amount and frequency, the cost per dollar, any security interest and any personal guarantee. For a fuller method, see how to compare financing costs and payments.
What providers may review for an import business
Requirements are provider dependent, and importers are reviewed on the same cash flow basics as other businesses, plus the documents that show how their goods move.
Bank statements
Recent deposits, balances and existing payments, including the swings between orders.
Supplier invoices and terms
Purchase orders, deposits, balances and when title to the goods passes to you.
Customs records
Entry summaries, duty payments, your bond and any open liquidation bills.
Receivables and customers
An aging of what customers owe and how concentrated your sales are.
Inventory reports
What is on hand, what is in transit and how quickly each line sells.
Existing obligations
Current loans, advances and liens on inventory or receivables.
Two points vary widely. Some providers count goods in transit while others only count inventory in your warehouse or invoices already issued, and some providers restrict certain product categories. Raise both early so the review matches how your business actually operates.
When financing an import order may not be the right call
Financing makes sense when the landed cost, timeline and sell through are known well enough to show how it will be repaid. It is harder to justify for a first order of an untested product, where the risk of slow sales falls entirely on cash you have borrowed.
It may also be the wrong tool when margins after duties and fees are too thin to absorb its cost, when a duty change has not yet been priced into your selling price, or when the real problem is aging stock from earlier orders. In those cases a smaller order, a supplier deposit you can negotiate down or a price change may help more than new financing.
If you also distribute the goods you import, our guide to wholesale distributor financing covers measuring the full cycle from supplier payment to customer collection.
Frequently asked questions
When are customs duties paid on imported goods?
Estimated duties are generally deposited with the entry summary, which is due within 10 working days after entry if it is not filed at the time of entry. Importers in the periodic monthly statement program can pay no later than the 15th working day after the month of entry or release. The final amount is set at liquidation, and additional duties billed then are due 30 days after the bill.
Can financing cover duties and freight as well as the goods?
A line of credit or working capital can be used across the costs of an order, including freight and duties, but how a provider sizes the amount and what uses it accepts are provider dependent. Plan to have the duty deposit ready when the entry summary is due, because it is the importer’s debt to the United States.
Do I need a customs broker?
Not if you transact customs business solely on your own account, which CBP regulations exempt from the broker license requirement. Anyone doing customs business on behalf of others must be licensed. If you use a broker, include its fees in your landed cost.
Can inventory that is still in transit be financed?
Some providers consider it, and others only count goods once they are in your warehouse or invoiced to customers. It depends on the provider, the shipping terms that decide when you own the goods and the documents you can show, so ask early.
What happens if my shipment sits at the port?
Storage and handling charges can build while goods wait. Merchandise must be entered within 15 calendar days after landing, and goods not entered in time can become general order merchandise, stored at the consignee’s expense and risk.
Is invoice factoring useful for an importer?
It can be when your customers are creditworthy businesses that pay on terms, because it turns their invoices into cash before they pay. It does not fund the purchase before goods are sold, so it often works alongside another source.
Is Correia Financial the lender?
No. Correia Financial is a business financing brokerage that reviews your import business and explores options with third party providers. Those providers decide whether to offer financing and set the terms.
Sources
- 19 CFR 24.23, Fees for processing merchandiseElectronic Code of Federal Regulations (CBP regulations)
- 19 CFR 24.24, Harbor maintenance feeElectronic Code of Federal Regulations (CBP regulations)
- 19 CFR 141.1, Liability of importer for dutiesElectronic Code of Federal Regulations (CBP regulations)
- 19 CFR 142.2, Time for filing entryElectronic Code of Federal Regulations (CBP regulations)
- 19 CFR 142.4, Bond requirementsElectronic Code of Federal Regulations (CBP regulations)
- 19 CFR 142.12, Time for filing or submission for preliminary reviewElectronic Code of Federal Regulations (CBP regulations)
- 19 CFR 127.1, Merchandise considered general order merchandiseElectronic Code of Federal Regulations (CBP regulations)
- 19 CFR 111.2, License and permit requiredElectronic Code of Federal Regulations (CBP regulations)
- 19 U.S. Code § 1504: Limitation on liquidationLegal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- 19 U.S. Code § 1505: Payment of duties and feesLegal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- 19 U.S. Code § 1202: Harmonized Tariff ScheduleLegal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
Sources reviewed October 12, 2026.
Related reading
Industry GuidesWholesale distributor financing: inventory and receivables