Guides for exporters in Asia

Exporting from India, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Cambodia to the USA: guides for shippers

How an export shipment to the United States works, written for the exporter: the registrations you need before the first container, the Incoterm and the documents, where the container is stuffed, the export declaration, what your US buyer's filings need from you, and how the incentives are claimed afterwards. The India guides go deepest, with commodity guides for the cargo India ships most. Each guide is dated and cites the government documents it rests on.

Airlift's own offices in India, Ho Chi Minh City, Dhaka and Phnom Penh arrange pickup, loading, bookings and export documents; AIRLIFT (U.S.A.), INC., an FMC-licensed NVOCC, handles the US end. How the India to USA service works

Exporting from India to the USA: the process

Start with the end-to-end guide, then open the step you are on.

  1. How to export from India to the USA: the process from first registration to payment receivedExporting from India to the United States runs in a fixed order: register (IEC, AD code, GST LUT, RCMC), agree terms with your buyer, book, pack and stuff, file the shipping bill on ICEGATE and get the Let Export Order, send the bill of lading and documents, get the US Importer Security Filing in on time, then realize the payment and claim RoDTEP and drawback. Each step links to the deeper guide.Updated October 15, 2026
  2. IEC, AD code, LUT and RCMC: the four registrations an Indian exporter needs before the first US shipmentBefore your first container leaves India you need an Importer-Exporter Code from DGFT, an AD code registered on ICEGATE, a GST Letter of Undertaking to ship without paying IGST, and an RCMC from your Export Promotion Council when you claim Foreign Trade Policy benefits. Here is who issues each one, the portal, the validity and the bank-side rules, as of October 15, 2026.Updated October 15, 2026
  3. Incoterms for Indian exporters: which rule to quote a US buyer, and what each one makes you doFor containerized India to USA sales, FCA fits when your buyer books the freight and CIP or DAP when you book it. FOB and CIF are still widely quoted, but ICC's own notes say they suit goods delivered on board the vessel, not a container handed over at a terminal. The rule you pick decides who nominates the forwarder, where your risk ends, who insures, and who clears customs on each side.Updated October 15, 2026
  4. Export documents checklist for shipping from India to the USA: who prepares what, and whenAn export from India to the USA runs on five sets of documents: commercial (proforma and commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin), transport (booking, shipping instructions, VGM, bill of lading), Indian regulatory (shipping bill, LEO, EGM, EDF, e-BRC), product certificates and payment documents. Here is each one: who prepares it, when, and who uses it, as of October 15, 2026.Updated October 15, 2026
  5. LCL vs FCL from India to the USA: how to choose, and how each shipment movesShip LCL when your consignment is well short of a container, usually below about 13 m³; ask for both options between about 13 and 20 m³; above 20 m³ a container of your own usually wins. LCL cargo is consolidated at an origin CFS under the consolidator's house bill of lading and deconsolidated at a US CFS, which adds handling and days. FCL is stuffed and sealed once and opened by your buyer.Updated October 15, 2026
  6. Factory stuffing, CFS stuffing or an ICD: where your export container gets loaded in IndiaAn export container leaving India for the United States is loaded in one of three places: at your factory under the self-sealing procedure with an RFID e-seal, at a container freight station (CFS) near the port after customs examination, or at an inland container depot (ICD) that clears the goods and rails the box to the gateway port. The choice sets where customs examines and who seals.Updated October 15, 2026
  7. Shipping bill on ICEGATE: filing, Let Export Order, EGM and status tracking for Indian exportersThe shipping bill is the export declaration an Indian exporter files electronically on ICEGATE under section 50 of the Customs Act, 1962. It is deemed filed when the Customs system assigns its number, carries the Let Export Order once assessed, and after the carrier files the Export General Manifest it drives your IGST refund, drawback and RoDTEP. The cycle, step by step, as of October 15, 2026.Updated October 15, 2026
  8. US import rules for Indian exporters: what the ISF, manifest, customs entry and product agencies need from youYour US buyer files the entry and pays the duty, but every US filing is built from data you supply. The ISF 10+2 needs your manufacturer, seller, buyer, ship-to party, origin and 6-digit HTS 24 hours before loading in India; the manifest needs a precise cargo description; the entry needs an invoice to 19 CFR 141.86 and origin-marked goods. Here is who files what, and what they need from you.Updated October 15, 2026
  9. RoDTEP, duty drawback and the IGST refund: how an Indian exporter to the USA gets the money backAn Indian exporter shipping to the United States has three refunds to collect: RoDTEP, a duty credit claimed by a declaration on the shipping bill; duty drawback, cash back for customs duty on imported inputs under Section 75; and GST zero-rating, under LUT or with IGST paid and refunded via the shipping bill. All three run through ICEGATE, wait for the EGM, and are clawed back if payment is late.Updated October 15, 2026

India to the USA, by commodity

What changes for your product: classification, the US agency rules, packaging and the documents your buyer will ask for.

  1. How to export granite and natural stone from India to the USA: ports, policy, HS codes, loading and documentsGranite leaves India as Free goods: no export license and no DGFT policy condition on headings 2515 and 2516 as of October 15, 2026, with an RCMC from CAPEXIL, the export promotion council for natural stone. Slabs and blocks ship in 20-foot containers because US highway weight limits, not volume, cap the load. Here are the ports, HS codes, loading, VGM, ISPM-15 crates, documents and claims.Updated October 15, 2026
  2. How to export ceramic tiles from Morbi to the USA: ports, HS 6907, US duties, pallets and documentsCeramic tiles of heading 6907 are listed Free for export with no DGFT policy condition as of October 15, 2026; CAPEXIL issues the RCMC for FTP benefits. Your US buyer pays the Column 1 rate, the 10% Section 301 duty and a countervailing duty under the June 2025 order on ceramic tile from India; the antidumping case closed negative. Here are the ports, codes, packing and papers.Updated October 15, 2026
  3. How to export garments, knitwear and home textiles from India to the USA: RCMC, RoSCTL, US labels and safetyApparel, knitwear and home textiles of Chapters 61, 62 and 63 are Free in DGFT's export policy as of October 15, 2026, and the export promotion council for your product issues the RCMC. The harder work is on the US side: fiber-content, care and origin labels, flammability and children's-product rules have to be built into the garment before it is packed. Here is the sequence, cluster by cluster.Updated October 15, 2026
  4. How to export pharmaceuticals from India to the USA: CDSCO NOC, Pharmexcil RCMC, FDA registration and entryA drug leaves India on a State manufacturing license, plus a CDSCO export NOC where it is unapproved, new or banned in India. It enters the United States only if the plant is registered and the drug listed with FDA, the product is covered by an approved application or an OTC monograph, and your buyer's broker files the FDA codes in ACE. The regulatory gates, as of October 15, 2026.Updated October 15, 2026
  5. How to export auto parts from India to the USA: ports, EEPC RCMC, HS codes, Section 232, DOT and EPA rulesAuto parts leave India as Free goods: all of heading 8708 is Free in the DGFT export policy as of October 15, 2026, with a condition only on vintage parts, and the RCMC comes from EEPC India. Your US buyer pays the Section 232 auto-parts duty on covered lines and files a DOT HS-7 or EPA declaration where those agencies regulate the part. Here is the route, the paperwork and the packing.Updated October 15, 2026
  6. How to export handicrafts and wooden furniture from India to the USA: EPCH, CITES, Lacey Act and CPSC rulesFurniture, brass and decor are Free exports under ITC (HS) Schedule 2 as of October 15, 2026, with an RCMC from EPCH. The work is compliance: a CITES document when sheesham or rosewood in an item exceeds the 10 kg exemption, data for your buyer's Lacey Act declaration, and the CPSC, TSCA and labeling rules your factory builds in. Clusters, codes, packing and documents below.Updated October 15, 2026

Exporting from Vietnam, Bangladesh and Cambodia

The same shipment seen from Airlift USA's own offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Dhaka and Phnom Penh: registrations, the customs declaration, the certificate of origin and what the US side needs.

  1. How to export from Vietnam to the USA: export rights, VNACCS declaration, VAT, certificate of origin, US rulesTo export from Vietnam to the United States, check that your goods are not banned or licensed for export, agree the Incoterm and payment with your buyer, declare the shipment on VNACCS after the goods are gathered and at least four hours before the vessel leaves, clear the green, yellow or red channel, and get the US Importer Security Filing in 24 hours before loading.Updated October 15, 2026
  2. How to export from Bangladesh to the USA: ERC, UD and back-to-back LC, EXP form, customs, US rules and paymentExporting from Bangladesh to the United States runs in order: register with CCI&E and your bank, take a bond license and a UD for duty-free inputs, agree the LC with your buyer, declare the shipment on the EXP form, lodge the bill of export in ASYCUDA World, get the US ISF in on time, meet US garment labeling rules, and realize the proceeds within four months.Updated October 15, 2026
  3. How to export from Cambodia to the USA: registrations, the ASYCUDA declaration, origin papers and US rulesTo export from Cambodia to the USA, register with the Ministry of Commerce, the tax department and ASYCUDA World, then as an exporter in the Ministry's CO Automation System. Each shipment needs a customs declaration (SAD) and, for certain US-bound goods, an Origin Certification Letter. The ISF is due no later than 24 hours before the cargo is laden at the foreign port.Updated October 15, 2026

Airlift offices at origin

The branch near your factory or port handles the booking, pickup, loading and the export documents. Each page lists the gateway ports and the lanes it works.

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