Carriage Paid To (CPT)

Carriage Paid To (CPT) is the Incoterms 2020 rule under which the seller contracts and pays for carriage to a named destination, but delivers the goods, and passes the risk to the buyer, when it hands them to the first carrier at origin. The seller clears export; the buyer clears import and pays the duty. Neither party is obliged to insure. CPT works for any mode of transport and is the multimodal counterpart of CFR.

Two places, not one

A CPT term names the destination, as in "CPT Chicago" or "CPT JFK Airport", but that is only where the seller's freight payment ends. Delivery, and risk, happen much earlier, at the place where the goods are handed to the carrier, which could be the seller's warehouse, a container terminal or the departure airport. If the shipment uses a truck, then a vessel, then a train, delivery happens at the first carrier. Buyers routinely assume a CPT seller is responsible until arrival; it is not. Name both places in the contract: the place of delivery, where risk moves, and the destination, where the seller's carriage ends.

Who does what under CPT

• Seller: clears export, books and pays carriage to the named destination, meets transport security requirements, hands the goods to the carrier and tells the buyer they have been delivered
• Buyer: carries the risk from the handover, insures the transit if it wants cover, files the Importer Security Filing for ocean cargo, clears import, pays duty and moves the goods on from the destination
• Unloading at destination: the buyer's cost unless the seller's contract of carriage includes it

CPT vs CFR, and CPT vs CIP

CFR splits cost and risk the same way but is sea-only and delivers on board the vessel. When a container is handed to the carrier at a terminal before loading, CPT is the rule that matches what happens. CIP is CPT plus an obligation on the seller to insure for the buyer at Institute Cargo Clauses (A) level. On air freight, where CFR cannot be used, CPT with the named destination airport is the equivalent. Compare the C rules in the Incoterms explainer.

CPT on an Asia or India to US import

• Insure your risk. Loss between the origin handover and your door is yours, on a freight contract the seller chose. Arrange cover from the place of delivery
• ISF and release. Under 19 CFR 149.1 the ISF Importer is the party causing the goods to arrive in the US by vessel, normally the buyer. The seller's forwarder holds the booking, so agree who files, and note that the bill of lading is issued to the seller's side, so release depends on the seller
• Customs value. US value excludes international freight and insurance (19 U.S.C. 1401a(b)(4), 19 CFR 152.102(f)), so the actual freight inside a CPT price is deducted. CBP wants the actual cost, not an estimate. Freight in the US after importation, for example to a CPT Chicago destination, is excluded only if identified separately (19 U.S.C. 1401a(b)(3)). Foreign inland freight to the port is deductible only under 19 CFR 152.103(a)(5), which in practice needs a through bill of lading. Ask the seller to itemize each leg

Duty, including Section 301, Section 232 and any other additional duties in force, is then assessed on that value. Estimate it in the tariff simulator.

Buying CPT through Airlift

If your supplier ships CPT, Airlift can handle the US side: file the ISF where the seller's forwarder does not, coordinate the entry through our licensed customs-broker network (customs clearance) and arrange delivery from the destination. Because risk is yours from the origin handover, add cargo insurance for the whole transit. To see what the freight in a CPT price is worth, ask for an FCA price and compare it with our ocean freight or air freight quote in rate search.