Shanghai (Yangshan / Waigaoqiao)
Yangshan and Waigaoqiao exports under Shanghai MSA's photo-verified packing system, where a mismatch between photos and EDI data keeps a DG box off the ship.
North America · sea freight from Shanghai
Shipping from Shanghai to Long Beach
Shanghai to Long Beach
East China Sea · Korea Strait · Sea of Japan · Tsugaru Strait · North Pacific
- ShanghaiChina origin
- East China Sea
- Korea Strait
- Sea of Japan
- Tsugaru Strait
- North Pacific
- Long BeachUnited States
From Shanghai to Long Beach, cargo moves out of Shanghai, crosses a North Pacific corridor with no canal or chokepoint, and is discharged at the port of Long Beach.
The US side starts with two filings due before loading and ends with a road leg that must carry a live emergency number. The 5 points below are particular to this lane; each comes with what we do and the paperwork it touches.
What we need to start
- Photo-verified packing certificate
- Yangshan / Waigaoqiao export
- Supply-chain tracing file
- HTS code 8507.60
- ISF filer
Route profile
What sets Shanghai → Long Beach apart
Transpacific (North Pacific)
No canal or Red Sea passage, but a North Pacific crossing where winter storms have collapsed container stacks.
Where this route gets difficult
5 pain points from Shanghai to Long Beach
They run from the Shanghai terminal through the voyage to Long Beach and the United States import file.
- Origin port
Not every Shanghai warehouse can stuff lithium DG
Shanghai MSA's 2024 draft reporting guide says warehouses that stuff lithium battery dangerous goods must provide fire-department proof of their fire hazard classification and fire-resistance rating. The site's information must also be up to date on the Shanghai single window, which took over MSA account and site records in 2026.
What Anxin does: We only propose stuffing sites that can show the fire-safety documents and are on Shanghai MSA's system; if you use your own warehouse, we check this before booking.
- Sea corridor
Winter storms with hurricane-force winds
NOAA's Ocean Prediction Center found hurricane-force winds (64 knots and above) in North Pacific mid-latitude storms in every month from October to April, peaking in December, with 15 to 23 such storms per season in its 2001–2004 records. They are not typhoons, so they do not follow the tropical calendar.
What Anxin does: For October–April sailings we check blocking and bracing on stuffing photos before sealing and confirm the full DG data are on the manifest.
- Import country
Section 301 at 25% on lithium-ion non-EV batteries from January 2026
USTR's 2024 review moved lithium-ion batteries of HTSUS 8507.60.0020 (the 'other', non-passenger-EV line) from a 7.5% to a 25% additional duty for entries from 1 January 2026; EV traction batteries under 8507.60.0010 reached 25% in 2024. Other China-specific duties can stack on top and change with little notice, so the landed cost depends on the exact classification and entry date.
What Anxin does: We do not give duty rulings. We make sure the invoice describes chemistry, configuration and application precisely enough for the importer's customs broker to classify it, and we flag the entry date when a vessel's arrival could straddle a duty change.
- Import country
Brand and chemistry labels on built-in-battery products
California has added battery-embedded products to its electronic-waste program: from 1 January 2026 buyers pay a recycling fee at purchase, and each covered product must show the manufacturer's name or brand and the battery chemistry (or put it on the maker's website), with an annual product notice to CalRecycle and retailers.
What Anxin does: If the goods landing at Long Beach are devices with built-in batteries for sale in California, we ask the brand owner to confirm the chemistry labelling and the CalRecycle notice before shipping.
- Import country
Product defects must be reported to CPSC within 24 hours
US importers, like manufacturers and retailers, must tell CPSC within 24 hours once they have information reasonably suggesting that a consumer product fails a safety rule or has a defect that could create a substantial hazard. Battery overheating reports from customers can trigger that duty, and CPSC expects any investigation to take no more than about 10 working days.
What Anxin does: We keep the manufacturer's batch records, UN 38.3 summaries and packing photos for each shipment to Long Beach, so the importer can answer CPSC questions quickly.
Documents & compliance
What to have ready: Shanghai to Long Beach
These documents come from the shipper, the manufacturer and the importer. Anxin checks them against each other; it does not issue test reports, safety data sheets or import certificates.
In Shanghai, before the box is loaded
- Stuffing site registered and geo-verified with Shanghai MSA; fire-safety proof for lithium DG warehouses
- 'Made in China' marking on articles or containers checked on photos
- Safety data sheet and dangerous goods safe-carriage declaration for the MSA cargo report
- Customs packaging use-appraisal result for the dangerous goods packaging (with the maker's performance appraisal)
- Container packing certificate signed by a certified packing inspector after supervised stuffing
Carrier and voyage
- Stuffing photos before, during and after packing, checked for blocking and bracing
- SP188 cartons: US 'forbidden aboard passenger aircraft' marking or CAO label
- UN 38.3 test summary for every cell and battery type
At the United States end
- HTSUS classification from the broker (8507.60.0010 vs .0020 decides the Section 301 line)
- 24-hour emergency response number (and provider reference) for the US road leg
- Importer of record and the licensed customs broker who will file the entry
Before you book
Match the details first
We line up UN numbers, model names and package counts across the Shanghai filings, the booking with the carrier and the documents for United States before the booking is confirmed, so that a mismatch is fixed at origin rather than discovered at Long Beach.
Carriers we book with
Our booking panel; availability on this lane and acceptance of the declared UN numbers are confirmed for each booking. It does not mean that a listed carrier runs a direct service on this route. Carrier choice depends on the trade lane, cargo classification and each carrier's dangerous-goods acceptance at booking. The final carrier is confirmed on the booking.
Risk & mitigation
What could go wrong from Shanghai to Long Beach, and who acts
| Risk | Where | Mitigation | Who acts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy-weather damage in a winter storm | North Pacific, Oct–Apr | CINS stuffing checks | Packing site, checked by Anxin |
Questions
Shanghai → Long Beach: questions we are asked
For lithium-ion batteries classified in HTSUS 8507.60.0020 and entered from 1 January 2026, USTR set the Section 301 additional duty at 25%; EV traction batteries in 8507.60.0010 have been at 25% since 2024. Other duties can apply on top. The importer's customs broker confirms the classification and total duty; we make sure the invoice gives the broker enough detail to do so.
Weather is the main risk on this crossing: NOAA recorded hurricane-force North Pacific storms from October to April, most often in December. We tighten the packing checks for those sailings.
It can, but Shanghai MSA checks the phone location of the packing photos against a verified stuffing site, and sites outside Shanghai must be registered with it. We confirm registration before the stuffing date; otherwise the container can be refused for loading.
References
Official sources for this page
- 19 CFR 134.11: Country of origin marking required (Legal Information Institute (e-CFR text))
- Section 301 Modifications Determination (Federal Register notice, Sept 2024) (Office of the U.S. Trade Representative)
- 49 CFR 171.25 – Additional requirements for the use of the IMDG Code (eCFR / PHMSA)
- 49 CFR 172.604: Emergency response telephone number (eCFR / PHMSA)
- Hurricane force extratropical cyclones observed using QuikSCAT (Mariners Weather Log 49-1) (NOAA Ocean Prediction Center)
- Notice on the trial of the remote smart management system for DG container packing (Chinese), 12 November 2021 (Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration)
- Export dangerous goods packaging inspection: service guide (Chinese) (General Administration of Customs of China (Lanzhou Customs service guide))
Next step
From enquiry to import
- 1EnquiryCargo, origin, destination
- 2Documents checkUN 38.3, SDS, packing
- 3BookingAfter carrier acceptance
- 4HandoverAt Shanghai
- 5ImportClearance at Long Beach
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After you send it
We check carrier acceptance for Shanghai → Long Beach before any booking, and ask for missing battery documents first.
All destinations from Shanghai · United States ports
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