Xiamen (Haicang / Songyu)
Fujian's battery gateway, handling more than 90% of the province's lithium battery exports, with 10-minute online packaging appraisal for compliant products and the Taiwan Strait's winter monsoon on the doorstep.
North America · sea freight from Xiamen
Shipping from Xiamen to Seattle
Xiamen to Seattle
Taiwan Strait · East China Sea · North Pacific · Strait of Juan de Fuca
- XiamenChina origin
- Taiwan Strait
- East China Sea
- North Pacific
- Strait of Juan de Fuca
- SeattleUnited States
This route runs from Fujian's battery makers through Xiamen port, then follows the open North Pacific, where weather is the main risk; at the far end is the port of Seattle.
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
- Xiamen export
- Online packaging appraisal
- Supply-chain tracing file
- HTS code 8507.60
- ISF filer
Route profile
How Xiamen → Seattle differs from other lanes
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 points to plan for on the Xiamen → Seattle route
They run from the Xiamen terminal through the voyage to Seattle and the United States import file.
- Origin port
Xiamen MSA's 'one ship, one plan' for large battery cargo
Xiamen MSA offers pre-review of key DG documents, a pre-loading meeting at which ship, cargo owner, terminal and agent agree deck stowage and emergency measures, and a 'one ship, one plan' checklist from gate-in to sailing. In June 2026 it reported 104 energy-storage containers of 36 tonnes each loaded for Houston on a multipurpose ship.
What Anxin does: We send the key documents for pre-review before the formal filing and bring the stowage and emergency details the meeting will ask for.
- Sea corridor
An open-ocean crossing where weather is the main risk
From Xiamen the drawn corridor to Seattle runs across the North Pacific without a canal or Red Sea passage, so weather replaces chokepoints as the risk. The ONE Apus, bound from Yantian to Long Beach in November 2020, had a stack collapse in a storm about 1,600 nautical miles north-west of Hawaii; her owners said more than 1,900 containers could be lost or damaged, up to 40 of them hazmat.
What Anxin does: For winter sailings especially, we review blocking and bracing on stuffing photos against the CINS points before sealing, and make sure the DG declaration is complete, so a damaged box can be identified and handled correctly.
- Import country
Where the lithium came from: UFLPA questions at entry
Since August 2025 lithium has been a high-priority sector under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, and CBP had by then stopped more than 16,700 shipments for UFLPA review. A container for Seattle can be held while the importer shows where the cells, cathode material and lithium compounds were sourced.
What Anxin does: We tell the importer at quotation stage that supply-chain tracing may be requested, and keep manufacturer names and addresses consistent across invoice, packing list and ISF so the paper trail does not contradict itself.
- Import country
Selling in Washington from 2027 means joining a stewardship plan
Washington's battery law (RCW 70A.555) closes the market to producers outside an approved stewardship organization from 1 January 2027, and from July 2027 retailers need the producer's certification before selling portable batteries or products that contain them.
What Anxin does: When cargo through Seattle is sold in Washington, we flag the 2027 stewardship requirement to the importer at quotation so that retailer certification is in place in time.
- Import country
CPSC certificate data now filed at entry
Since 8 July 2026, importers of consumer products that are subject to a CPSC certification requirement must electronically file the certificate data at entry; goods entered from a Foreign Trade Zone follow on 8 January 2027. Whether a battery-powered product is caught depends on the rules that apply to that product, not on the battery alone.
What Anxin does: We ask whether the goods are consumer products that need a CPSC certificate and, if so, who files it, so that the question is settled before the goods arrive.
Documents & compliance
What to have ready: Xiamen to Seattle
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 Xiamen, before the box is loaded
- For ESS: carriage type (container ship or multipurpose), class 9 terminal and pre-voyage meeting confirmed
- 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
- Transport-condition classification report where applicable
For the shipping line
- Stuffing photos before, during and after packing, checked for blocking and bracing
- Condition statement: new, used, damaged/defective (SP376) or for recycling (SP377)
- SP188 cartons: US 'forbidden aboard passenger aircraft' marking or CAO label
For import into United States
- Supply-chain tracing file for cells and lithium inputs, in case of a UFLPA request
- 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
Before you book
One consistent file
A document that is present but inconsistent holds a booking as surely as a missing one: the UN number, model name or carton count reads differently in the Xiamen export filings, the carrier booking and the United States import papers. We compare all three before confirming space.
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 Xiamen to Seattle, and who acts
| Risk | Where | Mitigation | Who acts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stack collapse or cargo shift in a North Pacific storm | Mid-Pacific | Blocking and bracing checked before sealing; complete DG data for incident response | Packing site / carrier, checked by Anxin |
| UFLPA detention pending supply-chain evidence | CBP at entry | Importer prepares tracing documents before shipping; consistent manufacturer data on all documents | Importer |
Questions
Xiamen → Seattle: questions we are asked
Yes, if the container moves on a public highway. The IMDG waiver in 49 CFR 171.25(d)(2) only covers cargo that stays on the ship or moves between vessels; otherwise 49 CFR 172.604 requires a monitored number answered by someone with the emergency information. Goods shipped as 'Battery powered equipment' are exempt.
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.
Yes. Xiamen MSA reported 104 ESS containers of 36 tonnes each loaded for Houston in June 2026. Xiamen's ESS guide 2.0 requires a pre-voyage meeting and use of a class 9 qualified terminal.
References
Regulations and port sources cited
- 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)
- Update: Certificates of Compliance and eFiling (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission)
- DHS designates steel, copper, lithium, caustic soda and red dates as UFLPA high-priority sectors (19 Aug 2025) (U.S. Department of Homeland Security)
- Hurricane force extratropical cyclones observed using QuikSCAT (Mariners Weather Log 49-1) (NOAA Ocean Prediction Center)
- Container ship ONE Apus; North Pacific Ocean (incident record) (NOAA IncidentNews)
- Xiamen port energy-storage battery transport safety guide 2.0 (Fujian Provincial Department of Commerce)
- Xiamen MSA measures for energy-storage battery exports (Fujian Provincial Department of Commerce)
- 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 Xiamen
- 5ImportClearance at Seattle
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After you send it
We check carrier acceptance for Xiamen → Seattle before any booking, and ask for missing battery documents first.
All destinations from Xiamen · United States ports
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