The US buyer wants you to pay the duty and be IOR: the forwarder cannot take that liability (2026)

Bottom line:

When a US inquiry says “duty-paid to the Los Angeles warehouse,” it usually folds three things into one sentence: goods to the door, who pays the import tax, and who stands as Importer of Record (IOR) at CBP. You can discuss the three separately. Do not accept them as one verbal package.
US Customs asks the IOR for a reasonably careful entry: classification, entered value, origin, and whether the goods may enter. Booking with a forwarder, or letting a broker file, does not move that duty to them. “Duty included” in freight is not proof the tax has been paid to CBP.
A Hong Kong seller and a mainland plant do not become a US IOR by themselves. Without importer details and a written estimate, do not quote a duty-paid lump sum, and do not write “we will be the importer.” How to choose the term is in DDP/DAP.

The inquiry is often half a sentence: “DDP Los Angeles warehouse, you handle customs.” If sales replies “we can include the duty,” the buyer hears: you deliver to the warehouse, you pay the tax, and if something goes wrong you answer to Customs. The forwarder then adds “we have a clearance channel,” and the order looks closed.

On exam, a duty bill, or a hold, Customs asks who is the importer on that entry — not who said “we’ll cover it” on WeChat. FOB and CIF do not include US import duty; see FOB vs CIF.

1. “Duty paid” in the inquiry is usually three different asks

Split the sentence before you accept any layer of it.

What the buyer says	What they are actually asking	If you say yes too early
To the warehouse	Which door, who unloads, who pays detention	Cargo at the terminal, warehouse window does not match, charges sit on the box
Duty paid / we handle clearance	Who pays duty, brokerage and exam fees, and how long the estimate holds	A rate change, and the lump sum is screenshotted back at you
You be the importer	Whose name is IOR in the CBP file, who posts the bond, who owns the entry	The plant or Hong Kong company is typed onto the entry; duty bills and questions come to you

The first is logistics. The second is money. The third is a legal identity in front of US Customs. A forwarder can book and call a broker. The third item does not move because their quote said “all-in.”

2. Whoever is IOR owns the duty and the declaration

US law requires merchandise to be entered by the owner, the purchaser, or a licensed customs broker they appoint. The party named on the entry, who owes CBP reasonable care, is the IOR for that shipment. Customs wants the tariff heading, how the entered value was built, the origin, and whether the goods may come in.

Reasonable care stays with the IOR. Hiring a forwarder does not lift it. A wrong heading, a low value, or a fuzzy origin — Customs goes to the importer, not the salesperson in the Alibaba.com thread.

A Hong Kong licence, a mainland plant, and an Alibaba.com storefront do not auto-fill the US importer field. Naming a Hong Kong company as seller only says who sold the goods. It does not say who filed with CBP.

3. What the forwarder and the broker can do — and cannot

A licensed broker may file on a Power of Attorney from the importer. The POA lets the broker work. It does not move the importer’s liability onto the broker. A forwarder arranges carriage. That does not make them IOR.

Role	What they usually do	In front of US Customs
Importer of Record	Owns classification, value and origin; pays the duty; posts the bond	Duty bills and questions land on this name first
Licensed customs broker	Files on authority; passes on the duty bill	Accountable for their own practice; cannot stand in for the IOR
Forwarder / booking agent	Carriage, documents, sometimes advances cash	Not the importer; “duty included” is usually an advance inside freight
Receiving warehouse / overseas warehouse	Receive, strip, store	Generally not IOR unless the papers say so and they actually enter

CBP has a hard reminder for broker clients: if you are the IOR and you pay the broker, and the broker does not pay CBP, you still owe Customs. So “freight already includes duty” is an account between you and the forwarder. Customs can open another bill.

CBP is also tightening importer identity (often CBP Form 5106): address, phone and email must belong to the importer, not a forwarder or a nominee. Current detail follows CBP’s notice. Using a shell, or someone else’s door, as IOR is harder to explain later.

4. When the factory or Hong Kong company should not be US IOR

If any of the following is missing, do not tell the inquiry “we will be the importer”:

No real US operating address and a contact who matches it — only a forwarder’s mailbox.
No import-bond arrangement, and nobody who can say whether the bond limit covers this consignment.
HS classification, composition or origin evidence does not match the contract and bill of lading, and finance cannot reconstruct entered value.
The buyer wants you as IOR and only gives a private warehouse address, with no tax ID or legal name.
The forwarder says “use our importer name, you don’t need to worry” — if that name is not the buyer, it is you or an unknown third party. Do not use an unknown third party.

Contract, export entry, bill of lading and the receiving account have to tell one story. Hong Kong signs, the mainland ships, then a stranger appears on the US entry — the four flows split first; see four flows.

The more stable structure for most trading manufacturers is: the buyer (or their US affiliate) is IOR; you take freight or a duty amount as agreed; the broker takes authority from the buyer. The seller standing as IOR puts US import compliance on your books. It is not “a little more freight.”

5. How to answer: you can talk door delivery; write who is importer first

Door delivery can be assessed. Duty can be quoted separately. Standing as importer needs its own yes. Do not collapse the three into “OK DDP.”

What the buyer asks	A reply that holds	Do not reply
Can you DDP to our warehouse?	We can assess door delivery. Please send the importer’s legal name, tax ID and the warehouse door. The estimate is written and dated; after it expires we redo it. Who is IOR goes in the contract.	Yes — duty and clearance included, you don’t need to touch it.
You be the importer. We only receive.	We are the seller. The US importer needs to be you or a US company you name. We can support documents and the estimate. We will not file with Customs in your place.	Fine — we’ll clear under our Hong Kong company.
The forwarder said all-in including duty. Just ship on that.	Split all-in first: freight, estimated duty, whether exams are included, and who is IOR. An estimate is not CBP’s final number.	If the forwarder included duty, Customs has already been paid.
Is CIF Los Angeles already duty-paid?	No. CIF is to the destination port. Import clearance and duty usually stay with the buyer. If the seller is to take the tax, talk DDP and write the IOR.	CIF means duty-paid to the warehouse.

Do not put “US duty-paid door delivery” or “global DDP” on the showcase. You may write “door delivery can be assessed; duty and importer follow the contract.” A “duty paid” badge on the main image will be read as a promise. Trade Assurance terms must match the quote; change dates or terms in writing — the same discipline as lead-time promises.

Rates, whether Section 301 applies, and whether antidumping is in play will change. This page does not lock “today’s dollars per kilo” as an official price. For a number, have a licensed broker issue a written estimate on this consignment’s heading, origin and entered value, and date it.

6. After a verbal “we’ll cover the duty,” stop and rewrite

Same day, mark “duty paid / we will be the importer” in the chat as not in force, and tell sales to stop quoting a lump sum on that line.
Ask the buyer for three things: the importer’s legal name and tax ID, the warehouse receiving window, and whether the buyer will be IOR.
Without a tax ID or an estimate, keep the quote as “draft, not for order.” If you can deliver to the door and the buyer clears, rewrite as DAP or FOB/CIF and state that import duty sits with the buyer.
If the buyer still wants the seller to take the tax, and the file is complete: quote a dated total under DDP/DAP, and write whether IOR is buyer or seller and how exam fees split. If IOR is the seller, a director signs. Sales does not close that line alone.
If the goods are already on the water and the port wants importer details: freeze the invoice, packing list, bill of lading and the chat on a timeline. Do not rewrite the Shipper after the fact, or swap in a stranger as IOR. If the box is held, first split documents from exam — see cargo held at destination.

The Alibaba.com annual fee only buys a storefront file. It has nothing to do with US importer status. Membership still goes to ALIBABA.COM HONG KONG LIMITED. Corpable does not stand as IOR and does not advance duty. Assessment, extra duty and release follow CBP’s current handling. What this page gives you is how to write the inquiry and the contract — not legal advice.

Questions teams actually ask

The forwarder says they “handle clearance.” Are they the importer?

Not necessarily. In most cases a licensed broker files on the importer’s authority. US Customs looks at who is Importer of Record. Delivering to a warehouse, or rolling estimated duty into freight, does not move the declaration onto the forwarder.

The contract seller is our Hong Kong company. Can we just be the US IOR?

A Hong Kong seller does not become a US importer by signing the sales contract. To stand as IOR you normally need to file with reasonable care, pay the duty, arrange a bond, and register identity details under current CBP rules. Most factories do not keep that US import file. Do not say “we will be the importer” in chat.

If the buyer insists on DDP, must we be the IOR?

Those are not the same sentence. DDP says the seller takes on import clearance and duties, but the contract still has to name who is IOR in the destination country, who pays the estimate, and who bears exam fees. How to choose the term is in DDP/DAP. Without importer details and a written estimate, do not quote an all-in “duty-paid” price.

We paid the duty to the forwarder. The forwarder never paid CBP. Do we still owe?

If you are the Importer of Record on that entry, CBP can still collect from you. Paying an intermediary is not the same as paying Customs. How you settle with the forwarder is a separate invoice; it does not stop CBP.

May the showcase say “duty-paid door delivery to the US”?

Do not use it as a default selling point. Without importer details, a dated duty estimate, and a written IOR, a buyer will screenshot that line as a promise. You may write “door delivery can be assessed; duty and importer follow the contract.”

Can Corpable stand as US importer or advance the duty?

No. Corpable explains the Alibaba.com path and how to answer the inquiry. We do not stand as US IOR, advance or collect duty, or collect platform membership fees. Brokerage and estimates go through the buyer’s or your nominated licensed broker. Final amounts follow CBP’s current assessment.