There’s no getting around it: rising tariffs on freight shipped from other countries are a fact of life for importers these days. All the more reason for you to explore international shipping tips that can reduce your total landed costs.

Since April 2, 2025, when the Trump administration imposed a 10% baseline tariff on imports from nearly all countries, it’s been a continual rollercoaster ride.

The administration's 2025 reciprocal tariff program ultimately imposed country-specific tariffs on roughly 70 trading partners; fewer than a dozen countries were able to secure bilateral agreements that reduced them. Then in February 2026, the US Supreme Court ruled the administration didn’t have the authority to impose those tariffs under the Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA).

Since then, we’ve had Section 122 tariffs imposed for 150 days, which expired on July 24, 2026. When that happened, the administration came back with Section 301 tariffs targeting 60 countries over their alleged failure to prevent forced-labor goods from entering global supply chains.

You can be forgiven for suffering from whiplash over all these tariff changes. The most important question: what international shipping tips can you utilize to lessen the blow from tariff costs? We’re glad you asked! Here are some steps you can take.

Bonded Warehouses Are an Option in Some Instances

A bonded warehouse is a secure facility where imported goods can be stored without paying customs duties and taxes until they are released into US commerce. It allows importers to delay duty payments, manage inventory timing, and potentially re-export goods without incurring import duties.

Here’s an example. You as an importer have a shipment with a total value of $100,000 that is subject to a 10% duty rate under the new Section 301 tariff. You’re concerned about having to lay out 10% off the bat to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

You can have your freight transferred from the port to a bonded warehouse. If, for the purpose of our example, you decide to immediately sell and ship a quarter of it, you would then be subject to a $2,500 tariff payment at that time, or 25% of the total $10,000. A month later, if you release and sell another 50% of the shipment, $5,000 would be due and payable.

Sounds great, but there is a rub. There are various logistics costs associated with this scenario. You have to pay to have the freight delivered by drayage to the bonded warehouse. There is then a charge for unloading the container, and for storage. Every time you release some of your goods, there are handling and shipping costs. And each transaction means another individual entry with CBP, which means a fee to your customs broker, and a Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) payment, calculated as a percentage of the entered value, subject to minimum and maximum amounts.

“For somebody paying a lot of money for high-value cargo, using a bonded warehouse may make sense,” said Andrew Rozek, president of New Jersey-based freight forwarder I.C.E. Transport. “But for somebody with more normal value cargo, I don't know if it’s worth it. At the end of the day, it's not like you're saving on the tariff. You’re just deferring the tariff and duty payment until goods are sold.”

Using an LCL Container Approach

If you don't have a whole container’s worth of freight, here’s an international shipping tip: go with Less Than Containerload (LCL). It works in a somewhat similar fashion to a bonded warehouse in that you’re not importing an entire large order in one shipment, but using separate shipments in LCL containers shared with cargo from other importers.

Under normal circumstances, LCL is more expensive on a per-pallet, per-cubic-meter, or per-pound basis than Full Containerload (FCL) because you're paying for consolidation, deconsolidation, additional handling, and multiple parties' logistics. Once a shipment reaches roughly 10 to 15 cubic meters, depending on the trade lane and market conditions, FCL often becomes the more economical option.

However, when tariffs are high, transportation cost isn't the only consideration. Importing several smaller LCL shipments over time allows a company to avoid bringing an entire container's worth of inventory into US commerce at once.

While this approach typically results in higher ocean freight costs, multiple customs entries, and additional handling fees, it can improve cash flow by spreading duty payments over several shipments instead of requiring a large upfront tariff payment. For some small and midsize importers, that financial flexibility can outweigh the higher transportation expense.

Heavyweight Containers: Another International Shipping Tip That Can Reduce Import Costs

What if you could reduce your ocean freight expense by 20%? That’s what is made possible by taking a heavyweight container approach. Here’s an international shipping tip with some real meat to it! Let’s break it down.

Many shippers assume they need to limit a container's payload to approximately 44,000 pounds so it can travel legally from the port on US highways. As a result, they often leave valuable container space unused when shipping heavy, dense commodities.

In reality, there is no universal 44,000 pound legal container weight limit. The amount a container can legally hold depends on factors such as the states it will travel through, axle weight limits, equipment specifications, and whether overweight permits are available. In many cases, containers can legally move with payloads of 55,000 pounds.

The math magic works like this: if you’re shipping 55,000-pound containers, that’s an extra 11,000 pounds per container load. So in essence, every fifth container is “free” because the previous four containers carried 11,000 pounds over that weight, equalling 44,000 pounds combined.

The key is working with a freight forwarder that understands overweight container logistics and has established relationships with specialized drayage carriers equipped with the proper chassis, permits, and expertise to transport heavier containers safely and legally.

For shippers of dense commodities, maximizing container payload can significantly reduce transportation costs by shipping more product in fewer containers. Although overweight drayage typically costs more than standard trucking, those added landside costs are often more than offset by the ocean freight savings, making the overall shipment substantially more economical. Check out our heavyweight freight calculator.

If you’re shipping lightweight items that take up a lot of space, this approach isn’t feasible. But Rozek said importers of all kinds of dense, heavy cargo can benefit. This includes goods such as canned and jarred foods, bottled beverages, metal castings and solid metals, plywood, and lumber.

The Shifting Tariff Landscape Affects the Sourcing Calculus

The first Trump administration imposed Section 301 tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese imports in four categories, between July 2018 and January 2020, under a 1974 law governing unfair trade practices. These tariffs, kept in place during the Biden administration, are either 25% or 7.5%, depending on which list they fall under.

Then in July 2026, a new Section 301 tariff was imposed, after a temporary Section 122 tariff expired. Section 122 itself was a response to the US Supreme Court striking down Trump’s Emergency Powers Act authority to impose reciprocal tariffs on 180 countries. The 2026 Section 301 tariffs add a new 10% or 12.5% duty on covered imports from 60 economies based on alleged forced labor policies.

Where both Section 301 actions apply to the same Chinese product, the duties can stack. For example, a product subject to a 25% China Section 301 tariff could face another 12.5% under the new action, bringing the combined Section 301 burden to 37.5%, before the product's normal tariff and any other applicable duties.

The most effective way to reduce tariff exposure may be to rethink sourcing, but that doesn't necessarily mean abandoning China. With tariff rates changing frequently, shippers should compare suppliers and countries based on total landed cost, not simply the headline duty rate.

For some products, the tariff difference between China and the EU can be substantial. The new Section 301 tariff establishes a 10% floor for qualifying EU imports. If the product's normal Most Favored Nation (MFN) duty rate is below 10%, the effective rate is 10%; if it’s already above 10%, the higher normal rate applies. That means a product imported from the EU could face an effective tariff of 10% or its applicable MFN rate, compared with as much as 37.5% in additional Section 301 duties on the comparable Chinese product.

“It’s a big difference between 37.5% and potentially 10%, but the calculation goes beyond tariffs,” Rozek said. “Manufacturing costs, ocean freight, product-specific duties and other expenses all have to be considered. This makes the sourcing analysis particularly important when tariffs change.”

This is why shippers should:

• Compare multiple sourcing countries, rather than simply moving production from China to the first available alternative.
• Calculate total landed cost, including manufacturing, ocean freight, duties, brokerage, insurance and inland transportation.
• Review product classifications based on HS codes, since tariff treatment can vary significantly by commodity and country of origin.
• Consider supplier economics, because lower tariffs can be offset by higher manufacturing costs in another country.
• Build in lead time for supplier changes. Moving production isn't instantaneous; new suppliers may require qualification, tooling, production ramp-up and longer lead times.
• Avoid making decisions based solely on temporary tariff rates. Trade policy can change again before a sourcing transition is complete.

“The tariff is only one piece of the puzzle,” Rozek said. “You have to study to determine your total landed cost, and it will vary.”

For shippers facing repeated tariff changes, the goal isn't necessarily to find the country with the lowest tariff, but to identify the most economical and sustainable supply chain configuration.

A Knowledgeable Transportation Partner Sees All the Angles

The most effective way to manage transportation costs in a volatile market isn't necessarily to find the lowest published rate. You have to have enough carrier options and market knowledge to balance price, capacity, service and transit time. That's where a partner like I.C.E. Transport can provide an advantage.

I.C.E. works with multiple ocean and trucking carriers, comparing rates and service options while leveraging its volume to get the best deals. That flexibility becomes valuable when capacity tightens or carriers adjust pricing. A lower ocean rate isn't necessarily a better deal if the carrier can't provide space when the shipment needs to move.

“You have to work with somebody who knows the market and knows who has a deal on this, who has good rates,” said Rozek. “The same thing goes for trucking carriers. We have a wide network across all equipment types, which is why we can provide importers with the best possible outcome.”

I.C.E. can also look beyond the ocean rate to identify opportunities elsewhere in the transportation equation. Depending on the shipment, that might mean consolidating or maximizing container utilization, selecting a different inland carrier, or booking a slower ocean transit time at a lower cost if your inventory levels permit it.

The objective is to minimize total landed cost while protecting service levels. With broad networks on land and sea, and a view across both modes, I.C.E. helps shippers determine where they can save, and when paying more is justified to keep freight moving. To learn more about how we can optimize your import freight spend, contact I.C.E. Transport today.