Ecuador applies a fresh cut in customs duties on Chinese products
Since 1 January 2026, a new phase in the tariff dismantling under the Ecuador-China free trade agreement, in force since May 2024, has cut customs duties on dozens of categories of Chinese products, from toys to machinery, steel and plastics. The agreement provides for the gradual removal of duties on 99.6% of tariff lines, over periods of up to twenty years for sensitive products.
Published · Updated
The free trade agreement between Ecuador and China, which took effect on 1 May 2024, sets out a schedule of staged tariff cuts. A new phase took effect on 1 January 2026, according to Ecuador's Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade and Investment and the local business press.
Among the cuts applied on 1 January 2026: toys fall from an 18.4% to a 16.6% customs duty, cosmetics from 10.4% to 9.4%, machinery from 15% to 13.8%, iron and steel from 15.6% to 14.3%, and plastics from 15% to 13.5%. Chinese motorcycles under 500cc see their duty brought down to 24% in 2026, with full exemption planned for 2038; larger engine sizes follow a dismantling schedule running through to 2043.
The agreement provides for the immediate or gradual elimination of duties on 99.6% of tariff lines between the two countries, over dismantling periods of up to ten, fifteen or twenty years depending on the sensitivity of the sector; further steps will take effect each 1 January in the years ahead.
Ecuadorian importers of Chinese toys, cosmetics, machinery, steel products, plastics, vehicles and two-wheelers benefit directly from these gradual cuts, which lower the landed cost of their goods year after year.
What it changes for an importer
For a client importing toys, cosmetics or mechanical parts from China into Ecuador, the customs duty applicable in 2026 is already different from what it was two years ago, and it will keep falling every following 1 January. We check the rate in force at the time of the order, not a dated rate, before quoting the landed cost in our estimates.
The certifications your country requires
In US dollars, on quotation, added to the same core service.
Latin America Import documents
On quotationIn US dollars
Certificate of origin (on the free trade agreement form where one exists, as with Chile, Peru, Costa Rica or Ecuador), invoice and packing list with the required particulars, translations into Spanish or Portuguese.
- List of the documents your customs authority asks for
- Certificate of origin requested in China on the right form
- Commercial invoice and packing list with the required particulars
- Review of the documents before shipment
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