Importing From China to Brazil: Customs and Taxes in 2026

China is Brazil's top supplier: in 2022, imports from China totaled 67.77 billion dollars, 23.18% of total imports, far ahead of any other partner, according to the World Bank. China is also Brazil's top customer, with 89.72 billion dollars in exports that same year, 26.82% of the total, a flow dominated by agricultural and mining raw materials.

This asymmetry leaves plenty of room for Brazilian importers of Chinese manufactured goods: electronics, spare parts, machine tools, textiles, toys, sporting goods, industrial equipment. The flip side is tax related: the stack of federal taxes plus state ICMS can exceed 60% of the CIF value, a point detailed further below.

Brazil is a member of Mercosur, the customs union that has applied a Common External Tariff (CET) with Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay since January 1, 1995. No free trade agreement links Mercosur or Brazil to China: Chinese goods enter under the CET's standard tariff, with no tariff preference, according to the U.S. government (International Trade Administration).

Brazil also applies, through Mercosur, the trade agreement with the European Union, provisionally applied since May 1, 2026 and, as of September 27, 2026, still awaiting European Parliament approval, according to the European Commission. That agreement changes nothing for Chinese goods.

Importing into Brazil stacks several levies, each assessed on a base that already includes the previous one, which inflates the total burden. The import duty (II) varies by Mercosur NCM code, most often 10 to 20%, with a WTO ceiling of 35%, on the CIF value, according to PwC Tax Summaries (reviewed September 23, 2026). IPI, the federal tax on industrialized products, is added on top of CIF plus II, most often 5 to 30%, and can exceed 300% for some categories such as tobacco.

PIS-Importação and COFINS-Importação, two federal social contributions, apply at 2.1% and 9.65% respectively, or 11.75% combined, on the CIF value, with higher rates for cosmetics, pharmaceuticals or vehicles. ICMS, the state tax, completes the stack with an internal rate of 17 to 20% depending on the state, and 4% on interstate transactions, also per PwC.

The U.S. government illustrates the cumulative effect with a concrete example: a 100,000 dollar FOB product ends up, once freight, insurance, duties and taxes are added, at 168,931 dollars cleared, a markup of nearly 69%. An exemption regime exists for capital goods and ICT products with no local equivalent, the Ex-Tarifário, reviewed by the Ministry of Industry over 4 to 6 months.

Every Brazilian importer must first hold an active CNPJ, set up an electronic tax domicile (DTE) on e-CAC, then obtain the licence to operate in foreign trade through Siscomex, known as RADAR and administered by the Receita Federal: without it, no import declaration can be filed, according to the Receita Federal's official portal. Declarations now go through DUIMP, the Single Import Declaration, which is progressively replacing the old DI since October 1, 2024, under a Receita Federal timetable running through 2025 (Portaria Coana No. 165/2024).

An official simulator on the Portal Único estimates the federal taxes due and shows whether a licence is required for the tariff code, even before placing an order. The standard file also includes a commercial invoice, packing list, transport document and, depending on the product, a certificate of origin.

A separate point concerns low-value parcels sold online to individuals, handled by the Receita Federal through a dedicated compliance program, separate from the commercial regime described here. Its exact rates and thresholds remain unconfirmed by an official source as of September 27, 2026, to be checked separately before any direct-to-consumer sale.

Depending on the product, a licence issued by one of sixteen possible authorities may be required before or after shipment, but always before customs clearance, according to the U.S. government. No consolidated list of prohibited categories could be confirmed: this has to be checked line by line, via the simulator or with a despachante aduaneiro (customs broker).

INMETRO, the National Institute of Metrology, Quality and Technology, is Brazil's metrology and technical regulation body: it sets requirements for many product families and runs conformity assessment programs, including the national energy efficiency label, according to its official website. The list of products subject to certification, along with costs and lead times, has to be checked product by product with INMETRO before any production destined for Brazil.

For telecommunications and much of consumer electronics, ANATEL requires prior approval through its Certifica platform, which replaced the former SCH system, to ensure safety, electromagnetic compatibility and spectrum use, according to its official website. For health, cosmetics and medical products, ANVISA additionally requires a local presence, a subsidiary, an authorized distributor or a manufacturing unit, before any product can be placed on the market, according to the U.S. government.

The Port of Santos, in the state of São Paulo, remains the most-cited maritime gateway: 4.8 million TEUs and 147 million tonnes in 2021, an annual record according to its port authority. Brazil's single window for foreign trade aims to bring clearance of a standard sea shipment down to under ten days, according to the U.S. government.

From southern China, a shipment most often leaves from Shenzhen, Guangzhou or Yantian; no verifiable transit time to Santos could be confirmed, and should be requested from a freight forwarder at booking. The FOB incoterm suits importers who organize transport and clearance themselves; CIF or CFR when an intermediary handles freight through to the arrival port. DDP remains inadvisable as long as the supplier is not itself a registered customs filer in Brazil, a rare situation for a Chinese factory.

In Brazil, foreign exchange operations tied to foreign trade fall under the Banco Central do Brasil, which oversees transfers made by authorized financial institutions; a written contract, with incoterm and payment terms fixed in advance, is recommended. On the Chinese supplier side, the usual rule applies: a deposit on order followed by the balance before shipment, paid into the company's business account, never a personal account, and any change of bank details received by email should be verified with a direct phone call.

A first order follows a precise sequence: specifications, factory verification, approved sample, proforma invoice with incoterm, Siscomex licence if needed, verification through the simulator, production follow-up, pre-shipment inspection, transport to Santos, DUIMP filing and clearance by the importer or their customs broker. Sorva, a sourcing and trading house based in Guangzhou (Tianhe), backed by a Chinese subsidiary, 广州索尔瓦商务咨询有限公司, whose corporate purpose covers purchasing, resale and export, and by a parent company in France, researches and vets factories, negotiates, arranges quality control and organizes freight to the chosen port, gathering the documents needed for INMETRO, ANATEL or ANVISA procedures. Sorva never acts as the official importer of record in Brazil, does not clear goods through customs locally, and does not export vehicles without a licensed Chinese exporter. Our base offer is priced in dollars, with regional add-ons quoted on request.