Home»Trade Essentials»How to Do Foreign Trade Agency Without Export Qualifications? These Practical Solutions You Must Know
Can it be legally carried out without export qualificationsforeign tradebusiness?
According to the Foreign Trade Law of the Peoples Republic of China and the latest revised Management Measures in 2025, enterprises without the right to export can legally carry out business through foreign trade comprehensive service enterprises. Under this model, foreign trade agency enterprises assume three core functions:Export DrawbackProvide import and export qualifications and customs filingHandle customs declaration, inspection, and foreign exchange write - offAct as an agent for foreign exchange receipt, payment, and tax declarationimport and exportBased on the supply chain management experience of Fortune 500 companies, foreign trade agency can help enterprises achieve:
Compliance with qualifications
: Avoid the risk of customs declaration without documents
Cost optimization
What are the specific advantages of the foreign trade agency model?
: Save an average of 23% of logistics and customs costs (data from the General Administration of Customs in 2024)
Risk transfer: Exchange rate fluctuations and trade disputes are borne by the agent
Professional support: Enjoy tariff preferences of free trade agreements such as RCEP
The response time of the emergency braking system ≤ 3 seconds10 - 14 weeks
Explosion - proof certification14 - 18 weeks
How to choose a reliable foreign trade agency service provider?
It is recommended to evaluate from four dimensions:
Qualification review
海關(guān)AEO認(rèn)證等級
Compliance records of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange
Service capabilities
Operation experience in special regulatory zones
Industry - specific solutions
Fee structure
Whether the agency fee includes pre - classification services
Exchange rate locking mechanism
What is the specific operation process of foreign trade agency?
The typical business process is divided into five stages:
Sign a tripartite agreement (factory - agent - foreign merchant)
Handling of special documents: RMB200 - 500 per copy
Risk guarantee deposit: 10% - 20% of the cargo value (negotiable)
How to prevent the risks of foreign trade agency cooperation?
It is recommended to focus on controlling three links:
Contract terms: Clarify the ownership of intellectual property and the liability for quality disputes
Control of goods ownership: Require the bill of lading consignee to show the actual buyer
Tax compliance: Ensure that the agent provides special VAT invoices
Based on our experience of serving over 300 manufacturing enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta, high - quality foreign trade agents can increase the export efficiency of enterprises by more than 40%. It is recommended to give priority to agencies withIndustry - vertical service experienceEspecially in strictly regulated fields such as electromechanical products and chemical products.
What are the common misunderstandings in foreign trade agency?
Myth 1: The agency model is only suitable for small and micro enterprises,
In fact, multinational enterprises including Teslas Shanghai factory also use the agency model to handle the export of non - core product categories
Myth 2: The lower the agency fee, the better,
Be vigilant against quotes that include hidden fees. A clothing enterprise once incurred an unexpected expenditure of 200,000 yuan due to an ultra - low rate of 0.5%