Freight Forwarding United States → Chile

Air freight from the USA to Chile varies by origin airport, commodity, volume, and season. Miami (MIA) to Santiago (SCL) is the most competitive route with daily LATAM Cargo and American Airlines wide-body service. New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX) also serve Santiago with regular connections. Personal effects shipments carry a premium due to customs documentation complexity. Cold-chain and fragile electronics require specialized handling and carry additional surcharges. Submit your origin, weight, and commodity at /quote/ for a current rate.

Personal effects shipped by air from the USA to Chile cost approximately 20-40% more than commercial cargo rates. The premium exists because personal effects require special customs handling under Chilean Ley de Aduanas Article 23 (menaje de casa), the importer must physically be present or provide a notarized power of attorney, and SAG inspection is mandatory for any organic materials. Proof of residency change is required — your Chilean visa or work permit. Miami to Santiago is the most used route for personal effects from Florida and the Eastern US. Allow 5-10 days total door-to-door including customs clearance. Ocean LCL for personal effects is more economical but takes 25-35 days.

Most US East Coast and Gulf Coast shipments to Chile route through the Panama Canal. Miami to Valparaíso/San Antonio takes 14-18 days via Panama. Houston to Valparaíso runs 16-20 days. New York to Valparaíso takes 18-24 days. The Panama Canal transit adds 12-24 hours and a canal surcharge (varies by carrier, vessel size, and the current Panama Canal Authority toll schedule). US West Coast shippers — Los Angeles, Long Beach, Seattle — ship directly down the Pacific with no canal needed, reaching Valparaíso in 12-16 days. All vessels call at San Antonio (DP World terminal) or Valparaíso depending on the carrier's port rotation. Our partner network holds block-space agreements with major carriers on this lane for reliable weekly sailings.

For USA-to-Chile freight with USCFTA duty-free treatment, your forwarder needs: licensed US customs broker at origin to prepare the FTA self-certification statement on the commercial invoice, experience with SICEX (Chile's import system) and Chile Aduanas e-clearance, established partner customs agents in Valparaíso and San Antonio. The USCFTA certificate of origin is a self-certified statement on the commercial invoice — no government form required. Suaid Global coordinates this lane through FMC-licensed NVOCC partners and IATA-accredited agents in our partner network with bilingual (English/Spanish) documentation. Chilean customs (Servicio Nacional de Aduanas) is one of the most efficient in Latin America with 24-48 hour clearance for FTA-documented shipments.

Ocean freight from the USA to Chile takes 14-22 days. Miami to Valparaiso/San Antonio takes 14-18 days via direct or one-stop service through Panama Canal. From Houston: 16-20 days. From Los Angeles: 12-16 days (West Coast is closer via Pacific route). Air freight from Miami to Santiago takes 2-4 days with daily flight options.

Yes. Under the US-Chile FTA (effective since 2004), virtually all US goods enter Chile duty-free. Over 99% of tariff lines are at 0%. You must provide an FTA certificate of origin to claim the preferential treatment. Chile's 19% VAT (IVA) still applies on top of the duty-free import value.

Standard documents for all shipments: commercial invoice in English and Spanish, packing list with HTS codes, bill of lading or air waybill, USCFTA origin certification (added to the invoice — no separate government form needed). Additional requirements by commodity: electronics and RF-emitting devices need SUBTEL certification; medical devices and pharmaceuticals need ISP (Instituto de Salud Pública) registration before importation; food and agricultural products need a SAG phytosanitary certificate; chemicals need a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) and SERNAGEOMIN declaration for hazardous materials. Wood packaging (pallets, crates) must comply with ISPM-15 phytosanitary treatment or SAG will require fumigation at destination — increasing your clearance time and cost. Licensed broker partners in our network prepare the full document set in English and Spanish before your shipment departs.

Miami is the primary gateway for both air and ocean freight to Chile, with the widest carrier selection and daily departures. For ocean FCL, Los Angeles and Long Beach offer the fastest transit to Valparaíso and San Antonio via the Pacific route — no Panama Canal needed. Houston is the most competitive option for US Gulf Coast shippers and petrochemical exporters. New York/New Jersey serves the US East Coast and inland Midwest via Panama Canal transit. For air freight, Miami is the dominant gateway with the most daily wide-body flights to Santiago. Your optimal US origin port depends on your cargo location, transit time priority, and carrier availability.

Yes. The reverse lane — Chile to USA — is a major Suaid Global corridor. Chile is the top supplier of fresh fruit to the US market during the Northern Hemisphere winter, when cherries, grapes, blueberries, plums, and nectarines move in volume from Chilean packing houses to US distribution centers. Chilean wine exports to the USA also run year-round with temperature-controlled air and ocean options. FMC-licensed NVOCC partners in our network operate at Chilean origin ports (San Antonio and Valparaíso) and US destination ports (Los Angeles, Miami, and New York), with USDA APHIS phytosanitary documentation coordinated by licensed broker partners in the network.

Ocean transit from USA to Chile depends on origin port and routing. Miami to Valparaíso/San Antonio runs 14-18 days via Panama Canal. Houston to Valparaíso: 16-20 days. Los Angeles to Valparaíso: 12-16 days via Pacific direct route (no canal). New York to Valparaíso: 18-24 days via Panama. For LCL consolidations, add 5-10 days to FCL transit for cargo staging at origin CFS. Total door-to-door from US inland to Chilean interior typically runs 25-35 days for FCL shipments. FMC-licensed NVOCC partners in our network offer weekly sailings on this lane.

Yes, for the vast majority of goods. The US-Chile Free Trade Agreement (signed 2003, fully phased in by 2015) eliminated tariffs on essentially all manufactured goods of US origin. The key requirement is a valid USCFTA origin certification — which US exporters self-certify directly on the commercial invoice. No government form, no chamber of commerce stamp, no separate certificate document. Your invoice must include a certification statement signed by the exporter or producer attesting to USCFTA origin, covering the goods described, for a defined period up to 12 months. The exporter retains supporting records for five years. Chilean customs accepts this without additional verification in the large majority of cases. Note: Chile's 19% VAT (IVA) still applies on all imports as a separate tax on CIF value — duty-free treatment does not eliminate VAT.

Both ports serve central Chile (Santiago metro and beyond) with similar transit times from US origins. Valparaíso is the historic main port — deeper draft, closer to Santiago by rail, and the preferred terminal for RoRo (vehicle imports) and breakbulk. It experiences higher congestion during Q4 import surge and the Chilean new year period. San Antonio, 100 km south of Valparaíso, is now Chile's largest container port by volume, with DP World and San Antonio Terminal Internacional operating modern facilities with faster crane productivity and lower demurrage rates. For FCL container shipments, San Antonio is the default choice for most US shippers. FMC-licensed NVOCC partners in our network maintain block-space allocations at both ports and select the best terminal based on vessel rotation and your delivery destination.

USCFTA is unique among US free trade agreements because it does not require a separate certificate-of-origin form from any government agency. Instead, the exporter, producer, or importer adds a written certification statement to the commercial invoice. The statement must: identify the goods covered (by HTS heading or description), state that the goods qualify as originating under USCFTA rules, identify the certifier (name, title, company, contact details), and specify the invoice date or a blanket period (up to 12 consecutive months). The certifier keeps supporting records — production records, supplier declarations, bills of materials — for five years after the date of certification. Licensed broker partners in our network draft the certification language and review origin eligibility before you sign.

SAG (Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero) does not inspect every container, but wood packaging is a mandatory compliance area — not an optional one. Chile requires all wood pallets, crates, and dunnage to comply with ISPM-15 (International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No. 15), which requires heat treatment or methyl bromide fumigation and the IPPC mark on each piece of wood. If your wood packaging lacks the ISPM-15 mark, SAG can order fumigation at destination at your cost and hold the cargo until completed. Pre-treatment documentation (treatment certificate, fumigation certificate) prepared before shipment significantly speeds SAG clearance. Our partner network verifies ISPM-15 compliance as part of pre-shipment documentation review.

The peak season for Chile-to-USA fresh fruit runs from November through March — the Southern Hemisphere summer and autumn. Cherries ship from mid-November through January, with the major surge in December. Grapes peak in January through March. Blueberries run October through January. Stone fruit (plums, nectarines, peaches) moves from December through February. During this reverse-lane peak, air cargo capacity on Santiago (SCL) to Miami (MIA) and Los Angeles (LAX) tightens significantly and ocean reefer space on the Chile-to-USA lane fills up 3-4 weeks in advance. If you are shipping perishable cargo from Chile to the USA during November through March, book space early. FMC-licensed NVOCC partners and IATA-accredited agents in our partner network can secure advance bookings on reefer containers and cold-chain air freight for this peak.