United States to Chile freight shipping.

Air freight rates from the USA to Chile shift by origin airport, by commodity, by volume, and by season. Miami (MIA) to Santiago (SCL) stands out as 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 flights. Personal effects shipments cost more, since their customs papers take more work. Cold-chain loads and fragile electronics need special handling, so they carry extra surcharges too. Just submit your origin, weight, and commodity at /quote/, for a current rate.

Personal effects shipped by air from the USA to Chile cost about 20-40% more than plain commercial cargo rates. Why the higher cost? Personal effects need special customs handling, under Chilean Ley de Aduanas Article 23 (menaje de casa). The importer must show up in person, or send a notarized power of attorney. And SAG inspection is a must for any organic materials. You also need proof of a residency change — your Chilean visa or work permit. Miami to Santiago sees the most use for personal effects from Florida and the Eastern US. Plan on 5-10 days total, door-to-door, including customs clearance. Ocean LCL costs less for personal effects, but it takes 25-35 days instead.

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 itself adds 12-24 hours. It also adds a canal surcharge, which varies by carrier, by vessel size, and by the current Panama Canal Authority toll schedule. US West Coast shippers — think Los Angeles, Long Beach, or Seattle — sail straight down the Pacific instead. They need no canal at all, and reach Valparaíso in just 12-16 days. Every vessel calls at either San Antonio (the DP World terminal) or Valparaíso, based on the carrier's port rotation. Our partner network holds block-space deals with major carriers on this lane, so you get reliable weekly sailings.

For USA-to-Chile freight, with USCFTA duty-free treatment, your forwarder needs a few things in place. First off, you will want a licensed US customs broker right at origin. This broker prepares the FTA self-certification statement, on your commercial invoice. Second, you should look for real, hands-on experience. You want experience with SICEX (Chile's import system), and with Chile Aduanas e-clearance too. Third, you should check for established partner customs agents. They should sit in Valparaíso and San Antonio. Just remember, the USCFTA certificate of origin is only a self-certified statement, on the invoice. No government form is needed at all. Suaid Global runs this whole lane through FMC-licensed NVOCC partners. We also work with IATA-accredited agents, in our partner network. This all comes with bilingual (English/Spanish) documentation. Chilean customs (Servicio Nacional de Aduanas) ranks among the most efficient, in all of Latin America. It offers 24-48 hour clearance, for FTA-documented shipments.

Ocean freight from the USA to Chile takes 14-22 days in total. Miami to Valparaiso/San Antonio takes 14-18 days, via direct or one-stop service through the Panama Canal. From Houston, plan on 16-20 days. From Los Angeles, just 12-16 days, since the West Coast sits closer via the Pacific route. Air freight from Miami to Santiago takes only 2-4 days, with daily flight options.

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

Every shipment needs a few standard papers. Start with a commercial invoice, in English and Spanish, plus a packing list with HTS codes too. Then add a bill of lading or air waybill, plus USCFTA origin certification, right on the invoice. No separate government form is needed at all. Some goods just need a bit more, though. Electronics and RF-emitting devices need SUBTEL certification. Medical devices and pharmaceuticals need ISP (Instituto de Salud Pública) registration. This must happen first, before they can enter the country at all. Food and farm products also need a SAG phytosanitary certificate. Chemicals need a Safety Data Sheet, or SDS. They also need a SERNAGEOMIN declaration, for hazardous items. And wood packaging — think pallets, or crates — must meet ISPM-15 phytosanitary treatment. If not, SAG will go ahead and demand fumigation at destination. That just adds to your clearance time and cost. Licensed broker partners in our network prepare this whole document set for you, in English and Spanish, well before your shipment even departs.

Miami stands as the main gateway, for both air and ocean freight to Chile, with the widest carrier choice and daily departures. For ocean FCL, Los Angeles and Long Beach offer the fastest transit, to Valparaíso and San Antonio. They go via the Pacific route, with no Panama Canal needed at all. Houston works best 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 again leads, with the most daily wide-body flights to Santiago. So your best US origin port really depends on where your cargo sits, how fast you need it, and which carriers serve you.

Yes, they can. The reverse lane, Chile to USA, stands as a major Suaid Global corridor too. Chile ranks as the top supplier of fresh fruit to the US market, during the Northern Hemisphere winter. Cherries, grapes, blueberries, plums, and nectarines all move in bulk then, from Chilean packing houses to US distribution centers. Chilean wine exports to the USA also run all year round, with temperature-controlled air and ocean options. FMC-licensed NVOCC partners in our network work at Chilean origin ports — San Antonio and Valparaíso. They also work at US destination ports — Los Angeles, Miami, and New York. Licensed broker partners in the network handle the USDA APHIS phytosanitary papers.

Ocean transit from USA to Chile depends a lot on your origin port and routing. Miami to Valparaíso/San Antonio runs 14-18 days, via the Panama Canal. Houston to Valparaíso takes 16-20 days. Los Angeles to Valparaíso takes just 12-16 days, via the direct Pacific route, with no canal needed. New York to Valparaíso runs 18-24 days, via Panama. For LCL loads, add 5-10 days on top of FCL transit, for cargo staging at the origin CFS. Door-to-door, from US inland all the way to the Chilean interior, this usually runs 25-35 days for FCL shipments. FMC-licensed NVOCC partners in our network offer weekly sailings on this whole lane.

Yes, for most goods, it really does. The US-Chile Free Trade Agreement, signed in 2003 and fully phased in by 2015, wiped out tariffs on nearly all manufactured goods of US origin. The one key step you need is a valid USCFTA origin certification, which US exporters self-certify right on the commercial invoice. No government form, no chamber of commerce stamp, and no separate certificate document at all. Your invoice must carry a certification statement, signed by the exporter or producer. This statement states USCFTA origin. It covers the goods described, and names a period of up to 12 months. The exporter then keeps supporting records for five years. Chilean customs takes this at face value in most cases, with no extra check. One note, though: Chile's 19% VAT (IVA) still applies on all imports, as a separate tax on CIF value. Duty-free status does not wipe out VAT.

Both ports serve central Chile, Santiago metro and beyond, with fairly similar transit times from US origins. Valparaíso stands as the historic main port. It has a deeper draft, and sits closer to Santiago by rail. It also works as the go-to terminal for RoRo (vehicle imports) and breakbulk cargo. It does see higher congestion, though, during the Q4 import surge and the Chilean new year period. San Antonio sits just 100 km south of Valparaíso. It now ranks as Chile's largest container port by volume. DP World and San Antonio Terminal Internacional run modern facilities there, with faster crane work and lower demurrage rates. For FCL container shipments, most US shippers default to San Antonio. FMC-licensed NVOCC partners in our network hold block-space slots at both ports. They pick the best terminal for you, based on vessel rotation and where your cargo needs to go.

USCFTA stands out among US free trade agreements. It skips the separate certificate-of-origin form that other agencies still require. Instead, the exporter, or the producer, or the importer, just adds a written statement to the commercial invoice. This one statement must do four things in total. First, it must name the goods covered, by HTS heading or description. Second, it must say the goods qualify as originating, under USCFTA rules. Third, it must name the certifier too — their name, title, company, and contact details. Fourth, it must give the invoice date, or a blanket period, up to 12 straight months. The certifier then keeps supporting records on file. These include production records, supplier declarations, and bills of materials. They keep them for five full years, after the certification date. Licensed broker partners in our network draft this certification language for you, and they check origin eligibility, before you sign.

SAG (Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero) does not check every single container. Even so, wood packaging still stays a required compliance area. It is not an optional one at all. Chile requires all wood pallets, crates, and dunnage to meet ISPM-15 (International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No. 15). This standard calls for heat treatment, or for methyl bromide fumigation. It also calls for the IPPC mark, on each single piece of wood. If your wood packaging lacks that ISPM-15 mark, SAG can order fumigation at destination, at your own cost. It can also hold your cargo until it gets done. Pre-treatment papers — say, a treatment certificate, or a fumigation certificate — prepared before you ship, speed up SAG clearance quite a bit. Our partner network checks ISPM-15 compliance for you, too, as part of its pre-shipment document review.

The peak season for Chile-to-USA fresh fruit runs from November through March, which covers the Southern Hemisphere summer and autumn. Cherries ship from mid-November through January, with the biggest surge in December. Grapes peak from 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 space tightens up a lot — on routes from Santiago (SCL) to Miami (MIA) and Los Angeles (LAX). Ocean reefer space on the Chile-to-USA lane also fills up, 3-4 weeks ahead of time. So if you plan to ship perishable cargo from Chile to the USA between November and March, book your space early. FMC-licensed NVOCC partners and IATA-accredited agents in our partner network can lock in advance bookings for you. This covers reefer containers and cold-chain air freight, for this peak season.