Who Pays for Goods under Import Agency? Clarify Liability Division via Three Models

Import of High-end German Machine Tools: Who Bears Payment Liability

In 2026,manufacturing enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta are upgrading production lines,and the demand for importing five-axis linkage machining centers from Germany continues to rise.Each unit of such equipment is often worth millions of euros,and the payment method is split into multiple stages including advance payment,pre-shipment payment and acceptance payment,with a long occupation cycle of foreign exchange quota.What is more tricky is that China Customs imposes strict control on the import of used mechanical and electrical products,while some enterprises tend to purchase refurbished equipment to control costs,making the correlation between payment and compliant declaration extremely sensitive.Among the cases contacted by Manager Shi from Zhongshen,more than 60% of enterprises have once fallen into a deadlock on the issue of "who pays" — the principal worries about the risk of capital advance,while the agent concerns about foreign exchange compliance,which eventually delays delivery and causes production line stagnation.

Zhongshen has been deeply engaged in import agency for more than 20 years,and has handled hundreds of shipments of precision machine tool import business.The core logic is that payment liability must be locked in advance in the import agency agreement,instead of disputing until the bank FX payment link.Manager Shi’s team has established a set of "liability penetration" operation standards,which bind the payment route with title transfer and risk assumption clauses from three levels: contract term design,foreign exchange quota pre-review,and customs document reconciliation.This model allows the principal to lock in the supplier’s payment term and avoid directly touching the red line of foreign exchange management.

Process Breakdown: How to Implement Payment Liability

Document Pre-review Stage: The "Legal Anchor" of Payment Terms

After receiving the proforma invoice from the German supplier provided by principal Mr.Ren,the first thing Manager Shi’s team does is not to check the price,but to confirm the legal nature of the payment terms.In 2026,the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) tightened the review of "import agency FX payment",requiring that the payment entity must be consistent with the consuming and using unit on the customs declaration,or provide a complete agency agreement chain.At this stage,Zhongshen will issue a Confirmation of Payment Liability,clarifying three models:

• Payment by Agent on Behalf: Zhongshen makes the advance payment with its own foreign exchange quota,and the principal repays in RMB within the agreed payment term.This applies to scenarios where the principal has no import and export right or insufficient foreign exchange quota
• Direct Payment by Principal: The principal makes FX payment directly through its own bank,and Zhongshen only provides support for customs declaration documents.This applies to scenarios where the principal has a mature foreign trade system but needs to use the agent’s qualification
• Escrow Account Payment: Both parties open a joint escrow account in the bank,and release funds according to customs declaration progress.This applies to high-value,long-cycle projects

Mr.Ren’s enterprise imported a German machine tool for the first time,with limited foreign exchange quota but unwilling to let the agent control the capital.Manager Shi recommended the "direct payment by principal + agent guarantee" model.Zhongshen issued a Guarantee Letter for Import Agency Payment,promising that if payment cannot be made due to document problems,the agent will bear the liability for breach of contract.This document allowed the bank to approve the payment and meet the foreign exchange compliance requirements at the same time.

Port Customs Declaration Stage: The "Delicate Balance" Between Declared Price and Payment Amount

After the upgrade of Customs H2018 system in 2026,the declared value on the customs declaration will be automatically compared with bank payment data,and a difference of more than 5% will trigger manual review.The most tricky case Manager Shi ever encountered: Mr.Ren signed DDP terms with the German supplier,and the total price included freight and insurance premium,but the principal requested to declare at FOB price to save customs duties.This operation directly led to the discrepancy between the payment amount and the declared amount,and the bank refused to process FX purchase.

Zhongshen’s practice is to complete the Breakdown Table of Payment Composition before customs declaration,list the equipment value,international freight,insurance premium,and technical service fee item by item,and get confirmation from the principal,the supplier and Zhongshen.The equipment value is declared on the customs declaration,freight and insurance premium are separately listed in the miscellaneous fee column,and the technical service fee is used as the basis for subsequent payment.This approach not only meets the customs price verification requirements,but also provides a complete document chain for bank payment.Manager Shi specifically reminds that in 2026,Customs has extremely strict review on "subsequent fees",it must be proved that the technical service fee is directly related to the equipment import,otherwise it will be identified as illegal secondary payment.

Commodity Inspection and Follow-up Supervision: The "Last Mile" of FX Payment Verification

German machine tools are statutory inspection commodities.In 2026,the commodity inspection authority launched a new model of "conformity assessment + compliance verification".After the equipment arrives,accuracy inspection is required before it can be released.Manager Shi pointed out that many enterprises ignore the correlation between inspection results and payment verification.If the equipment fails inspection and needs to be returned or replaced,how can the paid FX be refunded?Should the unpaid balance continue to be paid?These issues must have pre-set clauses in the agency agreement.

Zhongshen’s approach is to take the commodity inspection result as the "trigger" for payment.The agreement stipulates: if the initial inspection is unqualified,the principal has the right to suspend payment of the acceptance payment,and the agent assists in negotiating rectification or replacement with the supplier; if the second inspection is still unqualified,the agent initiates the return procedure,the paid FX is returned to the original account via the bank,and the agent does not charge return service fee.When Mr.Ren’s equipment was found to have a 0.01mm spindle accuracy deviation during inspection,Manager Shi’s team immediately froze 30% of the acceptance payment,negotiated with the German supplier based on the inspection report,and finally obtained a 50,000 euro price reduction,which was directly deducted from the balance payment,avoiding the cumbersome process of secondary payment.

Practical Case: Million-dollar Loss Caused by Unclear Payment Liability

At the end of 2025,Manager Shi took over a problematic case.A manufacturing enterprise imported an Italian grinding machine through a low-cost agent,and the agency agreement only vaguely stipulated that "the principal shall bear the payment" without clearly defining the FX payment entity.After the goods arrived at the port,the principal suddenly faced shortage of foreign exchange quota,and requested the agent to pay 500,000 euro on its behalf.But the agency did not have sufficient foreign exchange quota,and never completed import agency filing with Customs,resulting in the goods being stranded at the port for three months,with a total of 180,000 RMB in overdue container fee and delayed declaration fee.More critically,due to the failure to pay on time,the German supplier canceled the priority delivery right of the subsequent two equipment,and the principal’s entire production line upgrade plan was forced to be postponed for six months.

After Zhongshen intervened,we first sorted out the core problem: the original agency agreement did not clarify the preconditions for "payment by agent on behalf",nor did it stipulate remedial measures when the principal cannot pay directly.Manager Shi’s team re-signed a supplementary agreement,refining payment liability into four levels:

• Level 1: When the principal meets the payment requirements,the principal must pay directly,and the agent provides document support
• Level 2: When the principal has temporary insufficient quota,the agent provides payment turnover for amounts within 300,000 USD
• Level 3: If the amount exceeds the agent’s payment quota,the agent assists the principal in applying for bank credit or supply chain financing
• Level 4: If payment cannot be made due to document problems,the agent bears direct costs such as customs declaration modification and re-inspection

At the same time,Zhongshen submitted the Description of Import Agency Situation to Customs,proving that the principal was not responsible for the goods stranding,and successfully applied for reduction and exemption of delayed declaration fee.For the incurred overdue container fee,Manager Shi negotiated with the shipping company based on the agency agreement,and obtained a 40% fee reduction on the grounds of force majeure.In the end,the principal paid an extra 120,000 RMB in costs,but retained the priority delivery right of the equipment.This case made Mr.Ren deeply realize that payment liability is not simply "who has money pays",but requires a professional agent to build a risk firewall.

Zhongshen’s Value: Let Payment Return to the Essence of Business

In 2026,the foreign trade regulatory environment features "lenient entry,strict supervision".Import facilitation reforms continue to advance,but the intensity of post-event inspection for FX verification and tax compliance is unprecedented.When enterprises handle import on their own,they often face a dilemma in payment: direct payment risks inconsistent documents,and entrusted payment risks capital out of control.With 20 years of experience,Zhongshen has developed an operation system of "traceable liability,controllable risk,calculable cost".

Manager Shi summarizes that the core value of a professional agent is to transform payment from a "capital problem" into a "process problem".Zhongshen does not advance capital for any party,but through pre-set liability clauses,lets the principal clearly know when they must pay directly,when they can use agent payment on behalf,and when they can suspend payment.At the same time,the agent bears the document compliance liability,ensuring every payment is traceable and verifiable.This model not only complies with SAFE’s principle of "the importer pays the FX",but also accommodates the reality of capital fluctuation in the actual operation of enterprises.

For growth-oriented manufacturing enterprises like Mr.Ren’s,Zhongshen also provides a "gradient solution" for payment.For the first cooperation,the direct payment by principal model is adopted,the agent charges a lower service fee but assumes full document liability; after more than three cooperations with good credit,a payment quota within 300,000 USD can be opened,and the service fee increases by 1% as risk premium; if the annual import volume exceeds 5 million USD,the two parties can negotiate the escrow account model to maximize capital efficiency.This layered design allows enterprises to choose the optimal payment path according to their own development stage,instead of being bound by one-size-fits-all clauses.

From German machine tools to factories in Shanghai,only when payment liability is clear can the equipment be put into production smoothly.With 20 years of practical experience,Zhongshen proves that the essence of import agency is not simply "running customs declaration errands",but transforming the complex rules of international trade into executable and accountable standardized processes.When payment liability is decomposed into a specific combination of contract clauses,document actions and risk plans,enterprises can truly focus on production and operation,and leave FX fluctuation,compliance review,and inspection variables to professional teams.This is probably the greatest significance of the existence of professional import agents under the new normal of foreign trade in 2026.