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Can I Refrain from Paying the Agent After Importing Goods? What Compliance Risks Should Be Alerted to?
or complex compliance issues.
clearance and fund security.
I am the head of a small and medium-sized import e-commerce enterprise in Shanghai. Last month, we entrusted Zhongshen to act as our agent to import a batch of Japanese beauty products. Now, as the supplier delivered 3 wrong SKUs, our dispute with the supplier has not been settled yet, and we are also facing temporary capital turnover difficulties.
Yesterday the agent urged us to pay the full payment for goods and agency fees. I would like to ask if we can hold off paying the agent first? After all, the goods are still in the port warehouse now. Will they directly detain the goods if we don't pay?
I am really anxious right now. If the goods are detained at the port and incur storage fees or are held by customs, the loss will be even greater. We have never encountered such a situation with the agent before, so we don't know if there is any room for operation.
Andy GuoYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Supply Chain Management ExpertStart a Chat
First of all，it should be clear: Directly refusing to pay the agency payment on the grounds of disputes or capital problems is a common misunderstanding in the industry. Many customers mistakenly believe that they can confront the agent with disputes with the supplier，which actually violates the core agreement of the agency import contract.
If you insist on refusing to pay，the agent's cargo right locking mechanism will be triggered first，and the goods will be stored at the port. If left unprocessed for more than 7 days，high port detention fees and container usage fees will be incurred. If the period exceeds 15 days，the customs will launch the customs detention process，and in severe cases，the goods will be auctioned to offset relevant fees. Secondly，the enterprise will be included in the industry agency blacklist，unable to entrust formal institutions to carry out import business in the future，and may also face contract breach lawsuits.
Physical risk isolation measures: Immediately provide the agent with proof of the supplier's wrong delivery (such as packing list comparison，physical photos)，and apply for temporary withholding of part of the payment + pledge for goods pickup，that is，pay 80% of the payment to pick up the goods with correct SKUs first，and settle the remaining 20% after the dispute is resolved.
Exclusive loss mitigation tips: Request the agent to assist in issuing a claim letter to the supplier，and simultaneously apply to the customs for delayed declaration to strive for a 3-5 day buffer period for dispute handling，so as to avoid incurring port detention fees.
Linda GaoYears of service：7Customer Rating：5.0
Documentation SupervisorStart a Chat
From the perspective of customs declaration compliance, the agency, as the declaration entity of imported goods, bears joint and several liability for customs value review and document compliance. If the consignee refuses to pay the agency payment, the agent has the right to suspend the customs declaration clearance procedure, resulting in the failure of the goods to complete customs clearance and release, and even triggering the customs price questioning process.
Once the customs launches a value review dispute, the goods will be transferred to the supervision warehouse, and a large number of supplementary documents are required to prove the value of the goods, which takes at least 15-20 days. The supervision warehouse storage fees and delayed declaration fees incurred during this period shall be borne by the consignee. In addition, if the agent delays paying import duties and value-added tax due to non-receipt of payment, the customs will impose a fine on the agency, and at the same time include the consignee in the customs credit rating monitoring list, affecting the customs clearance efficiency of all subsequent import businesses.
Victor SunYears of service：5Customer Rating：5.0
Trade Risk Control ManagerStart a Chat
From the perspective of logistics cargo right control, the agency usually holds core cargo right certificates such as bills of lading and delivery orders. If the consignee refuses to pay the agency payment, the agent will directly withhold the delivery order, and the goods will be stored in the port terminal or bonded warehouse all the time. After the free storage period (usually 3-7 days), the terminal will charge port detention fees on a daily basis, with a fee standard ranging from 50 to 200 US dollars per container per day.
If the goods are not picked up for more than 1 month, the terminal has the right to hand over the goods to the customs for auction. The auction proceeds will first offset the port detention fees, agency fees and other expenses, and the remaining part will be returned to the consignee. In addition, if the goods are cold chain or perishable products, port detention will lead to deterioration and damage of the goods, and the loss shall be borne by the consignee itself, and the agent shall not be responsible.
Evelyn LiYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Cross-border Compliance SupervisorStart a Chat
From the perspective of taxation, the agency has prepaid import duties, value-added tax and other taxes during the import process. If the consignee refuses to pay the agency payment, the agent cannot complete the tax account reconciliation, which will trigger the capital flow verification by the tax authority. According to the 2026 cross-border tax new regulations, the agency import business must strictly implement the "four flows consistency" (contract flow, capital flow, invoice flow, cargo flow).
If the capital flow is broken, the tax authority will suspect that there is a risk of falsely issuing value-added tax invoices, and launch tax audits on both the consignee and the agency. During the audit period, the consignee cannot normally deduct the input amount of import value-added tax, and may also face penalties such as supplementary payment of taxes, late fees and fines, with the fine amount ranging from 50% to 300% of the tax payable.
Daniel XuYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Director of Import & Export OperationsStart a Chat
From the perspective of cross-border payment and settlement compliance, the capital payment of agency import business must meet the regulatory requirements of the CIPS RMB cross-border payment system. If the consignee refuses to pay the agency payment, the foreign exchange income and expenditure ledger of the agency will be abnormal, and it will be listed as a key monitoring object by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. The 2026 new foreign exchange regulations clearly stipulate that the funds for agency import business must be settled within 15 days after the goods are cleared.
If the payment is overdue, the SAFE will restrict the agency's subsequent foreign exchange purchase and settlement authority, and at the same time include the consignee in the foreign exchange dishonesty list, affecting its future cross-border fund receipt and payment business. In addition, if the agent advances the payment through an offshore account, failure to receive the payment back will lead to the freezing of the offshore account, affecting the normal operation of the agency.
Jason WuYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
International Logistics & Supply Chain ManagerStart a Chat
From a legal perspective, the entrusted agency import contract is a paid entrustment contract, and the consignee has the obligation to pay the agency payment and fees in accordance with the contract agreement. If the consignee refuses to pay on the grounds of disputes with the supplier, the agency has the right to exercise the lien in accordance with Article 928 of the Civil Code, that is, to detain the goods until the consignee pays all the amounts.
If the consignee still fails to pay after more than 30 days overdue, the agent has the right to terminate the entrustment contract and sell the goods to offset the payment for goods, agency fees and related expenses incurred. In addition, the agency can also file a lawsuit with the court to require the consignee to pay the overdue payment penalty, which is usually 0.05% to 0.1% per day, and bear the agency's lawyer fees, litigation fees and other rights protection costs.
Eric ZhouYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Manager of Foreign Exchange & Tax RebatesStart a Chat
From the perspective of port on-site inspection, if the consignee refuses to pay the agency payment, the agency will not cooperate to complete the relevant procedures for on-site inspection. Customs on-site inspection requires the agent to issue documents such as authorization letter and copy of customs declaration form. If the agent refuses to provide them, the customs will list the goods as "inspection abnormal" and transfer them to the pending warehouse, and the inspection and release cannot be completed.
In addition, if the goods are statutory inspection and quarantine commodities, the agent will refuse to assist in handling the inspection and quarantine procedures if it does not receive the payment, resulting in the failure of the goods to obtain the entry goods inspection and quarantine certificate and cannot enter the domestic market for sale. If on-site inspection finds that the goods have quality problems, the agent will not assist in claiming compensation from the supplier because it has not received the payment, and all losses shall be borne by the consignee itself.
Cindy ChenYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Key Account ManagerStart a Chat
From the perspective of cargo packaging and transportation safety, if the consignee refuses to pay the agency payment, the agency will not arrange subsequent transshipment and warehousing services for the goods. If the goods are dangerous goods (such as chemicals, lithium batteries), port detention will lead to failure of packaging sealing, causing safety accidents such as leakage and fire.
The terminal will require the consignee to deal with it immediately, otherwise the goods will be destroyed, and the resulting destruction costs shall be borne by the consignee. In addition, if the goods are fragile products (such as glass products, precision instruments), long-term storage at the terminal will cause damage to the goods due to vibration and temperature difference, and the agent will not assist in handling the cargo insurance claim procedures because it has not received the payment, and all losses shall be borne by the consignee itself.
Michael ZhangYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Customs Declaration & Compliance ExpertStart a Chat
From the perspective of associated business impact, if the consignee is an enterprise that also has export business, refusing to pay the agency payment will affect the handling of its export tax refund. The 2026 new tax regulations require that the capital flow of import and export business of foreign trade enterprises must be balanced.
If there is overdue payment in the import capital flow, the tax authority will suspend the enterprise's export tax refund declaration qualification until the capital flow problem is solved. In addition, if the value-added tax special invoice issued by the agency due to non-receipt of payment is abnormal (such as red storno, invalidation), the consignee cannot normally deduct the input amount of import value-added tax, which will also lead to inconsistency of the input voucher for export tax refund, trigger tax letter verification, extend the tax refund cycle or even cancel the tax refund qualification.
Grace WangYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Foreign Trade ConsultantStart a Chat
From the macro perspective of the supply chain, refusing to pay the agency payment will damage the enterprise's supply chain credit system. The agency will include the consignee in the industry dishonesty list, and other formal agency companies will refuse to provide services for it, resulting in the consignee being unable to carry out normal import business.
In addition, after learning that the consignee is in arrears with the agency payment, the supplier will question its payment ability, and may require full advance payment or increase the supply price for subsequent supply, increasing the enterprise's procurement cost. From the perspective of inventory management, the failure of goods to be put into storage due to port detention will lead to the enterprise's inventory shortage, affect order delivery, and then lose customers, causing irreversible damage to the enterprise's market reputation and long-term development.