Mandarin and Cantonese Customs Compliance: Working From Chinese Documents Without Losing the Facts

For Chinese-language catalogs, HS classification from Mandarin product descriptions separates the supported document workflow from an English-only API input.

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Where does translation break a classification?

Where one Chinese word carries a fact the tariff schedule cares about, and the English loses it. Common cases in supplier documents:

A translator who writes "fabric", "leather-look" or "metal" is not wrong in plain English, but the code needs the specific fact. The fix is not better prose. It is keeping the fact, in a field of its own, from the Chinese source to the classification.

What about Cantonese and traditional characters?

Most supplier documents from Hong Kong and Guangdong are written in standard written Chinese, in simplified or traditional characters, even where business is spoken in Cantonese. Written Cantonese shows up mainly in chat messages and informal notes. For classification, the same rule holds: pull the facts (material, share, function, use, components) into their own fields and keep the original next to them. GingerControl's tools take English and Chinese input; traditional characters and written Cantonese are not confirmed separately, so test a sample of your own documents before you rely on them.

How should a Chinese-headquartered importer set up the workflow?

1. Keep the Chinese original on each SKU record as the source, with its date and supplier.
2. Write the English description from facts, not word for word: material and share by weight, knit or woven, function, power source, use and every component.
3. Classify with the reasoning on record, so a reviewer can see which facts decided the code.
4. Give your customs broker the code, the reasoning and the Chinese original. The broker files the entry in English and needs to know what it rests on.
5. Keep the records for five years from the date of entry, as 19 CFR 163.4 requires of importers ^[1].
6. Watch the China-specific layers. Goods of China carry the Section 301 lists and, since July 24, 2026, a 12.5% forced-labor Section 301 duty on top, with exemptions ^[2]. A code change can move a product between lists.

Chinese goods paid a large share of US duty: CBP collected $216.7 billion in duties, taxes and fees in fiscal year 2025, and separately reports $35.6 billion in Section 301 duties assessed on Chinese goods ^[3]. A wrong code on a high-volume SKU is expensive in either direction.

Where does GingerControl fit?

• Classification Researcher (in the GingerLite app): reads product descriptions in Chinese or English and returns a 10-digit HTS code with the GRI reasoning behind it. When a fact that decides the code is missing, it asks rather than guesses. One classification takes 3 to 5 minutes with its full report. The app is $150 a month for 300 credits.
• GingerOS (the system GingerControl builds for a company): reads emails, PDFs, spreadsheets and images in English and Chinese today, and other languages are customized for a customer who needs them. It classifies in batches, reads bills of materials and records the reasoning for your approval, running on the same classification and tariff engines GingerControl builds. It runs on your process and the data you have, ERP or not.
• Classification + Tariff Calculation API (for enterprise systems, after a call): takes English product descriptions, not Chinese.
• Trade advisory: senior practitioners with 125+ combined years as a second pair of eyes on classification, tariffs, IEEPA refunds and CBP requests, prior disclosure and compliance SOPs, and, as you need them, USMCA qualification, origin and substantial transformation, 9802 planning, first sale, whether to activate a foreign-trade zone, and sourcing strategy. It is quoted for its scope, is not legal advice, and does not file entries.
• Filing stays with the importer of record's licensed customs broker.

What changes when production moves to Mexico?

A third language. Headquarters writes in Chinese, the Mexican plant and its customs broker work in Spanish, and the US entry is filed in English. The facts that decide USMCA qualification, such as where each component comes from and what changes in the plant, start in all three. Keep each source document with the record it supports, and have someone check the origin analysis before the first shipment claims USMCA. Our guide on compliance for Chinese importers in North America covers the Section 301 side, and trade advisory covers USMCA qualification and substantial transformation. GingerOS can add Spanish as a customized language for a customer who needs it.

Use HS classification of non-English product descriptions to distinguish supported document languages from the language accepted by an API endpoint.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can US import classification be done from Chinese product documents?

Yes, as long as the facts that decide the code are in them: material and share, how the product is made, its function and use, and every component. Keep the Chinese original on the SKU record next to the English description the code was based on, so your broker can see what the classification read.

Does GingerControl's API accept Chinese product descriptions?

No. The Classification + Tariff Calculation API takes English descriptions. GingerControl's Classification Researcher, in the GingerLite app, and GingerOS read Chinese and English.

Are traditional Chinese characters or written Cantonese supported?

GingerControl's tools take English and Chinese input; traditional characters and written Cantonese are not confirmed separately. Test a sample of your own documents first, and keep the original next to the English description either way.

Who files the US entry for a Chinese importer?

A licensed US customs broker, for the importer of record, in English. GingerControl is not a customs broker and does not file entries; its classifications are for general reference, educational and planning purposes, and the broker reviews each code before it goes on an entry.

What does trade advisory cover for a Chinese-headquartered importer?

Classification, tariffs, IEEPA refunds and CBP requests as a second pair of eyes, plus prior disclosure and compliance SOPs, and, as needed, USMCA qualification, origin and substantial transformation, 9802 planning, first sale, foreign-trade zone advice and sourcing strategy. Each engagement is quoted for its scope and is not legal advice.

Check 9801 and 9802 duty treatment for U.S. goods returned separately when U.S. components or finished goods return after a foreign operation.

What does it cost?

The GingerLite app is $150 a month for 300 credits, with top-ups if you run out. GingerOS is quoted per project after the Prototype Week, the step before a quote. Trade advisory and the other services are each quoted for their scope.

Start with the documents you already have

Pick ten products whose supplier documents are in Chinese, pull the facts that decide each code into their own fields, and classify them with the reasoning on record. Open GingerLite to run them through the Classification Researcher, or book a call about GingerOS or trade advisory.

References

1. 19 CFR 163.4, Record retention period
   Data cited: importers keep records five years from the date of entry
   Source: eCFR 19 CFR 163.4
2. USTR, Notice of actions in the Section 301 investigations, 91 FR 47318
   Data cited: forced-labor Section 301 from July 24, 2026; China 12.5% (9903.05.31) on top of the China lists, with exemptions
   Source: Federal Register 2026-15181
   Published: July 28, 2026
3. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Trade Statistics
   Data cited: $216.7 billion in duties, taxes and fees collected in FY2025; $35.6 billion in Section 301 duties assessed on Chinese goods
   Source: CBP Trade Statistics