Furniture Import Glossary

Plain-English definitions of the customs, shipping, tariff, and trade terms that matter most for furniture and home furnishings importers. 62 terms across 6 categories.

Raw Materials

Bulked continuous filament — the springy carpet yarn made by melting and spinning plastic pellets like polypropylene.

The raw input a factory turns into something else — for plastics, the oil-derived chemicals that become resin.

Pigment pre-mixed into the plastic before spinning, so colour runs all the way through the fibre instead of being dyed on later.

A refined-oil liquid that is the raw feedstock for propylene and polypropylene — a key cost input for carpet yarn.

The other big carpet face fibre — made from PET chips (often recycled), with different price drivers than polypropylene.

A cheap, lightweight plastic — the pellets spun into most machine-made carpet yarn and used across furnishings.

The chemical building block of polypropylene — its price is the closest read on where PP resin is heading.

Customs Process

A completely separate refund program (not IEEPA) — mentioned here only to prevent confusion.

The deposit you pay when your shipment clears customs — CBP may adjust the final amount months later.

The protest window closed — normally permanently shut, but the March 27 court order broke this rule for IEEPA duties.

CBP closed the books, but you still have 180 days to challenge the result — settled but not sealed.

When CBP finalizes the math on your shipment and closes the books — until then, your duties are just a deposit.

Reopening a closed entry to redo the duty math — the mechanism CBP uses to process most IEEPA refunds.

A shipment where CBP hasn't closed the books yet — the easiest category for IEEPA refunds.

Legal & Regulatory

The procedural threshold a class action must clear to proceed as a class rather than as individual suits.

The federal court with exclusive nationwide jurisdiction over customs and tariff disputes.

A licensed professional who handles your import paperwork — your most important partner for IEEPA refunds.

The theory behind the consumer class-action wave — a company that collected tariff-driven price hikes AND is now getting refunds from CBP would be keeping both.

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act — a 1977 law giving the President emergency economic powers, used here for the first time to impose tariffs.

The company name on the entry paperwork — refunds go to this entity, period, even if someone else arranged the shipment.

A filing at the Court of International Trade that locks in an importer's refund right independently of CAPE — legal insurance against a narrowed appeal.

Your formal objection to what CBP says you owe — filing one is still the safest way to protect your IEEPA refund right.

A trade law allowing temporary tariffs (max 150 days) for balance-of-payments emergencies — the 10% bridge surcharge imposed after IEEPA was struck down.

A trade law authorizing tariffs based on national security — used for steel, aluminum, and now wood furniture (25%).

A trade law authorizing tariffs in response to unfair foreign trade practices — the existing China tariffs (7.5–25%) that survive the IEEPA ruling.

The interest rate (~6% annually) CBP must legally pay on refunded duties — the engine driving the pace of the CAPE rollout.

The common-law doctrine underlying most of the IEEPA consumer class actions — requires showing the defendant kept a benefit it shouldn't get to keep.

The most common defense to unjust-enrichment claims — you agreed to the price when you bought it, so you can't get it back later.

Systems & Platforms

CBP's online system where all import paperwork gets filed — the IRS e-file equivalent for customs.

The electronic payment network for refunds — paper checks are no longer an option.

The refund system CBP built specifically for IEEPA duty refunds — it lives inside ACE.

Documents & Codes

Extra tariff line items the president adds on top of your normal duty rate — these are the lines being stripped for IEEPA refunds.

The paperwork that tells CBP exactly what you imported — your receipt number is what you need to file a refund claim.

Numerical codes that determine what duty rate you pay — like a tax bracket for your product.

"Most Favored Nation" — the baseline U.S. duty rate for any country with normal trade relations. For rugs and soft furnishings, typically low single digits.

Shipping & Freight

The narrow strait connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, near Yemen.

When a shipping line cancels a scheduled departure to manage capacity and maintain higher rates.

Routing ships around the southern tip of Africa when the Suez Canal or Strait of Hormuz is too dangerous.

A price that already includes shipping and insurance to the destination port — the 'landed' basis used for imported resin.

Fees charged when a container sits at a port terminal beyond its free time ($100–$300/day).

Emergency Bunker Surcharge — same as EFS. "Bunker" is the shipping industry's word for fuel.

Emergency Conflict Surcharge — a carrier-specific war-related fee (CMA CGM's terminology).

Emergency Fuel Surcharge — an extra fee carriers add when fuel prices spike unexpectedly.

Freight All Kinds — a flat container rate regardless of cargo type.

Freightos Baltic Index — a daily container freight rate index covering 12 global trade lanes.

Forty-foot Equivalent Unit — a standard 40-foot shipping container, the most common size for furniture and rug imports.

Federal Maritime Commission — the US government agency that regulates international ocean shipping.

General Rate Increase — a scheduled price hike announced by a shipping line, usually 30 days in advance.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — Iran's elite military force controlling access to the Strait of Hormuz.

Marine Gas Oil — a cleaner, more expensive ship fuel used in environmentally sensitive areas.

Protection & Indemnity clubs — mutual insurance organizations covering shipowners against liability.

Peak Season Surcharge — an extra fee carriers add during busy shipping seasons (typically July–October for Asia–US trade).

The current market price for shipping a container right now, as opposed to a long-term contract rate.

A narrow waterway between Iran and Oman — the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf, carrying 20% of world oil.

A specific shipping service route that a carrier operates on a regular schedule.

The Egyptian waterway connecting the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, avoiding the long route around Africa.

Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit — a standard 20-foot container, half the size of an FEU.

A shipping route between two regions, like "Asia to US West Coast" — each with its own pricing dynamics.

When a container is moved from one ship to another at an intermediate port instead of traveling direct.

Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oil — the main fuel ships burn since 2020 environmental regulations.

World Container Index — Drewry's weekly benchmark tracking container shipping costs across 8 major global routes.

War Risk Surcharge — an additional fee covering increased insurance and security costs near conflict zones.

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