When a Customer Asks for DDP, Three Numbers Come First

Overseas enquiries usually arrive in one of three forms: quote FOB Qingdao, quote CIF, or quote DDP to our door.

The first two are straightforward. The third takes some working out.

DDP means the seller carries the goods to the destination and handles import clearance, import duty and import VAT. The responsibility moves from the quay to the customer's warehouse in one step.

Before any DDP number is quoted, one prerequisite has to be checked: whether the seller can act as importer of record in the destination country.

The EU case

Inside the EU, DDP makes the seller the importer of record. That requires an EORI number and VAT registration in the country of import.

We hold neither. The consequence is practical rather than theoretical: import VAT at 21% in the Czech Republic or Spain cannot be recovered, so it becomes a pure cost rather than a pass-through. France removed the limited tax representative arrangement for non-EU companies in 2026.

The workable answer for EU deliveries is FOB Qingdao or CIF, with the buyer handling clearance. Large buyers already have the capability, and they can recover the VAT. Where a buyer insists on DDP, a third-party forwarder can act as importer of record, with that service fee added to the quote.

The Mexico case

Mexico applies the general MFN rate of 5% to HS chapters 3901 to 3908. PP at 3902.10.01 and 3902.30.01, ABS at 3903.30.01, POM at 3907.10.01 and PA6 at 3908.10.01 are all in that band, at 0% under USMCA.

On top of that comes IVA at 16% and DTA at 0.8%, which starts from about 408 MXN.

One caveat matters here. The LIGIE reform effective 1 January 2026 changed around 79 tariff lines in chapter 39. The upstream granules largely kept their 3% to 5% MFN rate, but whether any specific line was caught has to be confirmed against the fracción arancelaria the buyer provides.

A 5% rate and a 35% rate are very different numbers in a quotation. We ask for the tariff line before we quote DDP into Mexico.

Working backwards from the target price

When a buyer gives a DDP target price, the useful move is to calculate the maximum FOB price that still works.

For the EU, add roughly 6.5% duty and 21% VAT. For Mexico, add 5% MFN and 16% IVA. Then add freight at about 0.12 USD/kg to Europe and 0.15 USD/kg to Mexico.

If the resulting maximum FOB price falls below our cost line, we decline the order rather than accept it and discover the loss later.

Reply with the grade name and we will send the complete grade catalogue, packing specifications and the technical data sheet.

Qingdao Yunsu Polymer Material Technology Co., Ltd.