I’ve been in this trade for 27 years. Started when LEDs were still a wet dream and all we had was neon and ugly fluorescent. Now I spend half my day on the factory floor in Anhui, and the other half watching sign shops screw up customs paperwork. A bad invoice can kill a job faster than a crashed CNC bit. I’ve seen $8,000 orders sit in bonded warehouses for three weeks because someone wrote “sign” instead of “illuminated plastic letter with metal return.” So let’s fix that.
Here's what nobody tells you: The HS code on your commercial invoice is the single most common reason for customs delays. The Chinese exporter will usually plug in a generic code like 7318.10 (iron/steel) or 9405.40 (luminaires). But if your sign is mostly acrylic with a stainless steel back, that
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