Warehouse options in the USA for foreign companies

Five ways to hold stock in the U.S. without a U.S. office

A foreign company that wants inventory close to U.S. customers usually chooses between five arrangements. They differ in what you need to set up, how much control you keep and what happens to customs duty.

Whichever option you choose, two questions stay the same: who is the importer of record for each shipment, and who insures the goods while they are stored. Both are covered after the options.

A 3PL warehouse: the usual first step

A third-party logistics (3PL) provider receives your goods, stores them and ships them out on your instructions: parcels to consumers, cartons to Amazon, pallets to retailers. You sign a service agreement, send inventory, and pay for the work done. Most 3PLs that serve international sellers contract directly with a company abroad and invoice it abroad, so you do not need a U.S. entity, staff or lease.

What you get beyond space depends on the provider. Some start at the dock door and expect you to arrange shipping and customs yourself. Others, often near the main ports, also handle the trip from the port, and some take the shipment from your factory abroad. Ask where the provider's responsibility starts, because the handovers between forwarder, customs and warehouse are where foreign companies lose most time.

Abanro is in this group: a Door to Door logistics partner with a warehouse in Orange County, California, near the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. We pick up at your warehouse abroad, ship by ocean or air, handle U.S. customs clearance as part of the shipment, and then receive, inspect and store your goods until they go to Amazon, retailers or customers. To understand how 3PL quotes are built, read how U.S. 3PL pricing works.

A public warehouse: storage with fewer services

In U.S. logistics, a public warehouse is a storage business that rents space and handling to many customers on short terms, usually by the pallet. It is the simpler, older version of a 3PL: goods come in on pallets, sit in racking and go out on pallets or truckloads. Ecommerce order fulfillment, Amazon prep and kitting are often not offered, or offered only as extra work billed by the hour.

A public warehouse can suit a foreign company that ships full pallets to a few distributors or retailers and needs a stable U.S. stock point without parcel orders. Note that the word "public" here is commercial, not legal: a public bonded warehouse is a specific CBP category, covered below.

Amazon FBA and AWD as storage

If you sell on Amazon, inventory in Amazon's fulfillment network is technically U.S. storage. Amazon also runs Amazon Warehousing and Distribution (AWD), a bulk storage service that replenishes Amazon fulfillment centers automatically. As of October 2026, Amazon's Supply Chain page lists AWD storage at $0.48 per cubic foot per month and FBA standard-size storage at $0.78 from January to September and $2.40 from October to December.

Using Amazon as your only U.S. warehouse has limits for a foreign company:

• It does not import for you. Your goods must clear U.S. customs, with an importer of record named on the entry, before they are delivered to Amazon, as our guide to selling on Amazon USA without a U.S. company explains.
• It expects units ready to sell. Since January 1, 2026, Amazon no longer offers prep and item labeling for the U.S. FBA program, so units must arrive prepped and labeled (see the 2026 FBA prep requirements).
• Capacity and seasonal costs. FBA capacity limits cap how much you can send, and storage costs rise in the fourth quarter.
• One channel. Stock inside Amazon is mainly for Amazon orders. Wholesale orders, retailer shipments and samples usually need stock somewhere else.

Many international sellers therefore keep reserve stock in a 3PL and send Amazon smaller replenishments. Our comparison of Amazon FBA, FBM and a 3PL covers when to combine them.

Bonded warehouses and foreign-trade zones

These two options exist for one reason: to hold imported goods in the U.S. without paying duty yet. They are regulated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and run by approved operators. Abanro does not operate a bonded warehouse or a foreign-trade zone.

Customs bonded warehouse

A customs bonded warehouse is a building or part of one where imported goods are stored under CBP control and bond. CBP regulations define ten active classes of customs warehouse (numbered 1 to 11, with Class 10 reserved); the ones a foreign company is most likely to meet are Class 2, an importer's private bonded warehouse used only for its own goods, and Class 3, a public bonded warehouse used exclusively for storing imported merchandise (19 CFR § 19.1). Class 8 covers cleaning, sorting, repacking or otherwise changing the condition of imported goods, without manufacturing, under CBP supervision.

The main rules, from CBP's warehouse entry regulations (19 CFR Part 144):

• No estimated duty is deposited at entry. Duty is paid when goods are withdrawn for consumption in the U.S.
• Goods may not stay beyond five years from the date of importation, unless CBP grants a longer period on request.
• Goods withdrawn for export are not charged U.S. duty.

Foreign-trade zone (FTZ)

A foreign-trade zone is a secure site under CBP supervision, licensed by the Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the Secretaries of Commerce and the Treasury). Goods admitted to an active zone can be stored, exhibited, assembled, manufactured or processed, and duty is not paid unless and until they enter U.S. commerce (CBP). The International Trade Administration lists the benefits: duty and federal excise tax deferral, no duty on goods re-exported, and, with Board approval for manufacturing, a possible lower duty when the finished product has a lower rate than its foreign components (ITA). Retail sale of foreign goods inside a zone is not allowed.

Zone sites are either multi-user sites, usually at ports or industrial parks and open to several zone operators, or subzones and usage-driven sites approved for a specific company's use (ITA).

When they make sense

Deferral helps when duties are high, when goods sit for a long time before sale, or when part of the stock may be sold outside the U.S. It costs more to set up and run than ordinary storage: the operator needs CBP approvals, inventory controls and bonds, and every movement has customs paperwork. For a company testing the U.S. with a few pallets, ordinary storage after clearance is usually simpler. Duty rules for zones and warehouses can be affected by new tariff actions, so check the current position with the operator before you rely on a saving.

Leasing your own space

Running your own U.S. warehouse gives you full control, and it brings every obligation of an employer and tenant. In practice, leasing industrial space requires:

• A U.S. entity or a strong guarantee. Landlords generally expect a U.S. tenant with credit history, a personal or parent company guarantee, and a deposit. Multi-year terms are common.
• Insurance. Property and liability cover for the building and your stock, as the lease will usually require.
• Staff and payroll. Hiring in the U.S. means payroll, state rules and workers' compensation. In California, for example, employers must carry workers' compensation insurance even with one employee (California DIR).
• Equipment and systems. Racking, forklifts, a warehouse management system, carrier accounts and someone to run them.

This route usually makes sense once volume is steady and large enough to keep a team busy all year. Before then, a 3PL turns these fixed costs into charges per pallet and per order.

The importer of record question

A warehouse stores goods; it does not import them. Every commercial shipment needs an importer of record (IOR): the party responsible for the customs entry, the declared classification and value, and payment of duties. Shipping to a U.S. warehouse address does not make the warehouse your importer.

1. 1 You and your forwarder Ship from origin Commercial invoice and packing list name the importer of record
2. 2 Importer of record File and clear Customs entry filed for the importer of record, duties paid
3. 3 Carrier Deliver from the port Container or pallets moved from the terminal to the warehouse
4. 4 Warehouse Receive and store Counted against the packing list, stored by SKU

A foreign company as its own importer

A foreign company can generally be the importer of record. Under 19 CFR § 141.18, a corporation not incorporated in the U.S. may make entry if it has a resident agent authorized to accept service of process in the state where the port of entry is located, and its bond must have a resident corporate surety. In practice, the entry is filed by a licensed customs broker on behalf of the importer of record, and the importer registers its identity with CBP on CBP Form 5106.

Since September 18, 2026, CBP has been checking Form 5106 data more strictly. Its notice of August 19, 2026 says the importer's physical address must be its actual location, not that of a registered agent, customs broker, freight forwarder or P.O. box, and that the email and phone must belong to the importer. Inaccurate data can lead CBP to void the importer number, and a voided number cannot be used for any purpose, including entry, until CBP reestablishes it (Federal Register).

More change is coming for foreign importers. Executive Order 14411 (June 3, 2026) directed CBP to restrict foreign importers of record, for example by barring them from informal entry and from relying on a continuous bond for formal entries. These restrictions are directed but not yet in force as of October 2026; check the current rules before you plan your first entry.

For a foreign company, the Form 5106 rule means using your real address abroad, not your U.S. warehouse address. Abanro handles U.S. customs clearance as part of your shipment and can act as importer of record in eligible cases. For the full sequence of entry, bond and release, read how U.S. customs clearance works for foreign businesses.

Insurance and liability

Foreign companies often assume their warehouse insures the goods it stores. Usually it does not, at least not for their full value. Under the Uniform Commercial Code, a warehouse is liable for loss or damage caused by its failure to take reasonable care, and the storage agreement can limit that liability to a set amount; the owner can ask in writing, at signing or within a reasonable time after receiving the warehouse receipt, for a higher limit, and the warehouse may charge a higher rate for it (UCC § 7-204). Losses the warehouse could not have prevented with reasonable care are generally not its responsibility at all.

Plan cover for each stage:

• In transit: marine cargo insurance from origin to the U.S. warehouse. Check whether your shipping terms make you or your buyer responsible for buying it.
• In storage: stock or inventory insurance for goods in a third-party warehouse, at their replacement value.
• The warehouse's own policy: ask for its liability limit in the agreement and a certificate of insurance.
• Product liability: separate cover for claims by U.S. buyers or consumers, which retailers and marketplaces may also require.

Where to locate your U.S. warehouse

The best first location is usually near the port where your goods arrive, because every mile from the port to the warehouse is paid for on every container. Our guide to drayage, demurrage and detention at Los Angeles and Long Beach explains that leg and its time limits, and transloading and cross-docking in Southern California covers when goods should skip storage altogether.

West Coast, for goods from Asia

The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach sit side by side in San Pedro Bay and are the main U.S. gateway for trans-Pacific container shipping. The Port of Los Angeles lists China and Hong Kong, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan as its top trading partners for 2025 (Port of Los Angeles). A warehouse in the Los Angeles area, the Inland Empire or Orange County keeps the drive from the terminal short and gives quick access to West Coast customers and to Amazon fulfillment centers in the region. See our Los Angeles 3PL page for how Abanro works from there.

East Coast, for goods from Europe

For goods shipped from Europe, the Mediterranean or Africa's Atlantic coast, East Coast ports such as New York and New Jersey and Savannah are closer by sea, and a warehouse near them is closer to the large consumer markets of the Northeast. A brand shipping from Europe that sells mainly on the East Coast will usually start there.

Inland and two-coast networks

Inland hubs reached by rail or truck can shorten delivery to the middle of the country. A second warehouse on the other coast usually comes later, when sales data shows where customers are. Until then, one well-placed warehouse and ground shipping cover the country.

How to choose

• Selling direct to U.S. customers, Amazon or retailers, without U.S. staff: start with a 3PL near your arrival port.
• Shipping full pallets to a few buyers: a public warehouse or a 3PL priced by the pallet.
• Selling only on Amazon: Amazon FBA or AWD, often with reserve stock and prep at a 3PL.
• High duties, long storage or possible re-export: ask a bonded warehouse or FTZ operator for an assessment.
• Steady volume and a U.S. team: consider your own lease.

In every case, settle the importer of record and the insurance before the first container leaves. If you want one partner from your warehouse abroad to U.S. storage, see how Abanro handles receiving and inspection and storage, with starting prices on our pricing page.

This guide is general information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Rules on importers, bonded warehouses and foreign-trade zones change, so confirm them for your company and products before you ship.

Sources and further reading

1. About Foreign-Trade Zones and Contact Info, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
2. About Foreign-Trade Zones, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce
3. 19 CFR Part 144: Warehouse and rewarehouse entries and withdrawals, Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
4. 19 CFR § 19.1: Classes of customs warehouses, Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
5. 19 CFR § 141.18: Entry by nonresidents, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
6. Accuracy of Importer of Record Data Submitted to CBP (91 FR 53627, August 19, 2026), Federal Register
7. UCC § 7-204: Duty of care; contractual limitation of warehouse's liability, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
8. Workers' compensation employer fact sheet, California Department of Industrial Relations
9. Port of Los Angeles 2025 facts and figures, Port of Los Angeles
10. Supply Chain by Amazon: storage and distribution, Amazon
11. Executive Order 14411: Strengthening Customs Enforcement (91 FR 35125, June 10, 2026), Federal Register

Sources checked on October 20, 2026