Quick answer

Importing sportswear from Pakistan to the USA is a well-worn path: your order is produced in Sialkot (at Alisterz, 15–20 days of bulk production after a 5–7 day sample stage), shipped by air (DHL/FedEx, roughly 4–7 days to most US destinations) or by sea (weeks, but far cheaper per piece at volume), cleared through US customs with a standard set of trade documents, and delivered. The two things first-time importers get wrong are not exotic: they mistake the factory price for their total cost, and they assume someone else is handling customs. This post covers freight choices, what “landed cost” really means, the paperwork you should expect, and the one question we will not fake an answer to — your duty rate.

The journey, in order

1. Production — sample approval, then bulk production (15–20 days at Alisterz).
2. Export paperwork — your supplier prepares the commercial documents that travel with the goods.
3. International freight — air or sea from Pakistan to a US port or airport.
4. US customs clearance — the shipment is formally entered with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), usually by a customs broker acting for you, the importer.
5. Final delivery — once released, the goods move to your warehouse or address.

Who is responsible for what is set by the shipping terms agreed in your quote (see FOB below). Nothing here is unusual — thousands of US clubs, dealers and brands import apparel this way — but each stage has to be owned by somebody, in writing, before the cartons leave.

Air vs sea: how sportswear actually travels

	Air freight (DHL / FedEx / air cargo)	Sea freight
Typical transit	Roughly 4–7 days to most US destinations	Several weeks, port to port, plus inland movement
Cost behaviour	Charged largely by weight/volume — expensive per piece	Low per piece once you are filling serious volume
Best for	Team orders with a season deadline, samples, first orders, reorders	Large planned stock orders — pallet and container quantities of hoodies, tracksuits, full club programmes
Clearance handling	Courier shipments are commonly handled door to door by the courier’s own brokerage process	You will normally appoint your own customs broker
Risk profile	Fast, predictable, forgiving of late decisions	Cheap, but a missed sailing or port delay is measured in weeks

The decision rule is arithmetic, not preference: work backwards from the date the kits must be worn or the stock must be on shelves. Production (15–20 days) plus sampling (5–7 days) plus your approval time plus air freight fits inside roughly 4–6 weeks door to door. Sea freight needs a longer, planned runway — and rewards it with a much lower freight cost per piece. Our step-by-step ordering guide shows where freight sits inside the full timeline.

A common structure on bigger programmes: ship the urgently needed portion by air and the balance by sea. Ask for both numbers in your quote — a factory should price both routes openly.

FOB, and the only cost that matters: landed cost

You will see quotes described as FOB (Free On Board). FOB means the price covers the goods up to the point they are loaded for export at the origin — roughly, the factory’s responsibility ends and yours begins at the port or airport of departure. The factory price is real, but it is not your total. Your real number is the landed cost: everything it takes to get one piece from the factory floor to sellable stock in your warehouse.

Landed cost is built from:

• The goods — your tiered unit price (this falls as quantity rises)
• International freight — air or sea, as above
• Insurance — optional but cheap protection against loss or damage in transit
• Duty — charged by US customs based on how the goods are classified (next section)
• Customs brokerage and entry fees — what your broker (or courier) charges to file the entry
• US-side delivery — port or airport to your door or warehouse

Two quotes are only comparable when both are built to the same point. A lower FOB price with expensive freight loses to a slightly higher price shipped efficiently — and a factory price compared against a competitor’s delivered price is not a comparison at all. When you request a quote from us, ask for the freight options stated separately so you can build your own landed number honestly. Our quote checklist post lists everything else to include in that first message — destination included, precisely because freight depends on it.

Duties: the honest section

Here is what we will not do: quote you a duty percentage. Any supplier who tells you “duty to the USA is X%” for your order is guessing in a way that can cost you real money, because apparel duty in the US depends on the exact classification of each product — its HS (Harmonized System) code — and classification of clothing turns on details like fibre content, knit versus woven construction, and garment type. The same factory can ship two products in one order that classify differently.

What we can tell you, straight:

• Duty is assessed by CBP on entry, calculated from the classification and the declared value of the goods.
• Your customs broker is the right source for the rate that applies to your specific products — brokers classify goods for a living, and getting the classification confirmed before you set your resale prices is the professional sequence.
• The factory’s job is accurate paperwork: correct product descriptions, fibre content and values on the commercial invoice, so your broker and CBP are working from true information. A sloppy invoice is how shipments get examined, delayed or reclassified.
• Budget duty into your landed cost from day one, using your broker’s figure — not a number from a blog post, including this one.

If you are importing for the first time, one conversation with a US customs broker before your first bulk order is worth more than any amount of Googling. It is also one of the screening questions in our guide on choosing a sportswear manufacturer: a serious factory will tell you to get that advice rather than pretending to give it.

The paperwork you should expect

These are the standard documents in an apparel export shipment from Pakistan. You do not have to create them — your supplier prepares most of them — but you should know what each one is, because your broker will ask for them by name.

Document	What it is	Prepared by
Commercial invoice	The core document: seller, buyer, product descriptions, quantities, values, fibre content. Customs works from this.	Supplier
Packing list	Carton-by-carton breakdown: how many cartons, what is in each, weights and dimensions. Must match the invoice and the actual cartons.	Supplier
Bill of lading (sea) / air waybill (air)	The transport document issued by the carrier — proof the goods were shipped and the contract of carriage.	Carrier / freight forwarder
Certificate of origin	States where the goods were made — Pakistan. Used by customs and sometimes requested for specific trade treatment.	Supplier, through the local chamber process

Alongside these, the US entry itself — the formal declaration to CBP — is filed by you as importer or by your customs broker on your behalf. For courier air shipments, the courier’s brokerage arm commonly handles the entry process as part of the door-to-door service; for sea freight, expect to appoint your own broker and share the documents above with them before the vessel arrives, not after.

Two habits that prevent most paperwork problems: check that the packing list, invoice and actual carton count agree before the goods leave (our quality control post covers the final count and inspection that happens at packing), and send your broker the document set as soon as it is issued rather than when the shipment lands.

Who does what: a simple responsibility map

• The factory (Alisterz): manufactures to your approved sample, packs and labels as agreed, prepares the commercial invoice, packing list and certificate of origin accurately, and hands the goods to the carrier or forwarder under the agreed terms.
• The carrier / forwarder: moves the goods, issues the bill of lading or air waybill, and (for courier air) commonly manages the clearance process door to door.
• Your customs broker (for sea, and whenever you appoint one): classifies the goods, files the entry with CBP, and advises you on duty for your specific products.
• You, the importer: you are the importer of record. Final responsibility for the entry — and for paying duty and fees — sits with you, which is exactly why the landed-cost maths belongs in your planning, not as a surprise on delivery day.

Timeline planning for a US-bound order

Work backwards from your date. Say stock must be in your warehouse by a fixed Friday: allow final US delivery days, clearance time, then freight (roughly 4–7 days by air, several weeks by sea), before that production (15–20 days), before that sampling (5–7 days) and your own approval time — the stage buyers most often forget to count. Air freight forgives a tight plan; sea freight does not. Tell us the in-hand date in your first message and we will tell you plainly which freight route fits — or that neither does, if that is the truth.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a customs broker to import from Pakistan? For sea freight, in practice yes — appointing a licensed US customs broker to classify your goods and file the entry is the standard route. For smaller air shipments sent by courier (DHL/FedEx), the courier commonly handles the clearance process as part of delivery. Either way, the importer of record is you.

How much duty will I pay on sportswear from Pakistan? It depends on the HS classification of each specific product — fibre content and construction drive it — so any fixed percentage quoted without classifying your actual garments is a guess. Confirm the classification and rate with a US customs broker before you finalise your resale pricing.

What does FOB mean in my quote? Free On Board: the price covers the goods up to loading for export at origin. Freight beyond that point, duty, brokerage and final delivery are additional — together with the goods they make up your landed cost, which is the number to plan your margins on.

What documents will I receive with my shipment? Expect a commercial invoice, a packing list, a bill of lading (sea) or air waybill (air), and a certificate of origin. Your broker will work from these to file the US entry.

Is air or sea better for a first order? For most first orders, air. The per-piece freight is higher, but transit is roughly 4–7 days, clearance through the courier is comparatively simple, and the total timeline stays manageable while you learn the process. Sea freight rewards larger, planned volumes once the routine is established.

Can Alisterz handle shipping to the USA? Yes — we ship worldwide by DHL, FedEx or sea freight, and your quote can show the freight options separately so you can build your landed cost. What we will not do is invent your duty rate; that answer properly comes from your broker with your products classified.

Start with the landed cost, not just the factory price

Send your styles, quantities and US delivery city through the Request a Quote page and ask for air and sea freight shown separately. We will reply with tiered pricing, the MOQ for your styles (many from 100 pieces, some from 500) and a sample timeline — and you will have every number except duty, which your broker can pin down from the same product details. New to importing production from this region? Our post on why so much sportswear comes from Sialkot explains the export cluster your order will ship from.