Australia Furniture Import from China: Customs and Tariff Essentials (2026)

Do I pay import duty on Chinese furniture in Australia?

Not if you claim ChAFTA properly. The China–Australia Free Trade Agreement reached 100% tariff elimination on 1 January 2019, so Chinese-origin furniture enters duty-free — but the preference is not automatic. Your factory must provide a ChAFTA Certificate of Origin, issued per shipment and valid for one year. Without it you pay the general rate in the Working Tariff, typically 5% on furniture lines, with GST calculated on top. Our import duties overview explains how the layers stack.

How much GST, and when is an import declaration needed?

Budget 10% GST on more than the invoice price. GST applies to the value of the taxable importation: customs value plus international transport, insurance and any duty payable. Consignments over AUD 1,000 need a full Import Declaration lodged with the Australian Border Force, which also carries an import processing charge — a commercial furniture container is always in that territory. GST-registered businesses can generally claim the GST back as an input tax credit.

What biosecurity rules apply to wooden furniture?

Timber is the risk Australia screens hardest. Wooden and rattan furniture must meet the import conditions in the federal BICON database: free of bark, live insects and contamination, and in many cases treated, with certificates to match. Wood packaging — pallets, crates, dunnage — must be ISPM 15 compliant. A consignment that fails inspection is treated, re-exported or destroyed at your cost, so build the check into pre-shipment inspection rather than discovering it at the wharf.

What is the illegal-logging due diligence duty?

If your furniture contains wood, you have standing legal homework. Under the Illegal Logging Prohibition Act 2012 and the Illegal Logging Prohibition Rules 2024 — in force since 3 March 2025 — importers of regulated timber products, including most furniture in HS Chapter 94, must keep a written due diligence system verifying the timber was legally harvested. Certified timber (FSC or PEFC) follows a simpler assessment pathway, so ask early whether your factory can source it.

What paperwork should I collect from the factory?

Five documents cover most Australian entries. The commercial invoice and packing list; the ChAFTA Certificate of Origin; treatment or fumigation certificates for solid-wood items and their packaging; timber species and harvest-country declarations for your due diligence file; and your standard quality records. Request them at order confirmation, not when the container is on the water — the full set is in the compliance checklist by market.