Export from Egypt · To the USA
Shipping from Egypt to the USA.
We ship Egyptian exports to the USA by sea and air: full, shared and reefer containers from Alexandria, Damietta or Port Said, and air cargo from Cairo Airport. We clear your goods for export in Egypt and deliver to the US port, airport or your buyer's door, on the terms you agreed. Commercial cargo and household moves.
Reviewed by Hassan Ahmed, Earth Link Freight Services · 8 Oct 2026
At a glance
- Ways to ship
- Sea: full container (FCL), shared container (LCL), reefer. Air.
- From Egypt
- Alexandria, Damietta, Port Said. Cairo Airport by air.
- Into the USA
- New York and New Jersey, Norfolk, Savannah, Charleston, Houston by sea. New York and other US airports by air.
- Export customs
- Cleared in Egypt by a licensed customs broker in our group.
Two ways to move it.
By sea
For most cargo to the USA, such as garments, carpets and preserved food. A full container (20ft, 40ft, 40HC) when you have the volume, a shared container when you don't, and reefer containers for frozen food.
Containers leave Alexandria, Damietta or Port Said and cross the Mediterranean and the Atlantic to the US East Coast, on a direct service or through a transshipment port. Cargo for Houston or the West Coast often connects on the way.
Sea freightBy air
For urgent, light or high-value cargo such as samples, urgent garment orders and dried herbs. It leaves from Cairo Airport, where our branch works in the Cargo Village and issues the air waybill, and flies to the USA direct or through a hub in Europe or the Gulf.
Check your chargeable weightPaperwork on both sides.
What you prepare in Egypt, and what your buyer needs on arrival. Not every item applies to every shipment.
Before it leaves Egypt
- Exporters register. Your company must be on the exporters register at GOEIC before it can export.
- Invoice and packing list. Commercial invoice and packing list for every shipment.
- Certificate of origin. A certificate of origin if your buyer asks for one. Egypt has no free trade agreement with the USA, but goods made in a Qualifying Industrial Zone (QIZ) can enter duty-free if the goods meet the QIZ rules.
- Fresh produce. A phytosanitary certificate from the agricultural quarantine, after inspection.
- Export declaration. We file it and clear the goods at the port or Cairo Airport.
When it arrives in the USA
- US customs entry. Your buyer, as importer of record, or its licensed customs broker files the entry and pays any duty, unless you sell delivered duty paid.
- Importer Security Filing (ISF). For sea cargo, the US importer or its agent files it at least 24 hours before the container is loaded in Egypt, so your buyer needs your shipment details early.
- Food. Food needs prior notice to the FDA before it arrives, and the facilities that produce or store it must be registered with the FDA.
Your buyer's customs broker in the USA confirms what applies to your product.
Egypt to the USA in numbers.
Every figure has a source and a date. Checked 8 Oct 2026.
- USD 2.55bnEgypt's exports to the USA in 2025 without a one-off USD 157m vessel sale, up from USD 2.26bn in 2024: its fifth-largest destination. With the vessel, the 2025 total was USD 2.71bn.UN Comtrade, Egypt-reported, 2024 and 2025, total less heading 8906 · checked 8 Oct 2026
- USD 1.33bnClothing, knitted and woven, in 2025: about half of all exports to the USA. Men's suits and trousers came to USD 314m and T-shirts to USD 278m.UN Comtrade, HS 61 and 62, headings 6203 and 6109, 2025 · checked 8 Oct 2026
- USD 133mPreserved vegetables, fruit and juices in 2025.UN Comtrade, HS 20, 2025 · checked 8 Oct 2026
- USD 107mCarpets and rugs in 2025, most of them woven (USD 67m).UN Comtrade, HS 57 and heading 5702, 2025 · checked 8 Oct 2026
- USD 75.0mFrozen vegetables and frozen fruit in 2025, which travel in reefer containers.UN Comtrade, Headings 0710 and 0811, 2025 · checked 8 Oct 2026
- USD 60.6mHerbs and plants used in pharmacy and perfumery in 2025.UN Comtrade, Heading 1211, 2025 · checked 8 Oct 2026
- 24 hoursThe latest the US importer or its agent can file the Importer Security Filing before a container is loaded for the USA.US customs regulations, 19 CFR 149.2 · checked 8 Oct 2026
- 6Qualifying Industrial Zones in Egypt. Goods made in them can enter the USA duty-free if the goods meet the QIZ rules, including a minimum share of Israeli inputs.International Trade Administration · checked 8 Oct 2026
Questions about shipping to the USA.
Do you ship household moves or personal parcels to the USA?
Household moves, yes: we ship personal effects and furniture as freight, by sea or air, as well as commercial cargo for businesses, and clear them for export in Egypt. A single small parcel suits a courier better.
Which Egyptian port do you ship from to the USA?
It depends on where your goods are and on the sailing. Containers leave Alexandria, Damietta or Port Said and arrive at East Coast ports such as New York and New Jersey, Norfolk, Savannah and Charleston, or connect to Houston and the West Coast. Air cargo leaves from Cairo Airport.
What is QIZ, and does it lower US duty?
Qualifying Industrial Zones are areas in Egypt whose factories can export to the USA duty-free if the goods meet the QIZ rules, including a minimum share of Israeli inputs. Other goods pay the normal US duty, because Egypt has no free trade agreement with the USA. Your buyer's broker confirms for your product.
What is ISF, and who files it?
The Importer Security Filing, which US customs needs for sea cargo. The US importer or its agent files it at least 24 hours before the container is loaded in Egypt, so your buyer needs the seller, manufacturer and HS code details from you early.
More on exporting from Egypt.
Request a quote.
Tell us what you are exporting, where it is in Egypt and where it goes in the USA. We come back with your options.
Prefer to talk? Message our team on WhatsApp or call +20 122 000 1573.