The questions US buyers ask before they source from Taiwan.

You should, and it should be in writing before you pay for steel. The usual trap is paying for a tool, then finding out the factory or an agent is holding it and you cannot leave. On a JCH program the mold quote states who owns the tool, and you get written ownership, a nameplate on the tool, your drawings kept on your side, and a custody record: where the tool is, how many shots it has run and when it was last maintained. Ask any supplier you are talking to for the same, this one included. How a mold is specified and proved; IP, NDAs and tool custody.

Yes. Tools are audited, crated, shipped, re-qualified and re-sampled before production restarts. On Jack's programs the physical move from China to Taiwan has taken about 7 days, about 3 of them in transit. What traps people is permission, not logistics, so settle in your contract who has to agree to your tool leaving. Send the tool drawing and the last inspection report you have, and you will get a straight answer on whether it is worth moving.

It is quoted per part; there is no standard price, and anyone who gives you one has not looked. Price is set mostly by shot life, cavity count, the runner, mechanisms such as slides and lifters, and the finish. Published ranges for different tool classes are in what an injection mold really costs. If a tool will not pay for itself at your volume yet, Jack will say so and suggest the cheaper first step, such as samples or a short run.

A new mold usually takes about four weeks, depending on its complexity, followed by trial shots and a measured first article. Plan your launch backward from the approved first article, not from the day steel is cut.

The first parts off a new tool are measured against your drawing, with critical dimensions recorded on parts from each cavity, and the numbers go to you before volume is released. Approve on measurements, not appearance: a part can look right and still be out of tolerance where it matters. The approved first article then becomes the reference for later lots.

A check at the factory before the container is closed: count, cosmetics, packing, and the lot against the sample you signed. A short or a defect is still cheap to fix at origin. It is far more expensive once the goods have cleared a US port.

That is line watch. Jack's own inspectors check incoming material, in-process parts and the lot before shipment on partner lines in Taiwan, China and Vietnam. Jack speaks Mandarin on the floor, and Vietnamese translators sit with his inspectors in Vietnam. It can also cover a line you already have running.

A signed sample proves one unit was made well, not that the line can hold it. The usual swaps are a changed resin grade, softer steel than quoted, a short quantity and a quiet subcontract. The cheap place to catch them is on the floor, before the container. The golden sample was perfect. Lot three was not.

The entity is not. Partner factories hold ISO 9001 and other certificates; Jack will name the partner and send the certificate on request, and which certificate covers your program is confirmed in writing before an order. Independent TÜV SÜD lab reports on programs Jack managed (ISTA 6 SIOC transit and a California Prop 65 screen) are on file. Certifications and standards.

There is no honest single number, because the part, the tool and the freight mode set it. The published pieces: prototypes in about 7 to 10 days after file review, a new mold in about four weeks followed by T1 and a measured first article, and printed boxes and tins in about 15 days. Production and freight are then quoted against your actual part, in writing. Plan backward from the approved first article.

Sea freight is the usual choice for volume. Air is there when the date matters more than the cost. The choice is made with the order, so production, packing and the booking line up.

Standard trade terms published by the International Chamber of Commerce; the current set, Incoterms 2020, has 11 rules. Each one says where the seller's job ends: who books and pays for which leg of the freight, and where risk passes to the buyer. They do not set the price or the payment terms, so the quote should name the rule and the place, for example FOB Kaohsiung.

Under FOB (Free On Board, for sea freight) the seller clears the goods for export and loads them on the vessel at the named port of origin; from there the ocean freight, insurance, US customs entry and duty are the buyer's. Under DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) the seller delivers to your door with duty paid and handles the import. DDP is simpler on paper, but the duty and freight are buried in the price, and someone else controls the customs entry that carries your product's origin. EXW and FCA hand even more of the chain to the buyer; DAP stops short of the import.

The importer of record, usually the US buyer. Duty is set by the product's HTS line, its country of origin and its customs value; a mold you supplied to the factory counts toward that value. Ocean shipments also need an Importer Security Filing (ISF, the 10+2) at least 24 hours before loading at the foreign port, and most commercial entries need a customs bond. A licensed customs broker files these; rates change often, so confirm your HTS line with one before you set a landed cost.

Yes. Entry is cleared through a licensed customs broker, and origin and duty are worked out before the goods ship, not after they land. If you already have a broker, send their details with your routing guide and receiving rules. Freight to your dock.

Jack Cheng, the principal. He answers the phone and texts himself on a US number, (321) 323-4474, and reads inquiries at jack@jchtrade.com himself. He speaks English with you and Mandarin on the floor, so the drawing is not translated twice. About Jack.

Taiwan runs on UTC+8 and does not use daylight saving time. It is 12 hours ahead of US Eastern time in summer and 13 in winter, and 15 or 16 hours ahead of Pacific time. A question sent at the end of a US workday arrives before the Taiwan workday starts, so it can be worked while you sleep.

No. A sourcing agent introduces you to a factory and steps back. Jack is the principal: he specifies the tool, qualifies the factory, is on the floor for the first article, and answers for the job end to end, with his own engineers, assemblers and inspectors. Manufacturing also runs at qualified partner factories; JCH does not own the plants. What it owns is the engineering, the qualification, the inspection and the contract you sign.

No. Taiwan is a separate customs territory with its own tariff treatment and country-of-origin code at the US border. The China-only Section 301 lists do not apply to Taiwan-origin goods, and as of September 2026 most Taiwan goods are topped up to about 10 percent combined duty. Rates change often; confirm your HTS line with a licensed customs broker. Why Taiwan is not China for US duty.

Piece price is only one line of the landed cost; duty is another. Take a part with a 3 percent base rate (an illustration; your HTS line sets the real one). Made in China and on Section 301 Lists 1 to 3, it pays about 40.5 percent of customs value. Made in Taiwan, it pays about 10 percent. On a $100,000 shipment that is a $30,500 difference. The gap is smaller on List 4A goods and small on steel and aluminum products under Section 232. Taiwan vs. China tariffs, layer by layer.

No. US Customs asks where the article last became a new article (substantial transformation), not which port it sailed from. JCH will not relabel a China lot as Taiwan to dodge a list; the origin on the entry matches the floor.

No. Taiwan is the default for the tool and for US-bound programs where origin moves the landed cost. Jack also qualifies factories in China and Vietnam, and some electronics and some volume belong there. If the right factory for your part is in China or Vietnam, he will say so. Vietnam and China plus one.