Our team inspects your Alibaba supplier on site, films the visit unedited and delivers a complete report in Spanish or English, made for Colombian buyers.
In Colombia, cars are carros, parts are repuestos, and taillights are often called stop. Wheels are rines and tires are llantas, as in Mexico. Spell out the English name next to the local term so the supplier cannot guess.
| In English (as on Alibaba) | Usual term in Colombia | Also heard |
|---|---|---|
| Brake pads | pastillas de freno | pastillas de frenos |
| Alloy wheels | rines | llantas de aleación |
| Tires | llantas | neumáticos |
| Auto parts / spare parts | repuestos | — |
| Bumper | parachoques | — |
| Hood | capó | capot |
| Trunk | baúl | maletero |
| Taillight | stop | luz trasera |
| License plate | placa | placas |
Terms are the ones buyers in Colombia most often use; usage can vary by region within a country. Always send the English name with your specification.
Colombia is on UTC−5 all year, with no summer time, so Guangzhou (UTC+8) is 13 hours ahead. A visit that starts at 9:00 in Guangzhou starts at 20:00 the evening before in Bogotá. The written report is in Spanish or English, and you can watch the visit live over WhatsApp.
Most of what we check for Colombian buyers falls under auto parts, which fits a market where machinery and electronics lead imports from China (see the table below). Construction products and badges, medals and keychains are covered too.
A case can go on this site only with the client’s consent, and no Colombian client has given it so far. To see a visit from start to finish, read the Guatemala case study (names and factory details removed) or the sample report.
We coordinate shipping to your door; customs clearance is handled by an authorized customs broker in your country.
Colombia has no trade agreement with China. The trade ministry's December 2025 monitoring report on Colombia's trade agreements lists the partners with which Colombia has agreements in force (among them the United States, the European Union, the Andean Community, Mercosur, Canada, Mexico, Chile and South Korea), and China is not one of them. So there is no preferential tariff to claim: the duty is the one for your tariff line (subpartida arancelaria), and a supplier's price has to be compared on the full landed cost. Our guide to FOB, EXW, CIF and DDP quotes shows what each quote term leaves for you to pay.
IVA, the value-added tax, is 19% under article 468 of the Estatuto Tributario, with a 5% rate for the goods listed in article 468-1. For imports, the rate that applies is the one in force when the import declaration is filed and accepted, and customs duties and IVA are settled and paid together (DIAN, Concepto 8857 of 2025).
Customs in Colombia is run by the DIAN. Under article 177 of Decreto 1165 de 2019 the declarant must hold the original documents before the declaration is filed and accepted: the transport document, the commercial invoice and the packing list where they apply, proof of origin where it is required, the Andean customs value declaration (DAV) with its supports, and a mandate if a customs agency acts on your behalf (DIAN). In Colombia, clearing goods through customs is called nacionalizar the goods, and the DIAN's own concept uses that word. Ask your supplier to prepare an invoice and packing list that match the transport document line by line.
Colombia reported imports from China of US$19.4 billion in 2025, 27.5% of its total imports. Ranked by HS chapter, the leaders are:
| HS chapter | What it covers | US$ million | Share of imports from China |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85 | Electrical machinery and electronics | 4,336 | 22.4% |
| 84 | Machinery and mechanical appliances | 3,216 | 16.6% |
| 87 | Vehicles and their parts | 1,580 | 8.2% |
| 39 | Plastics and plastic articles | 998 | 5.2% |
| 72 | Iron and steel | 856 | 4.4% |
| 29 | Organic chemicals | 749 | 3.9% |
For HS 8708 (parts and accessories of motor vehicles), China supplied US$197 million, or 36.7% of Colombia's imports under that code, the second-highest share of the four countries on these pages. Data: UN Comtrade, imports as reported by Colombia for the full year 2025, retrieved on 28 October 2026 and open to revision.
For the sea leg, iContainers gives 30 to 35 days for a 40-foot container from Shanghai to Cartagena via Panama, and no Shanghai-specific figure for Buenaventura, where Shanghai appears only as the origin of a weekly service (iContainers). Your choice of port changes the inland leg and your forwarder's price, so ask for quotes to both.
Is there a free trade agreement between Colombia and China? No. The trade ministry's report on Colombia's trade agreements does not list China among the partners, so there is no preferential tariff to claim and the duty depends on your tariff line, plus IVA at 19% (5% for listed goods). Ask your customs agency to confirm the subpartida before you order. We are not a customs agency.
A customs declaration is not a quality check. For what we look at in the goods themselves, see our inspection standards and the sample report; to compare providers, read how to choose a provider, and for how we are paid, the impartiality statement.