Taiwan furniture designers: be your own boss with your own designs

What is Houjie, Dongguan, and why is it a good place to make furniture?

Houjie is a town in Dongguan, Guangdong Province. It started out in the 1980s with small workshops and processing factories funded by Hong Kong investors; in 2001 it was named a "Guangdong Province Specialized Furniture Town", and the International Famous Furniture Fair (Dongguan) was founded here in 1999. In 2023 the China National Furniture Association and Dongguan began jointly building a "world-class furniture industry cluster", with Houjie and Dalingshan as the two core areas of Dongguan's furniture industry. The table below shows figures published by local official sources and state media:

What links make up Houjie's furniture supply chain?

What sets Houjie apart is that materials, hardware, equipment, sampling factories and brand showrooms are all concentrated in the same town and its surroundings. The table below follows the order from design to market launch:

Why is it best to design furniture as knock-down from the start?

When shipping furniture to Taiwan, the biggest cost is often not the duty but the volume. HowBridge sea express costs NT$50 per unit; the number of units is the greater of the actual weight (kg) and the volumetric weight (L×W×H in cm ÷ 10,000), rounded up. For the same 8 kg wooden chair, the shipping cost differs a lot between a knock-down flat pack and a carton packed fully assembled:

• Plan how it comes apart at the design stage: make the chair legs, backrest and seat separate parts, and put the hardware and assembly instructions in the box; add corner protectors and dividers between parts to reduce scratches in transit.
• Ask about sea LCL consolidation for large items: large items such as sofas, bed frames and full dining sets can go by sea LCL consolidation instead (from NT$25 per kg or from NT$150 per LCL volume unit, with a minimum of NT$3,500 per shipment; ask customer service for a quote based on your goods); sea LCL consolidation quotes already include the Taiwan-leg oversize surcharge.
• Oversize surcharge for the Taiwan leg: for sea express and air freight parcels, any single piece over 10 cai (cai is a Taiwanese volume unit; see the glossary) or 40 kg incurs an additional oversize surcharge from Hsinchu Transport (HCT) that varies by city or county; anything over 70 cai or 800 kg, or with any side longer than 320 cm, requires a dedicated-truck quote.
• No glass or ceramic parts: HowBridge does not accept furniture with glass, ceramic or other fragile parts, such as glass tabletops or ceramic countertops; at the design stage you can switch to materials such as wood or metal. For ordinary furniture you can add wooden crating for reinforcement (from NT$300, quoted by actual size; see Importing large furniture).
• Wooden crates and pallets need the IPPC mark: if you pack with solid-wood pallets or crates, they must be heat-treated or fumigated and stamped before export under International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No. 15 (ISPM 15); packaging without the mark may have to be treated, destroyed or returned. See Importing large furniture for details.

How far is Houjie from the HowBridge Shenzhen warehouse, and where should you go?

From the Guangdong Modern International Exhibition Center on Houjie's Furniture Avenue to Fuhai Subdistrict, Bao'an District, where the HowBridge Shenzhen warehouse is located, it is about 39 km, about a 33-minute drive without traffic (estimated with OpenStreetMap routing on 2026-11-03; actual times depend on traffic). Common places to visit on a first trip to Houjie:

• Famous Furniture World Expo Park (Hall 9, Guangdong Modern International Exhibition Center): one of the main halls during the Famous Furniture Fair; outside fair dates it houses brand showrooms and flagship stores, where you can first see the designs and materials already on the market. The adjoining Hall 8 is the whole-home custom design hall.
• Furniture Avenue: about 5 km long and lined with experience centers and flagship stores of more than 200 furniture brands; it is also a distribution hub for furniture materials, hardware and machinery.
• Houjie furniture malls: the five major malls of the 2025 Houjie Furniture Culture Festival were the Famous Furniture World Expo Park, Hengfeng Furniture, Meibao Furniture, Xingye Home and Mingdu Home, which are good for comparing the workmanship and prices of finished furniture.
• International Famous Furniture Fair: held every March; the 56th edition in 2027 is scheduled for March 16 to 20, alongside the Dongguan International Furniture Machinery & Materials Fair. The fair used to be held twice a year, in March and August, but the August 2026 edition has been postponed (as reposted by the third-party trade fair platform Shifair on 2026-08-03); the organizer's announcements are final for actual dates.

As a designer running your own business, what are you responsible for?

The most common pitfall when starting your own brand is "assuming someone else will take care of it". The table below spells out who is responsible for each step:

What is the process from drawing to a buyer's home in Taiwan?

This is the usual order; finish each step before moving on to the next:

What does HowBridge offer, and what is still planned?

Services available now and services still being planned are listed separately:

Can furniture be imported from mainland China into Taiwan, and how much tax do you pay?

Yes. Seats (9401) and other furniture (9403) have no tariff codes at all on the International Trade Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs (Taiwan) lists of "mainland Chinese goods not permitted for import (MW0)" and "conditionally permitted imports (MP1)" (downloaded and checked on 2026-11-03), so they are permitted imports. Common furniture carries 0% duty in column 1, plus 5% business tax; the import regulation is mostly C02, meaning "some goods under this item are subject to inspection by the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI)", so not every item has to be inspected. The tariff codes below are classified by material, use and whether the item is coated; customs' determination is final:

How must furniture be labeled for sale in Taiwan?

If you import goods yourself and sell them in Taiwan, you are the party obliged to label them (the importer) under Article 5 of the Commodity Labeling Act. Before furniture goes on the market, note the following:

• Label the origin truthfully: furniture produced in Houjie has mainland China as its country of origin. Completing the design in Taiwan does not make Taiwan the origin; assembling knock-down furniture only after it arrives in Taiwan counts as "simple joining, fitting or assembly", which under Article 7, Paragraph 3, Subparagraph 4 of the Rules of Origin for Imported Goods does not constitute substantial transformation. You must not label the furniture MADE IN TAIWAN or imply it in your copy.
• Import documents must state the origin: under Article 11 of the Regulations Governing Trade between the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, import documents for permitted mainland Chinese goods must state "Made in Mainland China" or an equivalent in a foreign language.
• Required label information: there are no dedicated labeling standards for furniture, so the Commodity Labeling Act itself applies. Under Article 6, you must label the product name, the importer's name, address and service phone number, the country of origin, the main ingredients or materials (e.g. wood species, boards, finishes, fabrics), and measurements such as quantity or dimensions; imported goods must also show the foreign manufacturer's name in a foreign language.
• Label the product, its packaging or its instructions: labels must be on the product itself, its inner or outer packaging, or its instructions (Article 10), and an online product page cannot replace a physical label; text must be mainly in Chinese and may be supplemented with foreign languages (Article 11). We also recommend providing Chinese versions of the assembly instructions, load capacity and usage precautions. If labeling does not comply, you will be ordered to correct it within a deadline; if you fail to do so, a fine of NT$20,000 to NT$200,000 applies (Article 17).
• Low stools must be marked as not for children: if a stool with a seat height of 38 cm or less is meant for adults, the product itself must be marked "not for use by children aged 14 and under"; otherwise it may be deemed a children's chair or stool subject to inspection. Children's furniture such as children's chairs and stools, children's high chairs and cribs must pass inspection and carry the commodity inspection mark before going on the market.

How do you handle returns when selling furniture online?

If you sell on a website or platform, you are a business operator under the Consumer Protection Act. Ordinary in-stock furniture is not excluded from the 7-day right of withdrawal, and the shipping cost of returning large furniture cannot be passed on to the consumer either:

• Returns without reason within 7 days: consumers may return goods or give written notice of cancellation within 7 days of receipt, without giving a reason and without bearing any cost (Article 19 of the Consumer Protection Act).
• Tell buyers how to return first: if cancellation information was not provided at delivery, the 7 days start from the day after the information is provided; however, the right of withdrawal lapses once more than 4 months have passed since the original 7-day period began.
• Collect within 15 days, refund within 15 days: after receiving written notice of cancellation, you must collect the goods within 15 days, and refund within 15 days from the day after collecting the goods or receiving the returned goods or cancellation notice (Article 19-2 of the Consumer Protection Act).
• Unboxing to inspect does not affect returns: the consumer's right of withdrawal does not lapse because of changes caused by necessary inspection (Article 17 of the Enforcement Rules of the Consumer Protection Act).
• Exceptions for made-to-order furniture must be disclosed in advance: exceptions to the 7-day right of withdrawal are listed in the Guidelines on Reasonable Exceptions to the Right of Withdrawal in Distance Sales, and the one most relevant to furniture is "customized performance made at the consumer's request". The Department of Consumer Protection, Executive Yuan explains that specifying or choosing from existing colors or specifications is not customization; a court has also held that a sofa bought in a color and style already offered on the website was not a customized product (Chiayi District Court, ROC year 108 Chia-Hsiao-Tzu No. 521). Exceptions must be disclosed to consumers in advance.

What could a designer furniture brand look like?

Below is the "Lattice Series", a HowBridge demonstration inspired by the Taiwanese iron window grilles of old houses in Taiwan; both pieces use the same lattice pattern to build recognition. The images are AI simulations, not actual production samples:

Who can register, and how?

The first round is open to Taiwan designers and small studios who have their own furniture designs and want to sell them under their own brand.

What does research say about furniture clusters and small-batch production?

The studies and reports below provide background; none of them is about HowBridge or any specific factory, and they cannot be used to infer outcomes for individual designers:

• The Houjie furniture cluster turned to the domestic market after the financial crisis: Yang, Fu and Li (2017) interviewed Houjie furniture makers and found that export tax rebate policies had a negative impact, while the Famous Furniture Fair helped firms break into China's domestic market; Yang and Fu (2017) point out that Dongguan's export furniture makers reconnected with domestic demand through chain retailers, directly operated stores and online stores.
• Knock-down shipping saves space, but switching has costs: Savchenko et al. (2020) note that knock-down furniture can save on warehousing, assembly labor and transport costs, but processes have to be redesigned; Yang, Vezzoli and Su (2025) assessed 25 furniture pieces and found that the distribution stage accounted for 9% of environmental impact on average and the raw material stage for 76%.
• Delivering large furniture is harder than delivering ordinary parcels: Alidaee et al. (2023) reviewed 195 publications and found that last-mile delivery of heavy, bulky and oversized products is harder than parcel delivery yet less studied; Zhang et al. (2022) note that delivery constrains online furniture shopping, that beds and wardrobes often need professional installation, and that consumers often simply do not return items because returns are inconvenient.
• Small design brands often grow non-linearly: Liu Li-hsiang (2016) interviewed Taiwanese design start-ups and found that design services and own brands support each other, growth is hard to predict, and lack of funding and counterfeiting are common obstacles; Lihra et al. (2008) found that in the US furniture industry, kitchen cabinets, the most customized segment, were not hit hard by imports.
• Taiwan's furniture industry has long relied mainly on OEM manufacturing: Wang Li-ching and Nieh Chih-kao (2004) analyzed 14 Taiwanese furniture companies over 1946–2001 and found that OEM manufacturing was the most common business model for decades; companies that moved to their own brands and reached maturity used markedly more solid wood, and those committed to handcraft were also mostly own-brand companies.

What are common furniture production terms?

KD (knock-down furniture)

Short for knock-down: furniture shipped disassembled into parts in flat packs and assembled on arrival; its small volume keeps shipping and warehousing costs lower.

Flat-pack

Disassembled parts stacked in a thin carton, protected by dividers and corner protectors between the parts.

Solid-wood furniture

Furniture whose main structure is made of solid wood; price, weight and grain vary widely between wood species.

Panel furniture

Furniture made from engineered boards (e.g. MDF, particleboard, plywood) finished with veneer or laminate; well suited to standardization and knock-down design.

Upholstered furniture

Furniture with padding covered in fabric or leather, such as sofas, upholstered chairs and headboards.

Mortise-and-tenon joinery

A joining technique in which a protruding tenon on one wooden part fits into a recessed mortise in another.

Wood veneer

A thin sheet cut from timber and bonded to the surface of a board to show real wood grain.

Hardware (fittings)

Metal fittings for furniture, such as screws, connectors, hinges, drawer slides and glides.

Sampling / sample making

A sample made before mass production to confirm dimensions, structure, finish and assembly sequence.

Volumetric weight

A weight calculated from a parcel's volume; HowBridge sea express uses L×W×H (cm) ÷ 10,000 and charges the greater of this and the actual weight.

LCL volume unit

The billing volume unit for sea LCL consolidation, calculated as L×W×H (cm) ÷ 28,316.

Cai (Taiwanese volume unit)

A volume unit commonly used in Taiwan logistics; for its oversize surcharge, Hsinchu Transport (HCT) calculates cai as L×W×H (cm) ÷ 27,000, with any side shorter than 30 cm counted as 30 cm.

Tariff code (HS/CCC code)

The classification code for imported goods; seats are in heading 9401 of Chapter 94, and other furniture in heading 9403.

C02

An import regulation code meaning that some goods under the code are subject to BSMI inspection; not every item has to be inspected.

MW0

An International Trade Administration import regulation code meaning "mainland Chinese goods not permitted for import".

Single-item fulfillment

The seller keeps stock at a warehouse, and after orders come in the warehouse ships items to buyers one by one (dropshipping from the warehouse); HowBridge single-item fulfillment from Taoyuan is currently planned and not yet available.

What are the sources and the scope of verification?

The sources below were consulted on 2026-11-03; document dates and consultation dates are shown separately, and no date is supplied where none is stated.

Government, official and state media sources

• Houjie Town People's Government, Dongguan: the 55th Famous Furniture Fair closes as Dongguan manufacturing aesthetics win fans worldwide | Document date: 2026-04-03; the 55th International Famous Furniture Fair (Dongguan) closed on 2026-03-19, covering 530,000 m² with nearly 900 Chinese and overseas brands, 8 themed halls and 7 curated IPs.
• Timedg (Dongguan Time Network, Dongguan Newspaper Media Group): "Talent Gathers in Southern Guangdong", industry series ⑤ | Dongguan furniture: setting out toward a world-class industry cluster | Document date: 2025-04-04; Dongguan has about 350 furniture manufacturers above designated size and more than 2,000 furniture brands; Houjie and Dalingshan are the two core areas of the furniture industry cluster; Houjie has more than 10 specialized furniture markets with a total area of more than 800,000 m², and Furniture Avenue, about 5 km long, is a distribution hub for finished furniture, furniture machinery, furniture materials and accessories; across Dongguan, supporting industries such as chemicals, coatings, hardware, leather goods, timber and machinery are well established; the Famous Furniture Fair was founded in 1999 and is held every March and August; in 2022 the Dongguan–Foshan pan-home-furnishing industry cluster was selected as an MIIT advanced manufacturing cluster.
• Timedg: an overall look at Dongguan's changes ⑤ | Houjie, Dongguan: the "Furniture Capital" climbs to new industrial heights | Document date: 2023-11-30; the town has nearly 600 furniture companies and more than 100,000 people working in the industry; in 2022 the gross industrial output value of furniture manufacturing above designated size was CNY 7,170,000,000; Furniture Avenue is lined with experience centers, flagship stores and specialty stores of more than 200 Chinese and international brands; there are more than 2,000 own brands and more than 6,000 valid furniture patents; in 1982 people jointly opened small furniture workshops, and the first modern furniture factory was a Hong Kong-invested "three-plus-one" (processing and compensation trade) enterprise; in January 2001 Houjie was named a Guangdong Province Specialized Furniture Town; in March 2023 the China National Furniture Association and Dongguan began jointly building a "world-class furniture industry cluster".
• Timedg: the 2025 Houjie Furniture Culture Festival opens, leading a new wave of home furnishing consumption | Document date: 2025-03-15; Houjie has about 600 furniture manufacturers, more than 2,000 furniture brands and more than 6,000 valid furniture patents; the festival ran from 2025-03-15 to 05-15, with five major malls taking part: the Famous Furniture World Expo Park, Hengfeng Furniture, Meibao Furniture, Xingye Home and Mingdu Home.
• 21st Century Business Herald: a close look at Dongguan's town economies | Houjie: the furniture industry heads onto a new digital track, and the exhibition economy drives the town's renewal | Document date: 2023-05-11; Houjie has more than 1,000 furniture-related companies and 62 furniture companies above designated size; 10 furniture and raw-material supply markets, including the Famous Furniture World Expo Park, have been built; more than 200 Chinese and international furniture brands are located along the 5 km Furniture Avenue.
• ELLE DECO China (NetEase account): in Dongguan, a 400,000 m² city living room is growing | Document date: 2026-03-13; the Famous Furniture World Expo Park is in Hall 9 of the Guangdong Modern International Exhibition Center and covers about 400,000 m²; Hall 8 is the whole-home custom design hall; the 55th Famous Furniture Fair ran from 2026-03-15 to 19. The report says that every link, from timber and leather to factories and from sampling to mass production, can be completed within a radius of a few dozen kilometers (the report's images were provided by the Famous Furniture World Expo Park).
• Official website of the International Famous Furniture Fair (Dongguan): About the fair | Document date: not stated; organized by Guangdong Modern Exhibition Management Co., Ltd. (with the Guangdong Modern International Exhibition Center and others as executing organizers); founded in March 1999, and the page says 54 editions have been held (the website has not been updated; the 55th edition closed on 2026-03-19); the 2027 fair will be held from March 16 to 20 at the Guangdong Modern International Exhibition Center in Houjie, Dongguan.
• Sina Home: the 2027 Famous Furniture Fair is set for March 16–20 | Document date: 2026-08-17; the page is marked as still in the scheduled-publication stage, with content for reference only; the 56th International Famous Furniture Fair (Dongguan) and the 2027 Dongguan International Furniture Machinery & Materials Fair will be held from 2027-03-16 to 20 at the Guangdong Modern International Exhibition Center; Hall 9 is a 400,000 m² combined exhibition and trading platform with more than 600 Chinese and international brands.
• Shifair: postponing our August appointment | the 2027 Famous Furniture Fair, a better reunion | Document date: 2026-08-03; the August 2026 edition of the Famous Furniture Fair has been postponed, and the next edition is from 2027-03-16 to 20 (reposted by a third-party trade fair platform).
• OpenStreetMap / OSRM public routing service: Guangdong Modern International Exhibition Center (Houjie) to Fuhai Subdistrict, Bao'an District, Shenzhen; Dalang Town, Dongguan; and Xintang Town, Zengcheng, Guangzhou | Document date: not stated; HowBridge estimated on 2026-11-03 under free-flow traffic (the link covers the Houjie–Fuhai leg; results for all three legs are archived in the research files): Houjie to Fuhai Subdistrict about 39 km, 33 minutes; to Dalang about 41 km, 36 minutes; to Xintang about 35 km, 30 minutes; excluding traffic congestion and toll stations.
• Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance: customs import and export statistics | Document date: not stated; import source countries and weights for the 41 tariff codes (including parts) under 9401 and 9403 for ROC year 114 (2025); compiled by HowBridge from the weights of the top 20 source countries for each code.
• HowBridge shipping cost calculator (the same calculation as 0523.tw/c) | Document date: 2026-11-03; sea express costs NT$50 per unit, where the number of units is the greater of the actual weight and the volumetric weight (L×W×H cm ÷ 10,000), rounded up, plus NT$100 if the actual weight is under 10 kg; sea LCL consolidation starts from NT$25 per kg or NT$150 per LCL volume unit, with a minimum of NT$3,500 per shipment, quoted by customer service based on the goods; the Taiwan-leg Hsinchu Transport (HCT) oversize surcharge follows the rules of 2025-12-01.
• Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Commodity Labeling Act, Article 5 | Document date: 2022-05-18; the parties obliged to label are the manufacturer, commissioning manufacturer, importer or repackager, and labeling must be completed when the goods enter the market; a designer who commissions sampling and mass production from a factory in Houjie and imports and sells the goods under their own brand is the importer (or commissioning manufacturer).
• Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Commodity Labeling Act, Article 6 | Document date: 2022-05-18; required label information: product name; name, address and service phone number of the importer or repackager; country of origin; main ingredients or materials; net weight, volume, quantity or measurements; other announced items. Paragraph 2: imported goods must also show the foreign-language name of the foreign manufacturer or foreign commissioning manufacturer. There are no dedicated labeling standards for furniture, so this Act applies.
• Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Commodity Labeling Act, Article 11 | Document date: 2022-05-18; label text must be mainly in Chinese and may be supplemented with English or other foreign languages.
• Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Regulations Governing Trade between the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, Article 7 | Document date: 2024-02-19; goods from the mainland area may not be imported into the Taiwan area except in listed cases such as items announced as permitted by the competent authority; items with MW0 in the import regulations column of the commodity classification table are not permitted (e.g. Chinese fir logs, 4403.23.00.50-7).
• Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Regulations Governing Trade between the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, Article 11 | Document date: 2024-02-19; import documents for permitted mainland Chinese goods must state "Made in Mainland China" or an equivalent in a foreign language.
• Ministry of Economic Affairs (announcement Jing-Shou-Mao-Zi No. 09220021740): amended import management rules for mainland Chinese goods | Document date: 2003-07-21; official definition: MW0 in the "import regulations" column of the commodity classification table means mainland Chinese goods are not permitted, MP1 means conditionally permitted, and items with neither are permitted imports.
• International Trade Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs (Taiwan) commodity classification management system: notes on the list of conditionally permitted mainland Chinese goods (general explanation) | Document date: not stated; the explanation of the MW0 / MP1 codes in the International Trade Administration's current search system, consistent with the ROC year 92 announcement.
• Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Consumer Protection Act, Article 19 | Document date: 2015-06-17; consumers buying online (distance sales) may return goods or give written notice of cancellation within 7 days of receipt, without giving a reason and without bearing any cost.
• Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Consumer Protection Act, Article 19-2 | Document date: 2015-06-17; on written cancellation, the business must collect the goods within 15 days from the day after receiving the notice, and refund within 15 days from the day after collecting the goods or receiving the returned goods.
• Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Guidelines on Reasonable Exceptions to the Right of Withdrawal in Distance Sales, Article 2 | Document date: 2015-12-31; there are only 7 exceptions to the 7-day right of withdrawal, such as "customized performance made at the consumer's request", and the business operator must inform the consumer of them; ordinary in-stock furniture is not among the exceptions.
• Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Customs Act, Article 29 | Document date: 2022-05-11; the dutiable value is based on the transaction value, and commissions, handling fees and packing costs borne by the buyer, as well as freight and insurance to the port of import, must be included. Paragraph 3, Subparagraph 2: the value of raw materials and components that the buyer supplies to the seller free of charge or at a reduced price for use in production must be reasonably apportioned and included.
• Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Customs Act, Article 49 (Paragraphs 2 and 3) | Document date: 2022-05-11; the legal basis for the small-value duty exemption: a consignment whose dutiable value is at or below the limit announced by the Ministry of Finance is duty-free, but this does not apply to frequent importers, with what counts as frequent defined by the Ministry of Finance. Sample chairs and sample furniture are also assessed under this rule to determine whether tax is due.
• Ministry of Finance eTax portal: notes on buying foreign goods online | Document date: not stated; a dutiable value of NT$2,000 or less is exempt from customs duty, commodity tax and business tax; if the same taxpayer uses the exemption under Article 49, Paragraph 2 of the Customs Act more than 6 times within half a year, it no longer applies from the 7th time.
• International Trade Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs (Taiwan) announcement (Jing-Mao-Zi No. 11104603570): rules exempting small quantities of mainland Chinese goods from import permits | Document date: 2022-08-19; mainland Chinese industrial products not on the "List of Restricted Import Goods" (tariff Chapters 25 to 97) may be imported without an import permit and without following MXX requirements if the whole declaration's CIF value is within NT$32,000 and each item is within 24 pieces (40 kg for goods not counted by piece); items may not be split by size, specification or color; all other import regulations must still be met. MW0 Chinese fir logs and sawn wood (4403.23, 4403.24, 4407.12) fall under Chapter 44, so this allowance can apply to them; any excess reverts to not permitted.
• International Trade Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs (Taiwan) announcement (Jing-Mao-Zi No. 11550200230): items excluded from the "rules exempting small quantities of mainland Chinese goods from import permits" | Document date: 2026-03-10; the exclusion list has only 3 tariff codes: electric two-wheeler controllers 8543.70.99.50-4, electric motorcycles 8711.60.10.00-9 and electric bicycles 8711.60.20.00-7; wood and furniture are not on the exclusion list.
• Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Regulations Governing Exemption from Commodity Inspection, Article 5 | Document date: 2019-11-21; non-sale personal-use items and commercial samples may be exempted from inspection after review if the total value for the same specification and model on one declaration is US$1,000 or less, or, if it is higher, if there are no more than 2 personal-use items or no more than 5 commercial samples. This only affects items subject to inspection (such as children's chairs and cribs).
• Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Criminal Code of the Republic of China, Article 255 | Document date: 2026-07-22; anyone who, with intent to deceive others, falsely marks or otherwise misrepresents the country of origin or quality of goods is liable to imprisonment of up to one year, short-term detention or a fine of up to NT$30,000; the same applies to anyone who knowingly sells such goods, displays them for sale or imports them from abroad. (The date is that of the most recent amendment of the Criminal Code, not of this article.)
• Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Enforcement Rules of the Consumer Protection Act, Article 17 | Document date: 2015-12-31; where goods are damaged, lost or altered because of necessary inspection or for reasons not attributable to the consumer, the right of withdrawal under Article 19, Paragraph 1 of the Consumer Protection Act does not lapse.
• Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Rules of Origin for Imported Goods, Articles 5 and 7 | Document date: 2010-12-24; Article 5: where two or more countries are involved, the country of origin is the country where the last substantial transformation took place. Article 7, Paragraph 1: substantial transformation means a change in the first six digits of the tariff code, or the completion of a major manufacturing process or a value-added rate above 35%; Paragraph 3: mere sorting, grading, repackaging, packing, marking or relabeling (Subparagraph 2), or simple cutting, simple joining, fitting or assembly (Subparagraph 4), cannot be deemed substantial transformation, so knock-down furniture assembled only after arriving in Taiwan still has mainland China as its country of origin.
• Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance: rules of origin | Document date: 2023-11-15; Customs Administration explanatory page: for general goods, the country of origin is the country of the last substantial transformation, with the same definition as in the Rules of Origin for Imported Goods (page updated on 2026-10-19).
• Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance GC413 customs import tariff data (synced weekly to the HowBridge tariff database, searched on 2026-11-03): tariff codes for seats (9401) and other furniture (9403) | Document date: not stated; 9401 and 9403 have 41 tariff codes in total (including parts); apart from motor vehicle seats (9401.20.00.00-3) at 5% in column 1, all carry 0% duty in column 1; most have the import regulation C02 (some goods under the item are subject to import inspection announced by BSMI) and the special collection provision L* (Specifically Selected Goods and Services Tax, for some items); the parts codes 9401.91, 9401.99, 9403.91 and 9403.99 have no import regulations listed. Mattresses (9404.21.00.00-9) carry 6.8% in column 1 and C02.
• International Trade Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs (Taiwan) commodity classification management system: download of the list of mainland Chinese goods not permitted for import (MW0) | Document date: not stated; the list downloaded on 2026-11-03 has 2,515 entries; Chapter 94 (including 9401 and 9403) has no tariff codes at all. Chapter 44 (wood and articles of wood) has only 3 entries: Chinese fir logs 4403.23.00.50-7 and 4403.24.00.50-6, and Chinese fir lumber 4407.12.00.50-6.
• International Trade Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs (Taiwan) commodity classification management system: download of the list of conditionally permitted mainland Chinese goods (MP1) | Document date: not stated; the list downloaded on 2026-11-03 has 864 entries; Chapter 94 has no tariff codes at all; Chapter 44 has 19 entries, mostly conditionally permitted items with the condition "except those made of Chinese fir" (e.g. wooden doors and windows 4418, other articles of wood 4421.99).
• Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Commodity Labeling Act, Articles 10 and 17 | Document date: 2022-05-18; labels must be placed on the product itself, its inner or outer packaging, or its instructions; where labeling does not comply, correction is ordered within a deadline, and failure to correct by the deadline is subject to a fine of not less than NT$20,000 and not more than NT$200,000. The amended Act took effect on 2023-05-18.
• Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI): Commodity Labeling Act FAQ (labeling of goods sold online) | Document date: not stated; for goods sold online, the physical goods must still be labeled as required, and web page information cannot be used as a substitute.
• BSMI: Inspection Requirements for Children's Chairs and Stools (Order Jing-Biao-Er-Zi No. 11020005910 of ROC 110-09-14) | Document date: 2021-09-14; scope of inspection: children's chairs and stools (limited to a seat height of 38 cm or less, where the product itself is not marked as not for use by children aged 14 and under); inspection standard CNS 16045; dual track of type approval with batch-by-batch inspection or registration of product certification; in force from 2022-12-01.
• BSMI: schedule listing folding tables as commodities subject to inspection | Document date: not stated; folding tables (limited to those with vertically crossed folding supports and a working height of 60 cm or more) have been subject to inspection of imports and of products made in Taiwan under CNS 15185 since 2020-07-01, by registration of product certification; import regulation code C02, with reference tariff codes covering 9403 furniture of wood, metal, plastics, bamboo and rattan.
• BSMI: Inspection Requirements for Children's High Chairs (amended ROC 115-07-22) | Document date: 2026-07-22; children's high chairs are commodities subject to inspection, under a dual track of type approval with batch-by-batch inspection or registration of product certification; some of the amended provisions take effect on 2027-07-01.
• BSMI Hsinchu Branch: Inspection Requirements for Household Cribs and Folding Cribs | Document date: 2020-02-27; inspection standard CNS 11676 "Household cribs and folding cribs", effective 2020-03-01 (point 7 amended on 2024-02-01).
• BSMI: search for commodities subject to inspection by commodity classification item (commodity inspection application service) | Document date: not stated; searched by tariff codes 9401, 9403 and 9404 on 2026-11-03: listed items are mainly children's and infant products (children's chairs and stools, children's high chairs, household cribs, bedside cribs, booster seats, table-mounted chairs, etc.), and among adult furniture only folding tables are listed; no listing was found for ordinary adult chairs, dining tables, side tables, shelving or sofas.
• Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Specifically Selected Goods and Services Tax Act, Articles 2 and 7 | Document date: 2015-06-24; Article 2, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 6: furniture with a sales price or dutiable value of NT$500,000 or more per piece; Article 7: tax rate of 10%; on import, the tax is levied on the consignee or other liable party at the time of import.
• Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Enforcement Rules of the Specifically Selected Goods and Services Tax Act, Article 5 | Document date: 2011-05-27; "furniture" means tables, chairs, cupboards, cabinets and beds for everyday use, excluding antiquities as defined in the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act.
• Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, Ministry of Agriculture: quarantine requirements for wood packaging material (amended by announcement Nung-Shou-Fang-Zi No. 1101495349 of ROC 110-11-08) | Document date: 2021-11-08; before export, wood packaging material must be treated and stamped in accordance with International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No. 15 (ISPM 15): heat treatment (core temperature of 56°C for at least 30 minutes), methyl bromide fumigation, dielectric heating or sulfuryl fluoride fumigation; material no more than 6 mm thick, glued under high temperature and pressure, or painted is not covered.
• Laws & Regulations Database (Ministry of Agriculture): Operational Directions for Quarantine of Imported Wood Packaging Material | Document date: 2025-02-05; material without the mark required by the quarantine requirements is judged non-compliant, and may, by choice, be quarantine-treated, destroyed or returned together with the imported goods.
• Department of Consumer Protection, Executive Yuan: article-by-article explanation of the Guidelines on Reasonable Exceptions to the Right of Withdrawal in Distance Sales | Document date: not stated; examples of customized performance include goods printed from photos supplied by the consumer and seals engraved according to the consumer's instructions; where the consumer specifies or chooses from existing colors or specifications, it is not customized performance.
• Consumer Protection Committee, Executive Yuan: compilation of judgments on the 7-day right of withdrawal for online shopping (including the Chiayi District Court sofa case, ROC year 108 Chia-Hsiao-Tzu No. 521) | Document date: 2025-07-30; sofa case: the consumer chose from the colors and styles already offered on the website and made no special requests for color, length or fabric, so the sofa was not a customized product; mattress case (ROC year 114 Pei-Chien-Tzu No. 1588): choosing from standard size options is also hard to regard as customized performance.

Research literature and reports

What are common questions about the furniture designer recruitment?

Will HowBridge find a factory in Houjie for me?

Can Houjie factories take small orders?

How much tax do you pay on furniture shipped from mainland China to Taiwan?

Why design furniture to be knock-down?

Can a large sofa be shipped to Taiwan?

Can furniture with glass tabletops or ceramic countertops be shipped?

If it is made in Houjie and assembled in Taiwan, can it be labeled Made in Taiwan?

Can I make children's furniture?

Is HowBridge a customs broker?

Will HowBridge pay factories on my behalf or advance taxes for me?

When will website building and single-item fulfillment from Taoyuan be available?

What do I need to do to register?

Can I refuse returns when selling furniture online?

Further reading