Incoterms 2020 Comparison Table: All 11 Rules at a Glance

Incoterms · Comparison table · Reviewed November 14, 2026 · 9 minute read

Eleven rules, one page. This table puts every Incoterms 2020 rule side by side so a buyer or seller can see at a glance who clears export, who books the main carriage, who insures the goods, who clears import, and the exact point where risk passes from seller to buyer.

1. How to read the table

Each row is one of the eleven Incoterms 2020 rules published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Each column answers one question about the shipment. Read the row for the rule named in the contract, and the column for the duty that matters to the decision at hand. “Seller” or “Buyer” in a cell means that party must arrange that step and pay for it under the rule.

Two ideas in the table are easy to mix up. The first is cost against risk. Under CFR, CIF, CPT and CIP the seller pays for the main carriage, yet risk still passes to the buyer early: on board the vessel for CFR and CIF, and when the goods are handed to the first carrier for CPT and CIP. Paying the freight does not mean carrying the risk for the whole voyage, so the buyer still needs to think about insurance even when the seller books the ship or the flight.

The second is the insurance column. “No obligation” does not mean “no insurance needed”. It means the rule itself does not require either party to insure the goods. Either party may still insure at its own cost, and many buyers do, because under EXW, FCA, FAS, FOB, CFR, CPT, DAP, DPU and DDP the goods travel without any insurance the seller is obliged to provide. Only CIF and CIP put an insurance duty on the seller, and the two duties are different: CIF calls for Institute Cargo Clauses (C), the minimum cover, while CIP calls for Institute Cargo Clauses (A), the wider cover, for 110% of the cargo value.

The transport mode column is a hard limit, not a suggestion. FAS, FOB, CFR and CIF apply to sea and inland waterway transport only, because their risk point is tied to a vessel: alongside the ship for FAS, on board the ship for FOB, CFR and CIF. The other seven rules work with any mode of transport, including air, road, rail and multimodal shipments. A rule chosen for the wrong mode can leave the risk point unclear, which is why the mode should be settled before the rule is named in the contract.

Finally, the table shows who does what, not what it costs. Incoterms allocate delivery, risk, transport, insurance and clearance duties. They do not set the price of the goods, the payment terms, the transfer of ownership, or the remedies if a party fails to perform. Those points belong in the sales contract itself, alongside the rule, its version and the named place or port.

2. The comparison table

The table below covers all eleven rules. “Main carriage” means the transport from the country of export to the named destination. “Risk transfers” is the point where loss of or damage to the goods becomes the buyer’s problem, even if the seller is still paying for part of the journey.

3. DAP vs DDP in one paragraph

DAP and DDP look almost identical because under both rules the seller arranges export clearance and the main carriage and delivers the goods at a named destination, ready for unloading, yet they differ on exactly one column: import clearance. Under DAP the buyer clears the goods for import and pays any duty and taxes, while under DDP the seller clears the goods for import and pays the duty and taxes, so DDP gives the buyer the least work of any Incoterm. That convenience has a condition: the seller must actually be able to clear import in the destination country, which can call for local registration, a tax identifier or a licensed broker, and a seller who cannot clear import should not agree to DDP. When DDP is not workable, DAP is the usual fallback, with the buyer taking over the import step and the rest of the delivery unchanged.

4. EXW vs FCA vs FOB for China exporters

EXW is the lightest duty for a seller. The seller makes the goods available at its own premises and the buyer collects them, arranges export clearance, books the transport and clears import. For a buyer outside China that export step can be awkward, because clearing export from China generally calls for a local exporter of record or an agent, and a foreign buyer may not have one. A seller who agrees to EXW to keep the price simple can find the shipment stalled at the factory gate while the buyer arranges paperwork it cannot easily handle.

FCA is the usual answer to that problem. The seller clears the goods for export and hands them to the carrier the buyer nominates, either loaded on the buyer’s transport at the seller’s premises or placed at the carrier’s disposal at a named place. The buyer still books and pays for the main carriage and clears import, so the cost split stays close to EXW, but the export step sits with the party best placed to do it. For containerised cargo FCA also moves the risk point to the handover at the terminal, which matches how containers actually move, rather than waiting for the vessel to be loaded.

FOB is the classic sea-freight rule, and it fits where the goods genuinely travel by sea: the seller clears export and loads the goods on board the vessel at the named port of shipment, and risk passes at that same loading point. The buyer books the vessel, pays the freight and clears import. FOB works well for bulk and break-bulk cargo loaded at the port, yet it is often a poor fit for containerised cargo, because the container is handed to the carrier at a terminal well before it is loaded on board, and the risk point under FOB does not reflect that earlier handover. For container shipments out of China, FCA usually describes the real handover better than FOB, even though FOB remains the rule many buyers ask for out of habit.

The practical choice for a China exporter is therefore straightforward. Use EXW only when the buyer can genuinely handle export clearance. Use FCA as the default for containerised and multimodal shipments where the buyer books the transport. Reserve FOB for sea shipments where loading on board the vessel is the real handover point and both parties understand that risk passes there, not at the destination port.

5. How to choose a rule

Start with the mode of transport. If the goods travel by air, road or rail, or by a combination of modes, the choice is limited to EXW, FCA, CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU and DDP, because the four sea rules do not apply. If the goods travel by sea, all eleven rules are available in principle, and the choice turns on who should control the voyage and where risk should pass.

Next, ask who can clear customs at each end. Export clearance from China sits with the seller under every rule except EXW, and import clearance sits with the buyer under every rule except DDP. A buyer who cannot clear import in the destination country needs DDP or a broker arrangement agreed in advance; a seller who cannot clear export should not accept FCA, FOB or any rule that puts export on the seller. The clearance columns in the table are the fastest way to spot a rule that asks a party to do something it cannot do.

Then decide who should control the main carriage. A seller who wants to control the schedule, the carrier and the freight cost will lean towards CFR, CIF, CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU or DDP. A buyer who wants to choose the carrier and consolidate shipments from several suppliers will lean towards EXW, FCA, FAS or FOB. Control of the carriage also affects visibility: the party booking the transport is usually the party holding the booking confirmation and the tracking information.

Insurance follows the same logic. If the buyer wants the seller to insure, the choice is CIF for sea shipments or CIP for any mode, and the cover levels differ, with CIP requiring the wider Clause A cover at 110% of the cargo value. Under any other rule the buyer should arrange its own cover if it wants the goods insured in transit, because the seller has no duty to do so.

Finally, weigh how much work the buyer wants to take on. EXW asks the most of the buyer and DDP the least, with the other rules spread between them. A distributor buying in volume and running its own freight operation may prefer FCA or FOB and keep control. A buyer ordering a single shipment to a named address may prefer DAP or DDP and let the seller manage the journey. There is no single best rule; the right rule is the one that matches the transport mode, the clearance abilities of both parties and the level of control each side wants.

6. What the table does not decide

Incoterms are delivery terms, not a complete contract. They say who delivers, who carries the risk, who arranges transport and insurance, and who clears customs, but they do not say when ownership of the goods passes, how and when payment is made, what happens if the goods are late or damaged, or whether the goods meet the destination country’s product rules. Each of those points needs its own clause in the sales contract.

The contract should also name the rule precisely: the rule code, the version and the named place or port. “FOB Shanghai, Incoterms 2020” leaves little room for argument; “FOB” on its own invites a dispute about which port, which version and which obligations apply. The same applies to DAP and DDP, where the named destination decides where the seller’s delivery duty ends and the buyer’s unloading duty begins.

Where the goods are sensitive cargo, such as lithium batteries, aerosols or cosmetics, the Incoterm still does not decide whether the goods may be carried or imported. Acceptance depends on the carrier, the route and the destination rules, and that check should happen before the rule is agreed, not after the goods are packed. A rule that fits the commercial deal can still fail if the cargo itself is not accepted on the chosen transport.

Incoterms guides on this site

• DAP vs DDP for China–US Shipments
• EXW vs FOB for Shipping from China
• China–US Import Cost and Landed Cost
• LCL vs FCL Shipping from China to the US

Related guides

• Customs Clearance and Incoterms for China–US Imports: Complete Guide
• Shipping from China to the USA: Complete Guide
• Sea Freight from China: Complete Guide
• Air Freight from China: Complete Guide

Official references

• ICC: Incoterms® 2020
• U.S. CBP: Basic Importing and Exporting

For a route-specific logistics review, provide the product, origin, destination, packed dimensions, weight and ready date.