The first question we get from a brand owner outside the United States is rarely about the product. It is some version of: do we have to set up an American company before we can sell there? Underneath it sits the real worry: a US company sounds like a second business to run in a country whose rules they do not know.
The short answer from the brands we bring in: you do not need a US company to sell in the United States. You need someone in the United States who is responsible for the goods: the party named on the customs entry and the party that holds the seller account. That can be you, through a company you form, or a US buyer who purchases your inventory and takes those roles on its own account. Both are normal. The mistake is treating the first as the only door. And when a US company is the right move, forming one is smaller than it looks from abroad. The large part is running an American operation, and that is a separate decision from whether a company exists.
Two ways in
We wrote up the full set of routes, including the agency option, in how overseas brands sell on Amazon USA. For the company question, two of them matter, and the difference is who holds responsibility.
Sell to a US company that imports and sells. You invoice a wholesale order from your own entity at home. The buyer brings the goods in as importer of record, holds the seller account, carries the inventory, and handles returns and sales tax in its own name. Your side ends at the invoice, the same as any export sale you already make. You form nothing and you file nothing in the United States.
Form your own US entity and operate. You register a company, obtain a federal tax number, import under your own name, and run sales yourself or through people you hire. You keep the retail margin and full control, and everything that comes with being the responsible party in a country you are not in.
What a US LLC really asks of a foreign owner
If the second route fits, here is the list. Every item on it is a known procedure.
Formation. A US LLC is formed by filing formation documents with a single state. There is no federal registration of the company itself, and a non US individual or a foreign company can own it outright. Which state to choose is a real question, and Vestriva, a company in our group that handles formation and compliance for foreign owners, compares the usual candidates in Delaware vs Wyoming vs Nevada.
A registered agent. Every state requires the company to name an agent with a physical address in that state to receive official mail and legal notices. For an owner abroad this is a service you appoint, not a person you relocate.
An EIN. The federal tax number is issued to the company, not the owner, and you do not need a Social Security Number to get one. Without one the online tool is closed to you, so the application goes by fax, phone, or mail. Vestriva's guide to getting an EIN without an SSN walks through the form line by line. Everything after it waits on this number.
A bank account. Banking follows the EIN, not the other way around. Providers that open accounts remotely for foreign owners want the stamped formation documents, the EIN confirmation, and identity documents for the owners, in that order. Declines are usually about sequencing and addresses rather than the owner, which Vestriva covers in why US bank applications get declined.
Annual state upkeep. States keep the company in good standing through a recurring report or fee. The form and amount depend on the state you chose, which is one reason the state choice matters more than the formation fee.
Form 5472. This is the item that catches foreign owners because nobody tells them. A US single member LLC owned by a non US person is disregarded for income tax, which people correctly hear as "no corporate tax return." It is not disregarded for information reporting. Such an LLC files Form 5472 attached to a pro forma Form 1120 each year to report transactions with its foreign owner, and the IRS penalty for missing it is $25,000 per form under the current instructions. The filing is routine disclosure. The only problem is not knowing it exists. Vestriva's Form 5472 guide covers who must file, what a reportable transaction is, and the deadline.
That is the list. Formation, an agent, a tax number, a bank account, a state renewal, and one federal information return. None of it requires you to be in the country. All of it is work a compliance provider does on a fixed calendar, which is what Vestriva is set up to do. We name them because they are part of our group, and we would rather say so than link to them as if they were a stranger.
What the company does not do for you
A US company gives you a legal person in the United States. It does not give you an operation.
The company does not clear customs. Someone still files the entry, posts a bond, and answers for the classification. It does not hold inventory, open the seller account, write the listings, run the advertising, answer customer messages, or process returns. It does not satisfy whatever your category requires from the manufacturer or brand owner, which for food, supplements, and cosmetics has nothing to do with the LLC and everything to do with whether the shipment is allowed in.
Every one of those jobs still needs a person or a partner. When a brand tells us it has been "setting up the US" for a long time and is not yet selling, the entity was usually done early and the rest of the time went into the operation it was supposed to serve. That is why we call the company the small part. Do it properly, and do not expect it to decide whether you succeed.
What changed with de minimis
There used to be a third way in that avoided the question entirely: ship individual parcels to American customers under the $800 de minimis threshold and never make a formal customs entry. That route is closed.
The exemption was removed for goods from China and Hong Kong on 2 May 2025 and suspended for every country of origin on 29 August 2025. In June 2026 US Customs and Border Protection made the suspension indefinite by regulation, and the statutory repeal takes effect on 1 July 2027. Low value parcels now face a customs entry and applicable duties like any other shipment.
For the company question the consequence is simple. There is no longer a way to test the US market without a responsible party in the country. Either you become that party through your own entity, or a US buyer becomes it for you.
Where Karimex sits in each route
Karimex is a Nevada company and a subsidiary of Karimer LLC. We buy inventory from brands at wholesale and run their US presence as the authorized seller. That places us differently in the two routes.
If you sell to us, we are the US company in the first route. You invoice Karimex from your entity at home, and from the moment title passes the customs entry, the seller account, the working capital and the returns are ours to carry. You never form anything. The split of what sits with us and what stays with you is on our US market entry page, and the mechanics of the partnership are on how it works.
If you form your own entity, the arrangement still works. A brand may want to hold its US trademark in that name, or keep other US channels for itself. In that case we buy from your US entity rather than your home company, and the operating side is the same. What we say early is that forming a company to sell through us is unnecessary. We do not need you to have one, and we will not suggest it to create work for a company in our group.
The decision to make first is not "entity or no entity." It is "who will carry the US operation." If you will carry it, form the company and do it properly. If you are testing whether Americans want the product at all, a first wholesale order answers that without a company, and nothing stops you forming one later.
The honest summary
Forming a US company is a bounded piece of administration. Anyone telling you it is a mountain is either selling the climb or has not done it.
Running a US operation is the large piece, and it exists whether or not you form anything. Either you build it, or you sell to someone who already has one. What we push back on is the idea that the company is the barrier. Treating it as the gate keeps good products out of a market that would have bought them.
If you want to see what selling to a US buyer looks like for your catalog, that is the conversation we usually start with. If you would rather build, Vestriva can take the formation and the filings off your desk. Either way, the answer to the question in the title is: only if you want to, and if you do, it is smaller than it looks.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a US company to sell my products in the United States?
No. You need a party in the United States responsible for the goods: the importer of record on the customs entry and the seller of record on the marketplace. That can be your own US entity, or a US buyer that purchases your inventory and takes those roles on its own account. Selling wholesale to a US company requires no entity or US filing on your side.
Can a foreign owner form a US LLC without visiting the United States?
Yes. Formation is a state filing, the registered agent is a service you appoint with an address in that state, and the EIN is obtained by fax, phone, or mail without a Social Security Number. None of the steps require you to be physically present.
What annual filings does a foreign owned single member LLC have?
There are two. The state keeps the company in good standing through a recurring report or fee that depends on the state chosen. Federally, a single member LLC owned by a non US person files Form 5472 attached to a pro forma Form 1120 each year to report transactions with its owner, and the IRS penalty for missing it is $25,000 per form under the current instructions.
Does forming a US company let me ship parcels without customs entries?
No. The $800 de minimis exemption is suspended for all countries of origin, the suspension was made indefinite by regulation in June 2026, and the statutory repeal takes effect on 1 July 2027. A US company changes who the importer is, not whether an entry is needed.