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The Incoterms 2020 Cheat Sheet
Eleven three-letter terms decide who arranges the freight, who pays for it, and where your risk ends. This one-page, print-ready reference distils our Incoterms guide into the full table, the two mental models that make it scannable, and the one trap to avoid.
What's inside
1
All eleven terms, in their two families
- Any mode of transport: EXW, FCA, CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU, DDP
- Sea & inland waterway only: FAS, FOB, CFR, CIF
- One line each: where the seller’s responsibility ends and risk passes
2
The E / F / C / D letter logic
- E — seller does the least; buyer collects at origin
- F — buyer arranges the main carriage; risk passes at origin
- C — seller pays the main carriage, but risk still passes at origin (the trap)
- D — seller delivers to destination; risk passes there
3
Who pays ≠ who’s at risk
- The C-term cost / risk split that catches importers out
- CIF = minimum cover (Clauses C) vs CIP = all-risk (Clauses A) since 2020
- Every term needs a named place — “FCA Shenzhen”, “DDP Houston”
A working aid, not the full ICC text — Incoterms® is a registered trademark of the International Chamber of Commerce. Want the reasoning behind each term? Read the fullIncoterms 2020 guide.
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