@sammy004,
Hi, there are several different kinds of shipping terms, some which are more favorable to manufacturers some that are more favorable to buyers.
Commonly, you will buy FOB (freight on board) and this means the seller is only responsible until the merchandise is on the ship. After that, it's your responsibility.
There are other shipping terms, such as DDP (delivered duty paid) which puts all the risk on the manufacturer. They are very likely to balk for this reason (assuming the risk is not attractive to anyone) and raise the prices to reflect the risk, but those are options you can use to reduce your import risks.
Here is more info on different shipping terms:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incoterms