Europe looks at CE. The US looks at listing. The two compliance logics are different, and the European file generally will not carry you into the American market.
For LED luminaires, the core is UL 1598 for luminaires and UL 8750 for LED equipment, with UL 1310 for Class 2 power supplies where applicable. ETL is Intertek's equivalent; it carries the same legal weight as a UL listing, usually costs less and takes less time.
To find out whether a product is genuinely compliant, do not rely on a PDF from the factory. Look the model up in UL Product iQ or Intertek's directory. If it is there, it is listed. If it is not, it may meet the standard without being listed, and those two states are treated very differently at inspection and in insurance claims.
Commercial projects add another gate: DLC. Many US state rebate programmes require the product to appear on the DesignLights Consortium list. DLC 5.1 sets requirements on efficacy, CRI, flicker and a five-year warranty that go beyond UL. The list is public, so check the model on designlights.org rather than accepting a verbal assurance. Residential retail goes through Energy Star on a similar logic.
Then there are duties. This area moves, but it has to be in the landed cost. LED luminaires mostly fall under HTS 9405, and Section 301 adds roughly 25 percent on many Chinese-origin items. Check the current heading and rate at the time of shipment; do not quote from last year's numbers.
One more that gets skipped: UFLPA, the forced-labour prevention act. Supply chain tracing applies to aluminium and some electronic components. If the product uses extruded aluminium, ask the factory for origin and supply chain documentation.
Add these up and the same FOB price can produce landed costs 20 percent apart. So before comparing quotations, confirm both are at the same compliance level. A UL listing and meets UL standards are two different prices. A DLC listing and DLC ready are two different prices as well.
On US projects we start from the sales channel, whether specification, retail or e-commerce, and work backwards to the certification actually needed, so nobody pays for a listing they will never use.