What Is a Customs Broker?

A customs broker is a licensed intermediary who does customs business with CBP for an importer. Federal regulations define customs business as transactions with CBP concerning the entry and admissibility of merchandise, its classification and valuation, the payment of duties, taxes or other charges, and the refund, rebate or drawback of those charges.

The International Trade Administration describes brokers as private individuals, partnerships, associations or corporations licensed, regulated and empowered by CBP to help importers meet federal requirements for imports into the United States. Federal law says no one may conduct customs business for others without a valid customs broker's license.

For a distributor or manufacturer that imports:

• Power of attorney. Before transacting customs business in your name, a broker must obtain a valid power of attorney.
• Your own account. An importer transacting customs business solely on its own account does not need a license, and neither do its regular employees who act only for it.
• Records. Brokers must keep the records the regulations require for at least 5 years after the date of entry.
• Duty liability. Paying a broker for duties does not relieve the importer of liability if the broker does not pay them.

This is general information, not legal or customs advice.

The International Trade Administration draws the line this way: customs brokers are licensed by CBP and assist importers in meeting federal requirements governing imports, while freight forwarders are agents for exporters that move cargo from dock to door. A forwarder's services include arranging and tracking freight and inland transportation, preparing shipping and export documents, warehousing, booking cargo space, negotiating freight charges, consolidation and cargo insurance. Most freight forwarders are also non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs), and both are licensed and regulated by the Federal Maritime Commission.

As of October 28, 2026, the customs regulations at 19 CFR 111.11 require an individual applicant to be a US citizen who is not a federal government officer or employee, to be at least 21, to be of good moral character, and to have passed the broker examination with a grade of 75 percent or higher within the 3 years before applying. A partnership qualifies when at least one partner is a broker, and an association or corporation must be empowered by its articles to transact customs business as a broker and have at least one officer who is a broker.

A distributor buys 500 cases of fittings from an overseas supplier, with an entered value of $40,000. First, it signs a power of attorney so its broker can transact customs business in its name. The broker classifies the fittings, files the entry and calculates the duty. At an illustrative 3 percent rate, that is $40,000 x 0.03 = $1,200.

The distributor writes one check to the broker for the $1,200 in duties plus the broker's fee, which the regulations allow. If the broker never passes the $1,200 to CBP, the distributor still owes it.

For products shipped across borders, Shopify says the carrier acts as a customs broker and is responsible for collecting duties and import taxes, from the seller or the customer depending on the incoterms used for the shipment.

• Brokerage and disbursement fees: carriers might charge one for clearing the shipment through customs. Shopify notes the fee is the carrier's, not a customs charge, so it isn't part of the duties and import taxes calculated at checkout. If you need to charge customers for it, Shopify suggests adding the cost to your shipping rates.
• Inbound stock: shipping costs, customs duties and other fees often aren't known when you create a purchase order. Shopify lets you add them as cost adjustments to individual shipments on the inventory transfer linked to the purchase order.

Uncap's hardwood flooring page notes that flooring imported under an APHIS-listed tariff code needs a Lacey Act declaration from the importer of record or their customs broker, naming the genus and species of the wood and the country where it was harvested. On the storefront, imported lines carry species and country of harvest as product attributes, configured during implementation.

• Importer of record
• Customs bond
• HTS code
• Commercial invoice
• Landed cost

• eCFR: 19 CFR Part 111, Customs Brokers
• International Trade Administration: Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders
• LII: 19 U.S. Code 1641, Customs brokers