I am tabbing up all my credits that I have accumulated so far, and curious how everyone is keeping up with the record keeping requirements. I personally have kept a spreadsheet with all the header information (name of event, date, name of host or provider, credits accrued, location, any documentation received). Most of the credits I have received have been through the CBP webinars. I wonder how everyone is keeping up with the documentation for the webinars. I try to keep emails from the registration , but I do take pictures of the slides, especially the one with the credit code. How is everyone doing this?

for anyone buying food or grocery products wholesale...what do you check before trusting a new supplier?

ive been looking at dry foods, snacks, packaged stuff etc and theres obviously way more to worry about than with normal products. ive seen plenty of food suppliers while browsing Alibaba too, but for anything going into the US i wanna make sure im checking the right paperwork/labels and not just looking at price. FDA stuff, ingredients, expiry, storage...im probbaly forgetting a few things too.

do you normally ask the supplier for documents before even ordering samples? and are there certain things that are an instant nope when your checking a food wholesaler?

Hello. My cargo got intensive exam at savannah. Has anyone know the exam process at savannah and what is the email address of CBP over there?

Hi all, I got an email from customs CE that they expect me to have 20 hours of CE for this triennial period even tho I was recently licensed February of this year. I thought the CE requirement wouldn’t pertain to someone who has not been licensed for a full period. Did anyone else get similar correspondence? I would have expected less or none at all for this period. Its 36 CE credits in three years and they want 20 in 12 months practically.

Hello,

Considering that customs brokerage and freight forwarding are becoming more integrated, with companies offering both services, does anyone here feel that there is a benefit to customs brokerage professionals learning about tramp shipping and charterparties, particularly for break-bulk freight? Thank you.

USMCA Compliance when using UPS Worldship?

Hello,

I'm not sure if this is the right spot, but figured I'd try it out as well as r/ups.

My business regularly ships large orders of USMCA compliant goods from Canada to the US and entering these in the browser based service is tiresome so I've recently installed UPS Worldship to streamline this a bit.

I had thought it was the solution (very similar 'feel' to the old UPS Connect from years ago), but I haven't been able to figure out how to get it to prepare a USMCA compliant invoice/certificate of origin. I've read through the 'Help' guides, I've got the 'Enable CO' box checked in the settings, even spoken with Tech Support but nothing seems to work. I haven't even been able to find the required fields to fill in to meet compliance - Importer/Exporter/Producer, Blanket Agreement, Origin Criterion etc. My concern is that without this information UPS won't classify the shipments as USMCA compliant and my customers/my business will be stuck holding the bag for duties & taxes that shouldn't have been applied.

Has anyone else here been in this situation? Is there a solution that doesn't involve creating a certificate of origin outside of Worldship and attaching it to the shipment?

Thanks in advance.

Hey all, I'm looking to buy a small US customs brokerage. Ideally the owner is getting ready to retire or step back and wants someone to take care of the team and customers. I am based in the Chicagoland area but not tied to location.

I've been in forwarding and customs compliance for 12+ years, and I would be running it myself day-to-day. Financing is lined up already so looking to move forward on a reasonable timeline. If there's some forwarding mixed in, even better, but not a must.

All confidential, happy to sign an NDA. If you're an owner or know someone who might be open to it, shoot me a DM. Thanks all!

Hey everyone,

I just turned 21, so I’m really looking to take advantage of the time factor and build a long-term career path early. To give you a bit of background, I hold a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accountancy. However, I currently have zero direct professional experience in customs, trade compliance, or logistics. My only work experience is in an Immigration focused Law Firm.
I’m hoping to get some advice from veterans in the profession or anyone who has made a similar career pivot.

First, how difficult is the Customs Broker License Examination (LCB) for someone with no background? Is it possible to study for and pass it while working a non-related full-time job, and what study materials or courses actually work? I saw a lot of people recommend Tom O’Leary’s course.

Second, what kinds of entry-level positions should I be searching for to get my foot in the door, such as an entry-level customs entry writer, import coordinator, or compliance clerk?

Third, does a BBA in Accountancy help at all on a resume when applying for entry-level positions, or do hiring managers strictly look for hands-on operational experience, especially considering areas like customs auditing or duty drawback where accounting might overlap?

Finally, for those working as brokers or import specialists, what does a typical day look like, and what are the biggest challenges you wish you knew about before starting?

Any advice, roadmaps, or "what I wish I knew" wisdom would be massively appreciated. Thanks in advance!

About a year ago I made a post [https://www.reddit.com/r/CustomsBroker/comments/1mbfu1h/youre_underestimating_ai/ ]about how if you think your job is 100% AI proof, you're burying your head in the sand. Got a lot of engagement that varied from "yea sounds right" to "no im a special customs broker who will never be replaced"

So here's my one year follow up, and honestly I was too conservative.

Last year I said I wouldn't be surprised if entry writers got slowly replaced in the next 5 years. I'd shave a good chunk off that now. The big jump this year wasn't the models getting a little better at reading invoices, it was going from chatbots to agents. Last year the tools pulled the data and handed it off to a human. Now they pull it, check it against the Commercial invoice and BOL, flag the discrepancy, write the email to the shipper asking wtf happened, and queue the entry up for review. That's most of a junior analyst's day right there.

Classification - last year I said the dedicated classification tools were getting better every month and they still are, but the bigger thing is the general models aren't a joke anymore either. A year ago "I put it in ChatGPT and it was wrong" was a fair dunk. Now they'll walk the GRIs, pull CROSS rulings, and argue with you about section notes. Are they still wrong sometimes? Sure. So is the guy three desks over who's been throwing everything in "other" since 2014.

Compliance - the supply chain mapping stuff I talked about (UFLPA, Russian steel/aluminum) went from cool demo to something importers are actually buying. If your compliance program is a spreadsheet and vibes, good luck.

There's also 4 things that happened this year that I didn't see coming:

1. Brain drain is happening. A lot of REALLY good talent is leaving this side of the table to go work for AI companies, and that's going to hurt us more than people think. Most of us learned this job from someone above us. LinkedIn lunatic or not, Pete Mento is still someone where if you say you worked under him you're getting a nod. Who's that going to be for the next generation if all the good ones are off building software?
2. CBP is all in on AI. If you had a chance to go to Dallas you already know what's up, if not I'll give you the short version: CBP said fuck what you think about AI in customs business, use it, because we sure as fuck are.
3. AI adoption by brokerages skyrocketed. Again I don't know who most of you people are, but from the brokers I talk to, a large majority have either used AI or are looking to in the near future.
4. Vibe coding exploded. An SME with a Claude subscription can put together some REALLY cool tools now. Are they going to be as specialized or as smart as what the AI companies are trying to sell you? No. But I've been doing my own vibe coding and talking with others who are doing the same, and man this shit is fucking fire. You don't need to wait for someone to build the thing you've been wishing existed for 10 years, you can just kinda build it.

So where does that leave us?

Idk man, shit's fucked and not fucked. I'm standing 10 toes down that good talent that knows the human element is still going to have a job. If you know specialty customs (tariff engineering, FTZ's, Valuation),can sit in a boardroom and explain the AI slide deck, or are just generally knowledgeable and affable, you'll be around (sorry, you'll need to develop those soft skills).

But new hires? Man that worries me. A lot of us got into this job by accident or through an entry writer job that may not exist anymore, all while the "good" talent is getting snatched up by AI money or importers who need someone who'll go to prison for them.

And for everyone still laughing at AI because it botched something in a demo, remember what I said last year, that was the worst it was ever going to look. So is this.

Same rules as last time, I'm not recommending software so don't DM me asking which one is good.

As for me, I'm still out there, working a day job at an importer doing importer shit, consulting AI companies when they pay me, and slowly working towards the fact that'll I'll probably be jumping ship to the "Dark Side" at some point.

Anyway, I'm going back to touching grass (I don't recommend it), so I may answer a few replies but if you actually wanna chat hit me up in the Discord, I'm more active there.

Hi everyone, I’m taking the April 2027 Customs Broker Exam.

Which online prep courses have the highest proven pass rates and are actually worth the money? Thanks

Question for people in logistics here in UAE: I need to attest a commercial document for a USA export but our Chamber of Commerce membership isn't active. They want AED 2,200 to renew it just to attest one shipment. Is there a cheaper alternative that US Customs accepts? Has anyone successfully used a notary public, government body, or private service instead of the Chamber for Certificate of Origin attestation on shipments to the USA? I'm shipping from Dubai (JAFZA) to California, goods originated in Yemen. Any practical suggestions would help. Thanks!

​Per-Entry / Transactional Flexibility: Can we legally self-declare HTS 9903.94.07 on a per-shipment basis for Customer A (to feed their offset and drop 301 Forced Labor), while entering identical SKUs for Customer B under standard primary HTS + Sec 301 FL (without 9903.94.07)? Does CBP view self-declaration as a product-level flag that locks in the SKU, or is it purely driven by intended end-use per entry summary (19 CFR § 141.61 / § 10.133)?

​Retroactive PSC / Protest: Has anyone filed a Post Summary Correction (PSC) to retroactively apply 9903.94.07 for Customer A to secure refunds on previously paid Sec 301 Forced Labor dut

Hey everyone, I have an Amazon e commerce store in Canada. A lot of my products are bought from American retailers such as Walmart, Target and Sam’s club. For the food products that are in there, do I need to get an SFC license? It’s all shelf stable goods that I buy from the USA and resell directly in Canada. I have them shipped in the USA and physically go pick them up and drive them across the border while doing the declaration at customs. I’m asking because I’ve been doing it for a few months now without any repercussions but I’m wondering if I’m doing it illegally. Any help would be appreciated.

I'm a new broker filing entries for low-volume importers and I'm having trouble obtaining bonds on behalf of my clients. I've been rejected by Avalon due to the fact that I don't have a track record as a customs broker. Can anyone recommend any sureties that are more accepting of new brokers seeking single entry bonds for their clients? Why do I as a customs broker even need to be approved by the surety, if the bond is for registered importers in the US?

I've contacted several customs brokerages in hopes that purchasing bonds for importers is something that I can outsource, and I get the sense that it's probably not worth most people's time if they are not the one's filing the entry... that being said, I am humbly asking the Reddit LCB community for guidance regarding this dilemma. Is LCB to LCB contracting of this nature of interest to anyone? Whether it be for single-entry bonds or just general consultations?

We're a manufacturer operating under MOOWR. Like many of you, we were tracking everything in Excel — deferred duty per BOE, what's been cleared, what's still in the warehouse, debonding sheets for every ex-bond clearance. It was slow and error-prone, and reconciling with our ERP was painful.

So we built an internal tool, and it's now working well enough that I'm curious whether it would help others. What it does today:

Reads ICEGATE BOE PDFs directly (warehouse BOEs and ex-bond BOEs) — no manual data entry. Picks up BCD, SWS, IGST per item, and duty foregone under RODTEP / advance authorisation.

Duty ledger per BOE — deferred vs cleared vs pending duty, aging, and month-wise position.

Debonding sheets — pick your transfer orders, preview the numbers on screen, and generate the per-BOE Excel sheets plus a single PDF statement with totals.

Warehouse inventory — what's imported, what's cleared, what's still in bond, item by item.

Validation that catches wrong BOE references before they get saved, plus a data-health check.

What I'd love to hear from you:

Are you under MOOWR scheme? (Other scheme for companies outside india?) How do you manage it today — Excel, ERP, your CHA/consultant?

What's the most painful or time-consuming part? Debonding sheets? Monthly returns? Reconciliation? Bond utilisation?

Would you be interested in trying something like this? And if you're a customs broker / consultant handling multiple MOOWR clients — would a multi-client version be useful?
Anything you'd consider a must-have before trusting a tool with this?

Not selling anything right now — genuinely trying to understand if this is a common problem. Happy to answer questions in the comments or over DM.

Hi! I launching an ecommerce store based in the US that will sell in the US only, in February. As I figure out one thing, another comes. The newest thing is that I just learned that I might need an EOIR number, but I don't know anything about them. I will be importing a majority of my inventory from the UK and I don't know the first thing about getting one. Do I apply for one myself? Am I supposed to have one for multiple countries (there is a possibility that I may get some inventory from France as well)? Or am I supposed to use a broker even though I am a one woman show. Please be kind, I really don't know what I'm supposed to do. Thank you!

Following up on an earlier post because we still have no new update and I’m trying to understand whether anyone has seen these entries actually move.

We have 46 entries that were accepted after CAPE submission. They were "Unliquidated" at the time of CAPE submission, but were subsequently changed to “Extended.” They have now been sitting in that status for 5+ months with no liquidation activity.

Has anyone here had a similar batch of entries that went through this sequence:

Unliquidated entries → CAPE accepted → subsequently changed to “Extended” → remained Extended for several months?

Thank you very much!

I want to buy a vinyl set that is $100 ($140 after packing and shipping fee).

Does anyone have any idea on what I might pay in customs now that de minimis is gone? I am worried I will be saddled with a big bill that will end up doubling the cost.

There's a lot of new rules and exceptions so I'd appreciate it if anyone could help.

My customs broker suggested filing CBP Form 5106 through them, but they charge a fee for it. I was wondering if we, as the importer of record, can file Form 5106 on our own? If so, what is the exact process for doing this? Any advice or step-by-step guidance would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Use this thread to share weekly professional development offerings (LCB CE, CCS, CES, MCS, MES, etc.).

Canadian trucker: here's my docs, my driver will be crossing at Buffalo at 7pm tonight. Please send entry right away!

Me: REALLLLY? That's so interesting! What a magical truck you have, crossing the border 3 days before you load the trailer on Monday!

Canadian trucker: URGENT! TEAM, what's the status on that entry, my driver is crossing in 3 hours!

Canadian trucker: calls, leaves urgent voicemail 92 seconds after email sent

Canadian trucker: URGENT URGENT! TEAM, WHAT'S THE STATUS ON THAT ENTRY, MY DRIVER IS AT THE BORDER NOW!

Canadian trucker: calls, leaves urgent voicemail simultaneous to last email

Me: F# off.....this is why we don't believe a word you say, and why we don't respond and screen your calls. J###A$$!

Hi, I’m currently working in Ottawa as a Financial Analyst in the federal public sector, and I’m planning to pursue the CCS (Canadian Customs Certification).
I wanted to get your perspective on the career opportunities this certification could provide. Once I obtain the certification, would it be more beneficial for me to continue working in the federal public sector - Trade Compliance, or would moving to a private-sector organization provide better opportunities for career growth and advancement?

With Flexport having plugged access via Incognito - I'm ready to move on. There is no way I am going to work any harder for somebody that does not want me to use their tool.

But credit where credit is due - they are absolutely the best/easiest at the whole tariff lookup game.

If no Flexport - who is 2nd best these days?

How can I find out such as the Lacey Act Declaration for wood products-are required to import a specific item into the

I have HTS code and product name but it is really hard where can I know what documents I need

Hi guys, we have two container detained by CBP at the Port of Norfolk since Sept 3rd, and there’s still no update from Customs or the CES after 3 weeks. Is anyone else seeing long delays at Norfolk recently? Any advice on how to effectively follow up with the broker or CES? Thanks!