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View Full Version : Ask a customs broker anything


Tradd
5-29-23, 12:07pm
I had fun with this on FB and another board I’m a member of. I’m a licensed customs broker and clear imported goods through US Customs for companies and individuals.

Got any questions you’ve wondered about for imports?
littlebittybobby
5-29-23, 12:47pm
Okay---When place an order for some small, hard-to-find part on EBay, and it is shipped from China, how much time does it add to the shipment, to go through customs? What about Canada or the UK?
catherine
5-30-23, 2:48pm
How much time does the customs process add to the shipping schedule?
Tradd
5-30-23, 3:00pm
How much time does the customs process add to the shipping schedule?

Once I submit the entry electronically, it’s usually cleared within a few minutes. However, certain commodities such as food, pesticides, etc., are subject to additional govt agency oversight, and those will take longer. Depends on if an exam is required upon arrival.
catherine
5-30-23, 3:28pm
What was the most complex customs experience you had to handle?
bae
5-30-23, 3:46pm
What are the top-3 high-level things you'd change about the process?
Tradd
5-30-23, 3:58pm
What was the most complex customs experience you had to handle?

Fresh mangoes. The inspection coordination on air frt to get it done soon enough so the fruit doesn’t spoil - oy veh!
Tradd
5-30-23, 4:06pm
What are the top-3 high-level things you'd change about the process?

1. Make all the CBP port contact info on their port page on CBP website exactly the same. Some just have phone numbers. Others have all the dept emails. Others just have a main number. CBP rarely answers the phone these days, in my experience, so you need to contact them via email.

2. All port of entry procedures standardized for each port. Some want documents a certain way. Others refuse to answer emails if they’re not formatted just so (I’m serious).

3. CBP needs to have procedures documented where you can find the info. Trying to find stuff is awful.
littlebittybobby
5-30-23, 11:26pm
Okay-----Tradd, have you ever gotten a large, suspicious-looking shipment of boxes of chocolates from Switzerland or wherever, and had to open up a box and pass it around the office to your colleagues, just to make sure it wasn't contraband? Just Curious.