Customs Brokers
Business and Financial Operations
Prepares the import and export paperwork that lets goods move through customs, then follows each shipment until it reaches its destination. Duties and tariffs are calculated from the tariff coding system, and taxes are paid or arranged on the client's behalf, often under a power of attorney. Typical documents include customs invoices, certificates of origin, and cargo-control forms. The work also covers meetings with customs officials, applications for duty refunds or tariff reclassifications, and keeping up with changes in the rules. Precise classification, dense paperwork, and keeping current on trade-rule changes are what the work asks for.
Typical education: High School Diploma or GED
Annual Median Wage in Field (2025)
$80'730
Median Wage Market Position
$80'730
What you might do
- Prepare import and export customs documents
- Clear client shipments through customs
- Calculate duties and taxes owed on shipments
- Classify goods using the tariff coding system
- Collect invoices and certificates of origin
- Sign papers for clients under power of attorney
Skills that matter
- Preparing import and export documentation
- Classifying goods by tariff coding system
- Calculating duties and taxes on shipments
- Clearing goods through customs for clients
- Representing clients with customs officials
- Reading new import and export rules
AI & the future of this role
Classification, duty calculation, and shipment paperwork are already highly digital and may automate further as trade systems improve. Client representation in disputes still needs judgment, but volume documentation work looks especially vulnerable.
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Includes O*NET® 30.3 Database information by USDOL/ETA under CC BY 4.0; modified by LostInCareer. Wage/outlook from BLS. Attribution details