The Court of International in a July 7 opinion upheld CBP's decision to deny Shuzhen Zhong a customs broker's license. Zhong, appearing pro se and seeking to get to a passing grade of 75% or higher on a customs broker license exam, appealed the answers to two questions. Judge Jane Restani ruled that CBP's decision to deny credit for both questions was backed by substantial evidence.
Licensed Customs Broker
Customs brokers are entities who assist importers in meeting federal requirements governing imports into the United States. Brokers can be private individuals, partnerships, associations or corporations licensed, regulated and empowered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Customs brokers oversee transactions related to customs entry and admissibility of merchandise, product classification, customs valuation, payment of duties, taxes, or other charges such as refunds, rebates, and duty drawbacks. To obtain a customs broker license, an individual must pass the U.S. Customs Broker License Exam. Customs brokers are not government employees and should not be confused with CBP officials. There are approximately 11,000 active licensed customs brokers in the United States.
The Court of International in a July 7 opinion upheld CBP's decision to deny Shuzhen Zhong, an individual who took the customs broker license exam, a customs broker's license. Zhong, appearing pro se, had appealed two questions on her test to get to a passing grade of 75% or higher. Looking at CBP's defense of the answers to those questions, Judge Jane Restani ruled that CBP's decision to deny credit for both questions was backed by substantial evidence.
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CBP reasonably denied customs broker test taker Shuzhen Zhong credit for two questions on the customs broker license exam, the U.S. argued in a June 17 reply brief at the Court of International Trade. In the brief, DOJ discussed the two questions at issue, defending CBP's rulings on the classification of glazed ceramic mosaic cubes and how to obtain relief from CBP's detention of a shipment of 1,000 handbags bearing a mark that copies but is not identical to a registered and recorded mark (Shuzhen Zhong v. United States, CIT #22-00041).
Trade Law Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. All articles can be found by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Court of International Trade in a June 6 opinion dismissed test taker Byungmin Chae's lawsuit contesting five questions on the customs broker license exam. Judge Timothy Reif said CBP was right to dismiss Chae's appeal of four of the questions but that the agency wrongly denied the test taker's appeal for the fifth question. The reversal of one question wasn't enough to for a passing grade for Chae, who was two questions shy of the 75% threshold needed to pass the test.
The Court of International Trade in a June 6 opinion dismissed customs broker license exam test taker Byungmin Chae's case contesting five questions on his broker exam. Judge Timothy Reif said that CBP was right to dismiss Chae's appeal for four of the contested questions but that the agency was wrong to dismiss the fifth appeal. However, the court's move to grant credit on this one question was not enough to get Chae over the 75% threshold needed to pass the test.
The submission or completion of CBP and Department of Defense forms related to imports of household goods and personal effects constitutes "customs business" and requires any third-party filers to be licensed customs brokers, the agency said in September ruling that was recently released. The ruling came in response to an internal CBP information request from the Port of Baltimore on the requirements for the submission of CBP forms 3461, 7501, 3299, and DOD Form 1252.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated March 23 with the following headquarters rulings (ruling revocations and modifications will be detailed elsewhere in a separate article as they are announced in the Customs Bulletin):
The Court of International Trade should not permit the U.S. to add an entire customs broker license exam to the record of a case contesting the results of one individual's exam results, counsel for Byungmin Chae argued in a March 7 reply brief. There are no "extraordinary reasons" that warrant the inclusion of the entire 80-question exam, as only five questions are being contested, Chae said (Byungmin Chae v. Secretary of The Treasury, CIT #20-00316).