H350722

H350722 January 16, 2026 OT:RR:CTF:EPDR H350722 SAB CATEGORY: Entry Judy Staudt, Acting Center Director Automotive and Aerospace Center of Excellence and Expertise 477 Michigan Avenue, Suite 200 Detroit, MI 48226 ATTN: Margaret Hernandez, Supervisory Entry Officer RE: Online platform; conducting customs business without a license. Dear Acting Center Director: This is in reference to your request for internal advice, dated July 23, 2025, regarding [***] (hereinafter “Unlicensed Company”) operating an online platform, without an organizational license or national permit, that is marketing various services for potential importers. You inquired whether the Unlicensed Company is conducting customs business without a license, or otherwise violating an applicable regulatory requirement. Our decision follows. You have requested that the identity of this unlicensed entity be treated as confidential. Inasmuch as this request conforms to the requirements of 19 C.F.R. § 177.2(b)(7), the request for confidentiality is approved. The information contained within brackets, and all attachments contained in your request, will not be released to the public and will be withheld from the published version of this ruling. FACTS: The Unlicensed Company is a foreign entity operating an online platform that provides various services to potential importers for a fee. The three principal services provided are: connecting importers to brokers for purposes of making entry; utilizing an optical character recognition (OCR) tool to cull entry data from shipping documents; and, deriving Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheading suggestions for specific articles via an artificial intelligence (AI) classification tool. Additionally, although this service is not specifically marketed online, the Unlicensed Company has certified and submitted U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Form 5106 on behalf of new importers. The Automotive and Aerospace Center of Excellence and Expertise (Center) describes these four services as detailed below. First, in order to connect importers to brokers for purposes of making entry, the Unlicensed Company engages third-party brokers who are not employees of the company. Once an importer has uploaded shipping documents to the online platform, and provided entry data for the shipment, the Unlicensed Company requires the importer to execute a power of attorney (POA). The POA authorizes a third-party broker to make entry on behalf of the importer. After the importer executes the POA, they upload it to the online platform and the broker is then able to view all the documents and data provided by the importer. The importer and broker are able to communicate with each other through a chat system embedded into the online platform. The Center did not specify how such a third-party broker is paid to make entry for an importer, nor how clients of the Unlicensed Company are billed for this service. Second, irrespective of whether an importer engages a third-party broker to make entry through the Unlicensed Company’s online platform, importers may utilize an OCR tool to cull entry data from shipping documents. The OCR tool scans the uploaded documents and identifies information that will be utilized to make entry, and can pre-fill the data into an entry document. Third, irrespective of whether an importer engages a third-party broker to make entry through the Unlicensed Company’s online platform, importers may utilize an AI classification tool to derive HTSUS subheading suggestions for specific articles. To utilize this tool, an importer will input information regarding an article into the online platform, such as: product name; material; and end-use. In response, the tool generates “tiered” classification suggestions that identify applicable subheadings. The number of potential subheading suggestions is tied to the specificity and sufficiency of the information input into the tool, such that an importer may be prompted to select an applicable HTSUS subchapter, heading, and eventually subheading, until potentially a single classification suggestion remains. The Unlicensed Company has appended the subheadings derived by its AI classification tool with a disclaimer stating: [P]lease be advised that the system you are using is a beta phased system which operates based on artificial intelligence. The HTS classification results suggested by the system are merely an estimation produced by the system based on the information you have provided and are intended to serve merely as a guideline to assist you in understanding what your possible final HTS classification may be. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, you hereby fully acknowledge and agree that the final HTS classification to which you shall be legally obligated, as shall actually be determined by the Customs [sic] at its sole discretion, may differ from the HTS classification suggested by the [AI tool]. Fourth, to enable new importers to make entry, the Unlicensed Company has certified and submitted CBP Form 5106 on their behalf. The Center notes that CBP has received a CBP Form 5106 from the Unlicensed Company for several importers. Based on the above four services that the Unlicensed Company provides to potential importers, your office is concerned that the company may be impermissibly conducting customs business. Your office sought internal advice to determine whether these services may be 2 provided by a company that is not licensed to conduct customs business, and whether these services may otherwise violate a requirement under Part 111 of CBP Regulations. ISSUE: Whether the Unlicensed Company is impermissibly conducting customs business, or otherwise violating a requirement under Part 111 of CBP Regulations. LAW AND ANALYSIS: Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1641(b)(1), no person may conduct customs business on behalf of another unless the person holds a valid customs broker’s license. See also 19 C.F.R. §§ 111.2(a)(1); 111.2(a)(2)(i). A broker may not allow an unlicensed third party to conduct customs business on its behalf. 19 C.F.R. § 111.37. The term “customs business” is defined as: [A]ctivities involving transactions with U.S. Customs and Border Protection concerning the entry and admissibility of merchandise, its classification and valuation, the payment of duties, taxes, or other charges assessed or collected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection upon merchandise by reason of its importation, or the refund, rebate, or drawback thereof. It also includes the preparation of documents or forms in any format and the electronic transmission of documents, invoices, bills, or parts thereof, intended to be filed with U.S. Customs and Border Protection in furtherance of such activities, whether or not signed or filed by the preparer, or activities relating to such preparation, but does not include the mere electronic transmission of data received for transmission to Customs. 19 U.S.C. § 1641(a)(2); 19 C.F.R. § 111.1. The U.S. Court of International Trade has emphasized that the definition of “customs business” is “very broad.” Delgado v. United States, 581 F. Supp. 2d 1326, 1331 (Ct. Int’l Trade 2008). Activities constituting customs business encompass not just the transmission of electronic documents, or parts of such documents, intended to be filed with CBP, but also activities “in furtherance of” such transmissions, and “relating to” preparing such documents for transmission to CBP. Id.; 19 U.S.C. § 1641(a)(2). To determine whether any of the activities conducted by the Unlicensed Company fall within the statutory definition of “customs business,” we must examine each in turn. (1) Connecting importers to brokers for purposes of making entry. The Unlicensed Company enables importers to make entry by connecting them with a third-party broker through its online platform. In order to make entry, an importer uploads shipping documents and inputs entry data into the platform, then executes a 

Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1641(b)(1), no person may conduct customs business on behalf of another unless the person holds a valid customs broker’s license. See also 19 C.F.R. §§ 111.2(a)(1); 111.2(a)(2)(i). A broker may not allow an unlicensed third party to conduct customs business on its behalf. 19 C.F.R. § 111.37. The term “customs business” is defined as: [A]ctivities involving transactions with U.S. Customs and Border Protection concerning the entry and admissibility of merchandise, its classification and valuation, the payment of duties, taxes, or other charges assessed or collected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection upon merchandise by reason of its importation, or the refund, rebate, or drawback thereof. It also includes the preparation of documents or forms in any format and the electronic transmission of documents, invoices, bills, or parts thereof, intended to be filed with U.S. Customs and Border Protection in furtherance of such activities, whether or not signed or filed by the preparer, or activities relating to such preparation, but does not include the mere electronic transmission of data received for transmission to Customs. 19 U.S.C. § 1641(a)(2); 19 C.F.R. § 111.1. The U.S. Court of International Trade has emphasized that the definition of “customs business” is “very broad.” Delgado v. United States, 581 F. Supp. 2d 1326, 1331 (Ct. Int’l Trade 2008). Activities constituting customs business encompass not just the transmission of electronic documents, or parts of such documents, intended to be filed with CBP, but also activities “in furtherance of” such transmissions, and “relating to” preparing such documents for transmission to CBP. Id.; 19 U.S.C. § 1641(a)(2). To determine whether any of the activities conducted by the Unlicensed Company fall within the statutory definition of “customs business,” we must examine each in turn. (1) Connecting importers to brokers for purposes of making entry. The Unlicensed Company enables importers to make entry