Customs Broker Los Angeles

No. A broker with a national permit under 19 CFR 111.19 can transact customs business at any US port, and remote location filing under 19 CFR part 143, subpart E, lets that broker transmit the entry electronically to the port where the goods arrive. What stays local is the freight: the terminal, the trucker and, if CBP orders one, the examination station. CargoTrans is headquartered in Manhasset, NY, and files Los Angeles, Long Beach and LAX entries (ports 2704 and 2720) in ACE. Remote filing requires a continuous bond, electronic invoice data and ACH payment of duties, and it cannot be combined with line release or immediate delivery (19 CFR 143.43 and 143.44), so we set up the bond and the entry type before your first shipment.

CBP treats the two seaports as one port of entry: Los Angeles/Long Beach Seaport, port code 2704, with its port office at 301 East Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach. A container discharged at any terminal in either port is entered under 2704. Air cargo is separate: Los Angeles International Airport, Cargo Operations, is port 2720, with CBP's office at 11099 South La Cienega Boulevard. Both sit under CBP's Los Angeles Field Office. We confirm the port of unlading on each bill of lading or airway bill before we file, because an entry sent to the wrong port is rejected while the general order clock keeps running.

A centralized examination station is a privately operated facility where CBP officers physically examine cargo (19 CFR 118.1). The station operator opens, unloads and reloads the shipment and bills the importer directly under a fee schedule filed with CBP (19 CFR 118.4). The importer also pays the drayage to and from the station and any storage, demurrage or per diem while the exam is pending. CBP's page for port 2704 lists three centralized examination stations: FCL Logistics, Cal Cartage and Price Wilmington. CBP chooses the station and the type of exam, not the importer. We watch the exam status in ACE, coordinate the transfer with your trucker, answer CBP from the entry documents and pass the release as soon as it posts, so the container goes back on the road without a second round of storage.

The port does not change the duty; the HTS line and the origin do. On metal furniture in 9403.20.0090, which has a free MFN rate, the additional duty today is 37.5% from China (25% Section 301 list duty plus the 12.5% forced-labor duty), 12.5% from Vietnam, 12.5% all-in from Japan and South Korea, and 10% all-in from Taiwan, where the forced-labor duty tops the MFN rate up to a cap. Auto parts on the Section 232 auto parts list pay 25%, or a 15% all-in rate for some partners, instead of the forced-labor duty. Upholstered wooden seating and kitchen cabinets carry Section 232 wood duty. We price every line before the purchase order is final.

There is no fixed clearance time; release depends on the data, the commodity and whether CBP or a partner agency selects the shipment. The deadlines around it are fixed. Ocean ISF data is due 24 hours before the cargo is loaded at the foreign port (19 CFR 149.2). Cargo that has not been entered may stay at the place of unlading until the 15th calendar day after landing, after which it can be sent to a general order warehouse (19 CFR 4.37). The entry summary and estimated duties are due within 10 working days after release (19 CFR 142.12). We pre-file the entry before arrival, so a clean shipment into Los Angeles or Long Beach can be released as soon as it is discharged, and we flag any shipment where documents arrive late.

Yes, and neither depends on the port. FDA screens regulated lines from the data filed with the entry, and since August 4, 2025, lines that miss automated release go to FDA's national ImportShield review team. CPSC targets consumer products at the border, and since July 8, 2026, importers must eFile the certificate for regulated consumer products with the entry under 16 CFR part 1110. CBP agriculture specialists enforce APHIS rules at the port, including ISPM 15 marks on wood packaging. Each of these holds is decided by the data and documents behind the entry, so we transmit the agency data with the entry and answer any request from the file.

You are, unless another party agrees to act as importer of record. The broker files on your behalf under a customs power of attorney, but liability for duty, classification and value stays with the importer of record, whichever broker transmits the entry. Our importer of record guide explains that liability and how non-resident importers handle it. Most commercial shipments need a formal entry, because goods over $250 that carry a Chapter 99 duty cannot use informal entry, which is what most San Pedro Bay containers are; our formal vs informal entry guide sets out the thresholds and the exceptions. We confirm the importer of record, the bond and the entry type at onboarding, before the first container sails.

Yes, when you want one provider. We pass the release to the trucker you use; either way the pickup is planned against the terminal's free time, because demurrage starts when free time ends, not when customs releases the box. If CBP selects the container for exam, the move to the examination station and back is part of the same plan. Delivery can go to your dock, a transload facility or a rail ramp. The release goes to you and your trucker as soon as it posts, with the entry number and any agency release the terminal needs to see.