Customs Broker New York

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 New York/Newark and JFK entries (ports 4601 and 4701) 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 lists the seaport as New York/Newark, New Jersey, port code 4601, with its port office at 1210 Corbin Street in Elizabeth. JFK International Airport is a separate port, code 4701, with CBP's cargo office in Building 77 at the airport. A container that discharges at Elizabeth, Port Newark, Bayonne or Staten Island is entered under 4601, and air cargo landing at JFK is entered under 4701. An in-bond move to another port changes where the goods are entered, which also changes where an exam would take place. We confirm the port of unlading on every bill of lading before we file, because an entry transmitted to the wrong port is rejected and the general order clock keeps running.

CBP decides the type of exam. A non-intrusive scan can be done at the terminal, while a physical exam usually means the container is moved to a centralized examination station. 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 CBP does not publish exam rates by port, so we do not quote averages; we see the exam status in ACE, arrange the move with your trucker, answer CBP questions from the entry documents and pass the release as soon as it posts.

Yes. FDA screens regulated lines from the data filed with the entry, and since August 4, 2025, lines that miss automated release are reviewed by FDA's national ImportShield team rather than a port office, so complete FDA data matters more than location. CBP's page for port 4601 lists a dedicated contact for FDA cargo refusals. Agriculture inspections at the port are carried out by CBP agriculture specialists, who enforce APHIS rules such as the ISPM 15 treatment and marking of wood packaging under 7 CFR 319.40-3; noncompliant packaging is usually ordered re-exported. We transmit the FDA, APHIS and Lacey Act data with the entry and answer any hold from the documents already in the file.

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 Newark, Elizabeth or JFK can be released as soon as it is discharged, and we flag any shipment where documents arrive late.

The port does not change the duty; the HTS line and the country of origin do. Furniture was the largest import at the Port of New York and New Jersey in 2024, and China, India, Vietnam and Italy were its top origins. 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 (9903.05.84), 10% from India (9903.05.44) and 10% all-in from Italy, where the EU rate is topped up to 10% including MFN. Upholstered wooden seating and kitchen cabinets follow Section 232 instead. Our China to US tariff calculator and India to US tariff calculator show the stack for any line.

For an ocean entry we need the commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading, plus the ISF elements: seller, buyer, importer of record number, consignee, manufacturer, ship-to party, country of origin and HTS number before loading, and container stuffing location and consolidator no later than 24 hours before arrival. You sign a customs power of attorney, and the importer of record needs a continuous bond for remote filing. Then come the agency data for your products: FDA product codes, Lacey Act species data for wood, TSCA certification for chemicals and composite wood, CPSC certificates where they apply. Air entries into JFK use the airway bill in place of the bill of lading and skip the ISF. We send each supplier a checklist built from its own SKUs, so documents arrive before the vessel does.

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 warehouse or a rail ramp. What we do not do is leave the release sitting in ACE: the status goes to you and your trucker as soon as it posts, with the entry number and any agency release that the terminal needs to see.