Customs glossary

What do U.S. customs terms mean?

51 terms that importers meet on entries, invoices and CBP notices, explained in plain English by a licensed customs broker.

Entry and clearance

ABI (Automated Broker Interface): ABI (Automated Broker Interface) is the electronic link that brokers and importers use to send entry data to CBP and get replies from ACE.
ACE (Automated Commercial Environment): ACE (Automated Commercial Environment) is CBP's electronic system for imports and exports. Brokers, importers and federal agencies use it to exchange trade data.
Cargo Release: Cargo release is the entry data that a filer sends to CBP to get imported goods released. It is the electronic equivalent of CBP Form 3461.
Customs Broker: A customs broker is a person or company licensed by CBP to transact customs business for others, for example to file entries and pay duties.
Customs Entry: A customs entry is the data or the documents that an importer files with CBP to get imported goods released. The word also means the act of filing them.
Entry Type 01: Entry type 01 is CBP's code for a formal consumption entry of goods that are free of duty or dutiable.
Entry Type 11: Entry type 11 is CBP's code for an informal entry of free or dutiable goods, generally for shipments of $2,500 or less.
Filer Code: A filer code is the three-character code that CBP assigns to a customs broker or a self-filing importer. Every entry number of that filer starts with it.
Formal Entry: A formal entry is the full customs entry, with a customs bond and an entry summary. Shipments over $2,500, and some goods at any value, need one.
Importer of Record (IOR): The importer of record (IOR) is the party responsible for an entry. It pays the duties and answers to CBP for compliance with the import rules.
Informal Entry: An informal entry is a simpler customs entry for eligible shipments of $2,500 or less. CBP can still require a formal entry for any shipment.
Ultimate Consignee: The ultimate consignee is the U.S. party that buys the imported goods or, for a consigned shipment, receives them.

Duties, tariffs and fees

AD/CVD (Antidumping and Countervailing Duties): Antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) are extra duties on a product from a named country that is sold at an unfairly low price or subsidized.
Chapter 99: Chapter 99 of the HTSUS lists temporary and additional duties, such as Section 232 and 301 duties. Its numbers go on the entry next to the regular HTSUS number.
Duty Drawback: Duty drawback refunds up to 99 percent of the duties, taxes and fees paid on imported goods that are later exported or destroyed.
Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF): The harbor maintenance fee (HMF) is 0.125 percent of the value of commercial cargo that a vessel loads or unloads at a covered U.S. port.
HTS (Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States): The Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) classifies imported goods with 10-digit numbers and sets their duty rates.
IEEPA Duties: IEEPA duties were 2025 tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. In February 2026 the Supreme Court held that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs.
Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF): The merchandise processing fee (MPF) is a CBP fee on imports. On a formal entry it is 0.3464 percent of the value, with a minimum and a maximum.
Section 122 (Temporary Import Surcharge): Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 allows a temporary import surcharge of up to 15 percent. It can last 150 days unless Congress extends it.
Section 232: Section 232 duties are tariffs on imports that threaten to impair U.S. national security. The President imposes them after a Commerce Department investigation.
Section 301: Section 301 duties are tariffs that the U.S. Trade Representative imposes on products of a country whose acts, policies or practices it finds actionable.
Tariff Classification: Tariff classification is the process that assigns an imported product to its 10-digit HTSUS number. The number sets the duty rate and other requirements.

Value and origin

Country of Origin: The country of origin is the country where an article was manufactured, produced or grown. It decides the duty rate, the additional duties and the marking.
Transaction Value: Transaction value is the price paid or payable for goods sold for export to the United States, plus some additions. It is the main basis of customs value.

Customs bonds

Continuous Bond: A continuous bond is a customs bond that covers all of one importer's entries for a one-year period. It renews automatically each year until it is terminated.
Customs Bond: A customs bond is a surety's guarantee to CBP that the importer will pay duties, taxes and fees and obey the import rules.
Single Transaction Bond (STB): A single transaction bond (STB) is a customs bond that covers one entry or one activity, not all entries of a year.
Temporary Importation Under Bond (TIB): Temporary importation under bond (TIB) lets eligible goods enter without duty if the importer exports or destroys them in time, generally within one year.

Mail and e-commerce

CBP Form 3509: CBP Form 3509 is the Notice to Addressee of Arrival of Mail Shipment. CBP sends it when a mail parcel needs a formal entry or documents about its value.
De Minimis (Section 321): De minimis was the duty-free exemption for shipments of $800 or less under 19 U.S.C. 1321. Its suspension for all countries started on August 29, 2025.
Entry Type 13: Entry type 13, Informal Mail Entry, is a voluntary CBP test in ACE since September 22, 2026 for mail shipments of $2,500 or less.
Entry Type 86: Entry type 86 was an ACE test entry for Section 321 low-value shipments. CBP stopped it when the de minimis suspension started on August 29, 2025.
International Mail Facility (IMF): An international mail facility (IMF) is a place where CBP examines international mail before the U.S. Postal Service delivers it.

Documents and forms

CBP Form 5106: CBP Form 5106, the Create/Update Importer Identity Form, gives CBP the name, address and ID number of an importer or an ultimate consignee.
Entry Summary (CBP Form 7501): The entry summary, CBP Form 7501, reports the classification, value, origin, duties and fees of a formal entry. The estimated duties are deposited with it.
Power of Attorney (Customs POA): A customs power of attorney (POA) authorizes a licensed customs broker to transact customs business for an importer. CBP Form 5291 can be used for it.

Other agencies

FDA Prior Notice: FDA prior notice is advance information about imported food that the Food and Drug Administration must confirm before the food arrives in the United States.
Partner Government Agency (PGA): A partner government agency (PGA) is a federal agency other than CBP that regulates some imports, for example FDA or USDA. Its data goes to ACE with the entry.

Compliance after entry

Liquidation: Liquidation is CBP's final computation of the duties on an entry. CBP normally liquidates an entry about 314 days after the date of entry.
Post-Summary Correction (PSC): A post-summary correction (PSC) is an electronic correction of an entry summary in ACE, filed after the summary and before liquidation.
Prior Disclosure: A prior disclosure is a voluntary report to CBP of a customs violation, made before CBP starts a formal investigation. It lowers the maximum penalty.
Protest: A protest is the administrative challenge to a CBP decision, for example a liquidation. It must be filed within 180 days after the decision.
Reasonable Care: Reasonable care is the legal standard that the importer of record must meet to enter, classify and value imported goods correctly (19 U.S.C. 1484).
Recordkeeping: Recordkeeping is the duty to keep import records for CBP. Most records must be kept for 5 years from the date of entry.
UFLPA (Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act): The UFLPA presumes that goods made in Xinjiang, China, or by listed entities, use forced labor. They cannot be imported unless the importer rebuts the presumption.

Transport and cargo

Air Waybill: An air waybill is the transport document for air cargo. Its 11-digit number identifies the shipment to the carrier and to CBP.
Bill of Lading: A bill of lading is the transport document that a carrier issues for cargo. It names the shipper and the consignee and describes the goods.
General Order (GO): General order is the status of imported goods that no one enters in time. CBP places them in a general order warehouse at the risk and expense of the consignee.
In-Bond: An in-bond movement lets imported goods travel under bond from the port of arrival to another port for entry or export, before duty payment.
ISF (Importer Security Filing, 10+2): The Importer Security Filing (ISF, or 10+2) is advance data for ocean cargo. It is due at least 24 hours before loading at the foreign port.

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