U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the federal agency responsible for enforcing customs, trade, immigration, and agricultural laws at U.S. borders. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., CBP operates under the Department of Homeland Security — it was created in 2003, when the legacy U.S. Customs Service was reorganized into DHS following the 9/11 attacks.
CBP employs roughly 60,000 personnel and operates at 328 official ports of entry — including airports, seaports, and land border crossings. It processes approximately $3.5 trillion in annual trade and collects more than $90 billion in duties, taxes, and fees each year, making it the second-largest revenue-collecting agency in the federal government after the IRS.
CBP's trade-side responsibilities include:
- Entry processing — Reviewing every entry summary filed through ACE and ABI
- Classification and valuation — Ruling on the correct HTS code and customs value of imported goods
- Trade remedy enforcement — Collecting Section 301, Section 232, and antidumping duties
- Forced labor enforcement — Detaining goods suspected of UFLPA violations
- Rulings and protests — Issuing binding rulings and adjudicating protests
CBP is led by a Commissioner appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Trade policy is set jointly with USTR and the Department of Commerce.