US Responds to NJ Man's Challenge to Customs Broker Exam
Responding July 18 to New Jersey resident Brandon Chen’s challenge of 11 questions on the April 2022 Customs Brokers License Exam (see 2411270026), the U.S. said CBP was right to determine Chen failed to achieve a passing 75% score (Brandon Chen v. United States, CIT # 24-00208).
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Chen challenged questions 14, 29, 36, 38, 39, 42, 44, 54, 63 and 78, but those questions were neither misleading nor incorrect, the government said. CBP decided to give credit to Chen for the 11th challenged question, Question 46.
Question 14 asked for the maximum possible fine when goods landed at a port of entry haven’t been entered within 15 days or adequate notice provided within 20 days, which is $1,000. Chen argued that the question was phrased incorrectly because it implied that the penalty was mandatory, not discretionary. But the question “closely tracks the language of section 123.10(a)” and even describes the answer as the maximum penalty that “can” be assessed, also implying that the fine is discretionary, the government said.
Chen made a similar argument for question 54, regarding trademark recordation requirements; but in that one, too, the question’s language mirrored the regulation, the U.S. said.
Question 29 asked for the type of entry required for goods from space -- none, as entry isn’t required. Chen also argued that Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 9808 described entry as duty-free, not unnecessary altogether, but that is clarified in Note 1, the government said. It also disagreed that this question would be confusing for test-takers aware that the Apollo 11 astronauts had to make a customs entry after returning from the moon, saying that the question asked about HTS Chapter 98, Note 1, not “a historical NASA document.”
Question 36 asked test-takers to identify which bond condition out of all the answer choices wasn’t required in a basic importation and entry bond. The question prompt was only one-sentence long, it said, and the incorrect answer choices reflected the language of the regulation, so the question wasn’t too long or unwieldy.
Questions 38, 39, 42 and 44 asked test-takers to classify a crossword puzzle book (subheading 9503.00.0090), a children’s detangling hairbrush (subheading 9603.29.8010), glass jars containing fish pieces in oil (subheading 1604.14.1091) and a high-definition LCD camera (subheading 8525.80.4000), respectively. For all of them, Chen misinterpreted the plain language of the correct chapter headings or subheadings, the government said.
Question 63 asked for the presentation date, “for non-opening moment quota purposes,” of an entry whose summary was filed after hours. Chen argued that the question needed to clarify that CBP’s headquarters hadn’t authorized overtime, but questions don’t need to “explicitly state that no possible exception or special rule will apply,” the U.S. said.
Question 78 asked when a broker can bill a freight forwarder for duties without sending the importer a copy of the bill -- when the importer waived its right to copies of the broker’s charges. Chen was wrong that brokers can’t bill freight forwarders for duties, having mixed up brokers’ bills with the official bill for duties CBP issues to importers, the government said.