We hear a version of this constantly from importers: "My broker filed the entry, so if something's wrong, that's on them." It's an understandable assumption — you're paying a licensed professional to handle the filing. It's also not what the statute says, and it's an expensive assumption to be wrong about.
'My Broker Filed It' Isn't a Defense
19 U.S.C. § 1484 didn't put the broker's name on this. It put yours.
Who owns the entry
My broker, since they're the one who filed it
The importer of record, always — 19 U.S.C. § 1484
What hiring a broker protects against
Everything — that's what I'm paying them for
Evidence of ordinary care, not gross negligence or fraud
If the invoice you gave them was wrong
Not my problem — they filed it, not me
Still yours — Trek Leather held an officer personally liable for bad data he gave a broker
The broker's own liability
If something's wrong, that's on them
They have a separate duty (19 U.S.C. § 1641) — it runs alongside yours, not instead of it
#CustomsCompliance #ImporterOfRecord #ReasonableCare
Where the Assumption Comes From — And Why It's Wrong
Before 1993, this belief had more going for it. The Customs Modernization Act changed that: it shifted the legal responsibility for declaring value, classification, and rate of duty onto the importer of record directly, along with an affirmative obligation to exercise "reasonable care" under 19 U.S.C. § 1484. There's no bright-line definition of reasonable care — CBP weighs it against the facts of the transaction and the size and sophistication of the importer — but the obligation itself isn't optional, and it isn't satisfied just by having someone else file the paperwork.
Consulting a customs broker does count as evidence of reasonable care. That's real, and it matters if CBP is evaluating an ordinary negligence claim under 19 U.S.C. § 1592. What consulting a broker does not do is eliminate liability for gross negligence or fraud — the statute is explicit that it won't vitiate those claims. A broker's advice can show you tried. It can't substitute for the underlying accuracy of what you gave them.
The Case That Makes This Concrete
United States v. Trek Leather is the clearest illustration on the books. In a 2014 en banc decision, the Federal Circuit held that the president and sole shareholder of an importing company was personally liable under 19 U.S.C. § 1592 — not because he filed anything with CBP himself, but because he furnished his customs broker with invoices that materially understated the value of the merchandise. The court read "introduce" in the statute broadly enough to cover the act of handing bad numbers to the person who does the filing. The broker filed exactly what he was given. He was still the one who paid.
What 'Reasonable Care' Actually Looks Like
There's no bright-line legal definition — CBP judges it against the facts, and your size and sophistication as an importer.
Verify what you hand your broker, not just what they hand back
Invoice value, product description, and country of origin all start with you — a broker can only file what you gave them.
Confirm classification against your actual product
Don't let a code carry over from a prior shipment without checking it still fits — specs and sourcing change.
Keep records showing you reviewed the entry
Reasonable care is judged after the fact — a paper trail showing you checked is the evidence, not just the broker's filing.
Document why your approach is defensible
CBP weighs the size and sophistication of the importer — a documented rationale matters more the larger your program is.
Remember a power of attorney doesn't transfer your statutory duty
It authorizes your broker to act for you — it doesn't move the reasonable-care obligation off your books.
#ReasonableCare #CustomsCompliance #ImporterOfRecord
What This Actually Changes About How You Work With a Broker
None of this is an argument against using a broker — a good one is still the fastest, most reliable path to a defensible reasonable-care record. It's an argument for treating the relationship as a partnership with a clear division of labor, not a transfer of ownership. Your broker is responsible for correctly filing what you give them and exercising their own separate duty of supervision and control under 19 U.S.C. § 1641. You're responsible for what you give them being right in the first place, and for being able to show — after the fact, if CBP ever asks — that you took that seriously.
"My broker handles that" is a description of a workflow, not a legal defense. The importer of record owns the value, the classification, and the accuracy of every document — regardless of who typed it into ACE.
How Declaro Fits
This is exactly why classification accuracy has to start before the broker ever sees a shipment, not after. Declaro's AI-assisted HTS classification is backed by 220,000+ CBP CROSS rulings, so the description and code you hand off are defensible on their own — not something you're hoping your broker catches if it's wrong.
Declaro helps importers get classification right at the source, so "reasonable care" isn't just a phrase in a compliance manual. See how it works →