Will AI replace Customs Brokers?
AI reaches most of this job’s work.
60/100
Very high exposure
More exposed to AI than 92% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 17% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 90% of the work
What the job involves
Prepare customs documentation and ensure that shipments meet all applicable laws to facilitate the import and export of goods. Determine and track duties and taxes payable and process payments on behalf of client. Sign documents under a power of attorney. Represent clients in meetings with customs officials and apply for duty refunds and tariff reclassifications. Coordinate transportation and storage of imported goods.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Already happening(4)
- Prepare and process import and export documentation according to customs regulations, laws, or procedures.
- Stay abreast of changes in import or export laws or regulations by reading current literature, attending meetings or conferences, or conferring with colleagues.
- Monitor or trace the location of goods.
- Provide advice on transportation options, types of carriers, or shipping routes.
Within reach(16)
- Classify goods according to tariff coding system.
- Confer with officials in various agencies to facilitate clearance of goods through customs and quarantine.
- Request or compile necessary import documentation, such as customs invoices, certificates of origin, and cargo-control documents.
- Advise customers on import and export restrictions, tariff systems, insurance requirements, quotas, or other customs-related matters.
- Pay, or arrange for payment of, taxes and duties on shipments.
and 11 more
Out of reach(3)
- Sign documents on behalf of clients, using powers of attorney.
- Contract with freight forwarders for destination services.
- Maintain relationships with customs brokers in other ports to expedite clearing of cargo.
Also called
LCB (Licensed Customs Broker) · LCB · Import Coordinator · Broker · CCS (Certified Customs Specialist) · Corporate Licensed Broker · LCB (Licensed Custom Broker) · Air Export Agent
Related jobs
What these numbers mean
The score is the share of this job’s work, weighted by how important and frequent each task is, that AI could do in half the time: tasks an AI model could do alone count in full, tasks that need software built on AI count half.
“AI already used” is the share of the work in tasks where people are recorded using AI today. “As AI tools mature” counts every task AI could halve, with or without extra software.
The percentile compares the score with every job’s, weighted by how many people in the US do each one. Exposure means AI could change how the work is done, not that the job goes away. These are estimates for the typical job, not predictions.
Sources
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs (task labels), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), OpenAI and University of Pennsylvania
- Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (task penetration), Anthropic
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national and metropolitan areas), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics