Customs Broker License Exam's Questions Ambiguous, Lacking Info, Complaint Alleges

A New York resident brought a complaint to the Court of International Trade Nov. 21 saying that several questions on CBP’s customs broker exam were unfairly ambiguous, conflicting or lacking essential information, resulting in his failure to pass it (Shuangyang Li v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CIT # 24-00205).

Shuangyang Li filed the complaint after he received a 73.75% score on the Customs Broker License Exam, a few percentage points short of a passing 75% grade. He initially scored a 70%, but the number was raised after an appeal.

Li targeted a couple of particular questions in his complaint. One, he said, had “multiple plausible correct answers due to ambiguities in customs marketing regulations under 19 CFR Part 134.” He said that two other answer choices also made sense, “creating an unfair situation for examinees.”

For example, he said, the federal regulation gives importers 30 days after a redelivery notice “to comply with marking requirements or face liquidated damages.”

“The conditional language in 134.54(a) makes it unclear whether the 30-day period is absolute or subject to exceptions based on discretion,” he said.

Another question asked for the greatest possible penalty payment in a particular situation involving general order, non-permitted merchandise for which entry notification hasn’t been made past the deadline. Li said that the penalty would depend on the value of the merchandise, which hadn’t been provided by the question.

“Without knowing the value of the goods, examinees cannot determine whether the penalty cap applies at $1,000 or at a lower amount, depending on the merchandise’s value,” he said.