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CUSTOMS BROKER EXAM PRACTICE

Released CBP exams with worked explanations, original practice questions and full open-book practice exams for the US Customs Broker License Exam (CBLE).

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© 2026 CBLE Ready. CBLE Ready is an independent study service. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or the Department of Homeland Security. Released CBP exams are reproduced as public-domain government works, with CBP cited as the source; every other question is original. Practice questions, released-exam explanations and timed mock exams only. Passing the CBLE is one step: CBP still decides every license application (19 CFR 111.12-111.16), including the background check. Not legal or compliance advice. Copying, scraping or reselling the questions is not allowed (see our Terms).

Study Notes

One note per topic: the must-know facts, the rules in plain English, worked examples and the traps that cost marks. The must-know list, the opening sections and the traps of every note are free; Premium unlocks the rest.

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Broker Licensing, Permits & Continuing Education

Broker Compliance · 4 min

15 notes, 56 min of reading. Start here and work down the list.

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Broker Compliance

2 notes

Broker Licensing, Permits & Continuing Education4 min · Who needs a license, how to get one after the CBLE, the national permit, and what keeps a license alive: the triennial status report and continuing education. Broker Compliance is 15 to 20 questions on recent exams, and these day counts are favourite targets.
Broker Duties, Supervision, Records & Penalties4 min · What a licensed broker must do day to day: supervise, keep and protect records, handle client money, advise clients, deal properly with forwarders and CBP, and what happens when it does not. Expect several Broker Compliance questions built on 19 CFR 111.21-111.42 and Part 141's power of attorney rules.

Practical Exercise

1 note

Practical Exercises: Invoices, Forms & Entry Summaries6 min · Every released exam has a block of case questions built on one exhibit: a commercial invoice, an excerpted CBP Form 7501, a CBP Form 5106 or a calendar of federal holidays. CBP warns that the documents may contain errors. You win these by checking each block or invoice line against one rule, then doing the arithmetic in order: value, classification, duty, MPF, HMF and the due date.

Special Topic (Drawback or Quota)

2 notes

Modernized Drawback3 min · Drawback refunds up to 99 percent of duties, taxes and fees when imported (or substituted) goods are exported or destroyed. This note covers the three main types under 19 CFR Part 190, the 8-digit substitution standard, time limits, notices, privileges, calculations and liability. Drawback was the special-topic category on the May 2024, October 2024 and April 2025 exams.
Quota & Tariff-Rate Quotas4 min · How quota-class goods get quota status: absolute versus tariff-rate quotas, presentation in proper form, the opening moment and proration, what to do with excess goods, export certificates and licenses, and how ACE processes quota lines. Quota replaced drawback as the special-topic category on the October 2025 and April 2026 exams.

Classification

2 notes

Classification Rules: GRIs, Notes & HTSUS Structure6 min · How the HTSUS decides a classification before you look at any goods: the six General Rules of Interpretation, the Additional U.S. Rules, section and chapter notes, the General Notes on rate columns and the customs territory, and the General Statistical Notes that build the 10-digit number. Based on the HTSUS 2026 Basic Edition, the reference for the October 2026 exam.
Classification: Goods Across the Tariff5 min · A working method for classifying real goods to the 10-digit level in the HTSUS 2026 Basic Edition, with the notes and splits that decide the recurring product families: apparel and textiles, footwear, machinery and electronics, vehicle parts, furniture, toys, food, chemicals, plastics and base metal articles.

Entry / Entry Summary

5 notes

Entry, Release & Entry Summary3 min · The life of an entry from arrival to the entry summary: deadlines, time of entry, who may make entry, informal entry limits, immediate delivery, invoices, statements, post-summary corrections and reconciliation. Entry / Entry Summary is the largest category on the exam (25 of 80 questions).
Bonds, Foreign Trade Zones & Bonded Warehouses3 min · How CBP secures the revenue and how goods wait without paying duty: bond types, amounts and liquidated damages; in-bond movements; bonded warehouses and their classes; and foreign-trade zone statuses, forms and operator duties.
Partner Agencies, IPR, Marking & Country of Origin3 min · Country of origin marking under 19 CFR Part 134, the Part 102 rules for USMCA and textile origin, trademark and copyright enforcement under Part 133, and partner-agency requirements in Part 12 such as EPA, NHTSA, FDA and cultural property.
Trade Agreements & Special Programs2 min · Claiming USMCA and other agreement benefits, MPF exemptions by program, American goods returned and assembled abroad under Chapter 98, temporary importation under bond, carnets, and the de minimis suspension of June 2026.
AD/CVD, EAPA, Liquidation, Protests & Penalties4 min · What happens after the entry summary: liquidation and its extensions, protests and the Court of International Trade, 1592 penalties and prior disclosure, petitions for relief, AD/CVD deposits and the EAPA evasion process. Most questions are deadlines and maximum amounts, so the numbers here are worth memorising.

Valuation, Appraisement and Duty Assessment

2 notes

Valuation & Appraisement3 min · Customs value under 19 CFR Part 152: transaction value first, with its five additions and its exclusions, then the fallback methods in a fixed order. Valuation is 15 questions on every released exam, and practical exercises lean on it too.
Duty Assessment, Fees & Currency3 min · How the money is worked out: ad valorem, specific and compound duty, the merchandise processing fee with its fiscal-year minimum and maximum, the harbor maintenance fee, rate columns and currency conversion. Practical exercises and valuation questions on every released exam need this arithmetic, done by hand.

Rule changes since the released exams

1 note

Rule Changes Since the Last Released Exam3 min · The released CBLEs tested 19 CFR as of 2023 or January 2024. Since then CBP has changed continuing education, copyright enforcement, EAPA procedure, USMCA container rules, refunds and the de minimis exemption. Know which version your exam's references contain: the October 2026 exam uses the 2025 annual CFR.