AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 13-1041.08
Will AI replace Customs Brokers?
Customs Brokers: AI can already handle 3 of 23 tasks; the work mostly needs a standard-tier model.
Have a team in this role?
Get your free 10-role sample: send this role and up to nine others, and a founder sends a board-pack PDF within two business days.
Every task, scored
The 23 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Customs Brokers, from most to least exposed. 3 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.
| Task | AI exposure | Evidence | Model tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suggest best methods of packaging or labeling products. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Calculate duty and tariff payments owed on shipments. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Request or compile necessary import documentation, such as customs invoices, certificates of origin, and cargo-control documents. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Advise customers on import and export restrictions, tariff systems, insurance requirements, quotas, or other customs-related matters. | Observed | Standard | |
| Provide advice on transportation options, types of carriers, or shipping routes. | Observed | Standard | |
| Prepare and process import and export documentation according to customs regulations, laws, or procedures. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Clear goods through customs and to their destinations for clients. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Pay, or arrange for payment of, taxes and duties on shipments. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Classify goods according to tariff coding system. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Sign documents on behalf of clients, using powers of attorney. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Stay abreast of changes in import or export laws or regulations by reading current literature, attending meetings or conferences, or conferring with colleagues. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Post bonds for the products being imported or assist clients in obtaining bonds. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Quote duty and tax rates on goods to be imported, based on federal tariffs and excise taxes. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Arrange for transportation, warehousing, or product distribution of imported or exported products. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Monitor or trace the location of goods. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Confer with officials in various agencies to facilitate clearance of goods through customs and quarantine. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Inform importers and exporters of steps to reduce duties and taxes. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Obtain line releases for frequent shippers of low-risk commodities, high-volume entries, or multiple-container loads. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Contract with freight forwarders for destination services. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Apply for tariff concessions or for duty drawbacks and other refunds. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Insure cargo against loss, damage, or pilferage. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Prepare papers for shippers to appeal duty charges. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Maintain relationships with customs brokers in other ports to expedite clearing of cargo. | Estimated | Efficient |
Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 2 of 23 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 21 of 23. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.
The model tier this role needs
A standard-tier model or lower covers 95% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 100% of the work is something AI can address at some tier.
Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.
Wages, employment and outlook
- US employment
- 417,070
- Median annual wage
- $80,730
- Middle half of earners
- $61,280 to $109,010
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- +3.0%
Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034. BLS publishes these figures by SOC code, so O*NET occupations that share a SOC code show the same figures.
Adjacent roles
The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.
- Cargo and Freight Agents 72% skill overlap, about 10 months to move Exposure56
- Customs and Border Protection Officers 72% skill overlap, about 10 months to move Exposure34
- Freight Forwarders 69% skill overlap, about 11 months to move Exposure70
- Brokerage Clerks 63% skill overlap, about 13 months to move Exposure41
- Real Estate Brokers 62% skill overlap, about 14 months to move Exposure68
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about Customs Brokers and AI
Will AI replace Customs Brokers?
AI already handles 3 of the 23 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 38 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears. BLS projects employment to change by +3.0% from 2024 to 2034.
What is the AI exposure of Customs Brokers?
38 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 2 of the 23 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 21 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.
Which Customs Brokers tasks can AI already do?
The tasks with the highest exposure are: Suggest best methods of packaging or labeling products; Calculate duty and tariff payments owed on shipments; Request or compile necessary import documentation, such as customs invoices, certificates of origin, and cargo-control documents. They are the tasks that reach 60 or more.
What AI model tier does this role need?
A standard-tier model or lower covers 95% of the role's importance-weighted task work. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.
How many people work as Customs Brokers, and what do they earn?
417,070 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $80,730 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +3.0% from 2024 to 2034.
How to cite
Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.
JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: Customs Brokers. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/customs-brokers
Have a team in this role?
Get your free 10-role sample. Send this role and up to nine others, with no employee data, and a founder sends a PDF in board-pack format within two business days.
A founder replies within one business day.