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Customs and Border Protection: tariffs at the border
Customs 1789; CBP 2003· Institution or agency
Fact, law or dataA rule, statute, definition or measured number.
The federal agency that inspects goods and travelers at US borders and collects tariffs, the government's oldest source of revenue.
See it on the Money & Finance map →How it works
Congress set up customs collectors in July 1789, weeks after passing its first tariff, and duties were the main federal revenue for most of the 1800s. In 2003 the Customs Service merged with immigration and agriculture inspectors and the Border Patrol to form CBP, part of Homeland Security. The importer of record, usually a US company, pays the duty when goods enter, based on the product's tariff code, value and country of origin. The $800 duty-free allowance for small parcels ended in August 2025.
Why it matters
Customs is where tariff policy turns into cash: duties collected jumped from about $77 billion in fiscal 2024 to about $195 billion in fiscal 2025.
Think of it like
Like a toll plaza at the loading dock: every shipment is checked against its paperwork, and the importer pays the toll.
Facts, rules and data
The Tariff Act and customs collection act of 1789; the Homeland Security Act of 2002; Treasury's Monthly Treasury Statements report customs receipts; CBP publishes trade and seizure statistics.
Debates and risks
Who really bears tariffs (importers, consumers or foreign exporters) varies by product; studies of the 2018–19 and 2025 tariffs found US buyers paid most, but the shares are debated.
Connections (2)
▸US tariff surge of 2025–26 and the IEEPA ruling were collected at the border by Customs and Border Protection: tariffs at the borderFact, law or data
The connection
Every new tariff order became a line in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule that CBP applies at entry. Importers' customs brokers filed entries, and CBP assessed and collected the higher duties, checked claims about where goods came from to stop transshipment, and enforced the end of the $800 duty-free allowance for small parcels.
When and why
US ports, airports and mail facilities from February 2025, when new duties on Chinese goods took effect, and from April 2025, when a 10% baseline tariff reached nearly all imports.
How we know
Treasury's Monthly Treasury Statements report customs receipts; CBP's cargo system messages implemented each tariff change; the February 2026 Supreme Court ruling addressed the IEEPA duties.
Debates and risks
How refunds of the IEEPA tariffs struck down in 2026 will be handled, and how much evasion through mislabeled origins occurs, remain open.
▸Customs and Border Protection: tariffs at the border seizes smuggled cash linked to Money laundering: making dirty money look cleanFact, law or data
The connection
Cartels and launderers move bulk cash across borders and disguise transfers through trade by over- or under-invoicing goods. Carrying over $10,000 across the border is legal but must be declared to CBP; hiding it is the crime of bulk cash smuggling. CBP seizes undeclared cash and inspects shipments for trade-based laundering.
When and why
Mainly at the US–Mexico border and major ports and airports; bulk cash smuggling became a federal crime in 2001 under the USA PATRIOT Act.
How we know
CBP seizure statistics; the FinCEN Form 105 currency declaration rule; GAO reports on trade-based laundering and joint cases with Homeland Security Investigations.
Debates and risks
How much laundering moves through trade invoices is unknown; estimates vary widely, and most falsified invoices are never detected.