- Julio Rodriguez US Customs Broker
- Puerto Rico
Importing to and from Puerto Rico
The island sits inside the US customs territory and runs its own tax system on top, which is why the same question gets two different answers online. We work both sides of it every day.
Shipping to Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico sits inside the United States customs territory. Freight leaving the mainland files no CBP entry and is still taxed on arrival. Freight arriving from abroad is an ordinary US importation, and then the island tax lands on top of it. Almost everything written online describes one of those two flows and calls it "Puerto Rico", which is why the same question gets you two different answers.
Read moreDuties, excise and IVU
The island's oldest question is why the same shipment gets taxed twice. The uncomfortable answer is that it is not twice, it is three separate charges, and only one of them is federal customs. A car shipped from Florida owes zero duty and still arrives with a tax bill, which is the cleanest illustration there is that no customs does not mean no tax.
Read moreThe SURI import declaration
Hacienda holds its own release on your cargo, and it holds it independently of CBP. You can be perfectly clear with customs and still not have your goods. This page covers the declaration that opens that gate, the monthly return that has moved and been renamed, and the government page that still shows the old one.
Read moreTariffs on goods in transit
Puerto Rico receives very little cargo on direct sailings, so goods bound for the island move through foreign ports on their way. When a tariff cutoff is written around the final mode of transport, that routing can make an island-bound shipment look as though it departed from Panama or Jamaica. Importers are seeing retroactive assessments on merchandise they have already sold. Here is the honest state of it.
Read moreCustoms glossary
A large share of Spanish-language customs search uses Mexican vocabulary, because that is the vocabulary the internet has the most of. Those words describe a real system, and it is not this one. If your client asks you for a pedimento for a US entry, nothing has gone wrong except the dictionary, and here is the bridge.
Read moreThe questions everyone arrives with
Is shipping to Puerto Rico domestic or international?
Both, and that is the honest answer rather than a dodge. For CBP it is domestic: Puerto Rico is inside the United States customs territory, so a shipment from the mainland files no customs entry and pays no import duty. For the Puerto Rico Treasury it is not domestic at all: the goods have to be declared to Hacienda and the local tax paid before they are released. One shipment, two authorities, and only one of them is customs.
Why do I get different answers online about whether I pay duty to Puerto Rico?
Because both answers are half of the truth and most sources only carry one half. Sites written for customs say there is no duty, which is correct. Sites written by people who have actually received freight on the island say they were billed before release, which is also correct, because what they met was the local excise and use tax, not duty. Read any answer and ask which authority it is talking about.
What is the Jones Act and does it affect my freight?
The Jones Act requires cargo moving between two points in the United States to travel on vessels that are US built, US flagged and US crewed. Puerto Rico is one of those points, so mainland to island ocean freight is Jones Act trade. For you as an importer it is rarely a decision, because it is already priced into the carriers serving the lane. It matters when somebody quotes you an unusually cheap foreign flag option for that lane, which is a reason to ask questions.
Do I need a customs broker for a mainland to Puerto Rico shipment?
Not for customs, because there is no customs entry to file. What that shipment does need is the local declaration handled correctly, and that is where people who were told they needed nothing get stuck at the pier. Freight arriving in Puerto Rico from a foreign country is a different case and does need a broker, exactly like any other US port.
Can I use my mainland customs bond for Puerto Rico?
Yes. A continuous bond is a bond for the customs territory of the United States, and Puerto Rico is inside it, so the same bond covers entries filed at San Juan as at Miami. No second bond, no endorsement. What your bond does not do is cover anything owed to Hacienda, which is not a customs obligation at all.
Who is responsible for the local tax, me or my customer?
Whoever is bringing the goods in. The party importing registers with Hacienda and files the declaration, and holding an invoice that says the buyer will handle it does not move that duty if the goods are arriving in your name. Get this settled in writing before the container sails rather than at the terminal, because it decides whose account the release waits on.