Houston
A customs broker for Port Houston
America's top port for foreign waterborne tonnage (220.1 million short tons in 2024) moved about 4.3 million TEU through its container terminals in 2025. Borderless clears entries here under a national permit (CBP filer code NQR): flat published pricing, ISF filed before loading, and classification work built for Houston's unusually mixed trade lanes.
At this port
Filing Houston entries through Borderless
Built for Houston's mixed trade lanes
Far Asia, Europe, and India in one book means varied classification, origin, and trade-program work. That's our core service, priced flat: 5 HTS lines per entry included on every plan.
Tariff-era classification, done carefully
Houston's steel imports fell 18% under 2026 tariffs while machinery and consumer goods keep growing. When duty layers stack this deep, the classification and origin call is where the money is.
0% duty-disbursement
Most brokers charge 2–5% of the duty bill to advance it. We set up direct ACH payment to CBP free, which matters double at today's tariff levels.
Ready before the weekday gates open
Houston's container gates run Monday to Friday. We file ISF before loading and have entries ready at arrival so your drayage isn't burning the short week on customs.
The port
What actually moves through Houston
Two names, one place, and the distinction matters: "Port Houston" is the authority's eight public terminals, including the Bayport and Barbours Cut container terminals; the "Port of Houston" is the whole 52-mile Ship Channel complex of 200-plus private facilities beside them. The container side summed to about 4.3 million TEU in 2025 (per the port's published monthly volumes), and the port describes itself as the nation's fifth-largest container port and the largest on the Gulf.
The import mix is what makes Houston entry work distinctive. Per the port's PIERS-based 2025 estimates, Far Asia is 54% of import TEU, but Europe and the Mediterranean run 21% and India/Middle East nearly 12%, far heavier than a West Coast book. Top import commodities: machinery and electronics (17%), retail consumer goods (14%), hardware and construction materials (13%), furniture (11%), and food and drink (11%), which is why FDA filings are routine work for Houston importers. The export side is the Gulf signature: resins and plastics alone are 45% of container exports, with chemicals another 19%.
The sourcing shift is measurable here too: China's share of Houston's import TEU fell from 34.3% in 2024 to 29.9% in 2025, while Vietnam grew about 25% and India 19%. Practically, that means more first-time origin and trade-program questions per entry, exactly the work a broker should be doing proactively rather than fixing after a CBP notice. And 2026's tariff era shows up in the tonnage: the region's steel imports were down 18% year-to-date through July while general cargo rose 35%.
Operating picture
What Houston looks like operationally
Two container terminals carry the load: Bayport (314 acres of container yard, five berths, opened 2007) and Barbours Cut (300 acres, six berths, 29 truck gates), with 27 neo-Panamax ship-to-shore cranes and 116 rubber-tired gantries between them. The other six public terminals form what the port calls North America's largest breakbulk, steel, and project-cargo complex: grain, heavy lift, wind components.
The operational facts that shape an import week: truckers need a mandatory Express Pass appointment (booked through the port's Lynx portal) before touching the container terminals, and container gates run Monday through Friday with no weekend gates, so a Friday-evening release waits for Monday unless an extended gate is requested. The port publishes daily empty-container and chassis acceptance restrictions, and its own service target is trucks served in 60 minutes or less. The bottleneck the port's leadership talks about isn't berths or cranes; it's the roads. The CEO told the Texas legislature in August 2026 that port-adjacent roadway investment "hasn't kept pace with the cargo growth and has become a critical choke point."
Worth knowing for planning: Houston's ship channel is being deepened to 46.5 feet and widened to 700 feet under Project 11 (Port Houston is the project's non-federal sponsor), the Barbours Cut North Terminal Expansion entered the federal FAST-41 permitting program in August 2026, and Crowley announced a new weekly Gulf-Central America container service beginning September 10, 2026. Gate hours and appointment rules change; confirm current schedules with the terminal before dispatching.
Questions
Filing into Houston: common questions
Do I need a Houston-based customs broker to clear at Port Houston?
No. Entries are filed electronically in CBP's ACE system, and a broker with a national permit files at any U.S. port. Borderless clears Houston shipments remotely under filer code NQR, at the same flat published rates as everywhere else.
What's different about importing through Houston versus the West Coast?
Three things show up in the entry work. The trade mix: Houston's import book runs about 54% Far Asia but 21% Europe/Mediterranean and 12% India/Middle East (2025, per the port's PIERS-based estimates), so European and Indian-origin classification work is routine here. The clock: container terminal gates run weekdays only, which compresses pickup windows around weekends and holidays. And the calendar: Houston's volume peaks in spring and midsummer rather than the West Coast's August-October peak.
When is Port Houston busiest?
Spring and midsummer. In 2025 the heaviest month was July, and in 2026 the peak so far was May; the quiet months cluster in winter. The port itself noted 2026 growth moderated after importers frontloaded cargo earlier in the year ahead of tariff changes. Filing ISF before loading and having the entry ready at arrival matters most in those peak windows.
Figures from Port Houston's published statistics and August 2026 releases, verified August 30, 2026. The port labels its monthly TEU series unaudited and its lane/country/commodity splits as PIERS-based estimates; year labels matter. Borderless files at every U.S. port under a national permit and keeps no Houston office; seeport coverage,LA / Long Beach andNew York / New Jersey.
Importing through Houston?
Flat published rates, classification built for mixed trade lanes, and entries ready before the weekday gates open. Tell us about your shipments.