Cura Resource Group forwards freight to and from Puerto Rico and operates a warehouse at Ave Jose Tony Santana, Bestthree Building C-8, Carolina, PR 00979. It is our only site outside the mainland.
The thing most shippers get wrong about Puerto Rico is this: there is no customs duty on goods moving from the mainland, but you must still file Electronic Export Information. Those two facts sit together uncomfortably and they catch people out constantly.
This page explains the rules, then covers what we do on the island.
Is Shipping to Puerto Rico Domestic or International?
Domestic for duty, but not for paperwork — which is why the question generates so much confusion. Puerto Rico sits inside the United States customs territory, so your goods are not imported and pay no duty, yet the federal government still requires an export filing that state-to-state shipments never need.
Get that distinction right and shipments move. Get it wrong and they sit.
No customs duty from the mainland
Puerto Rico is part of the US customs territory as a matter of federal regulation. 19 CFR 101.1 defines the customs territory of the United States as including only the states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
That is what separates Puerto Rico from every other Caribbean option. The US Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa all sit outside the customs territory. Puerto Rico does not, so a shipment from a mainland warehouse is not an import and is not charged duty.
For a business that would otherwise clear goods into a foreign country to serve the Caribbean, that removes both a cost and a delay.
But you still file Electronic Export Information
This is the part most providers never mention. The US Census Bureau is explicit: “You do not have to file EEI when sending products state to state but you do when shipping from the United States to Puerto Rico — and vice versa.”
The reason is statistical rather than fiscal. The Census Bureau’s Economic Directorate collects data on US–Puerto Rico shipments through the Automated Export System, and the same source confirms that both Census and CBP nonetheless classify U.S.-Puerto Rico shipments as domestic.
What that means on a loading dock
Filing generates an Internal Transaction Number, and per the US Census Bureau that ITN “must be on commercial loading documents so that CBP can verify a shipment was filed in the AES.”
So the practical sequence is: file first, get the ITN, put it on the paperwork, then ship. A shipment that arrives at the dock without one is a shipment that waits. It is a documentation step rather than a tax, but it is not optional and it is not something to discover on the day.
Freight Forwarding to and from Puerto Rico
We arrange the movement of your goods between the mainland and the island and handle the documentation that goes with it. Our freight forwarding service manages the process from booking through to delivery, coordinating carriers rather than leaving you to broker each leg yourself.
Where Puerto Rico differs from a mainland lane is the paperwork rather than the transport. The routing is ordinary; the filing requirements are not, and they are where shipments actually go wrong.
Related documentation work sits with our trade compliance and customs compliance teams, and if you are classifying goods yourself our HS code lookup tool is free to use.
3PL Warehousing in Puerto Rico
Our Carolina site receives inventory arriving from the mainland or overseas, stores it, keeps the count accurate, and releases it as orders come in.
- Receiving and putaway. Inbound goods checked against your purchase order, catalogued, and located by how fast they move.
- Secure storage. Monitored space with organized racking and controlled access.
- Inventory management. Real-time tracking with cycle counts and low-stock alerts, visible through a client login.
- Order fulfillment. Picking, packing and shipping individual orders — see ecommerce fulfillment.
- Outbound release. Stock staged for carriers serving the island and the wider Caribbean.
The building is one we operate, not partner space — our staff, our racking, your stock physically in our facility. Full detail on how storage works across all three of our warehouses is on the warehousing page.
Why Hold Stock in Puerto Rico
Because inventory already on the island reaches a San Juan customer this week rather than after an ocean crossing. That is the whole argument, and whether it applies to you depends entirely on your volume.
Removing the ocean leg
Shipping each order individually from Florida means every customer waits for a sea crossing. Holding stock locally moves that crossing upstream, into a bulk shipment you plan, rather than into every order your customer places.
The trade is capital tied up in island inventory against delivery speed. Above a certain order frequency it pays; below it, it does not.
You are in the island’s air cargo municipality
Our facility is in Carolina, the same municipality as Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport — the island’s principal air cargo gateway. For air freight moving in or out, the goods are not crossing the island to reach the plane.
| From Carolina, PR | Approximate distance |
|---|---|
| Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) | About 5 miles — same municipality |
| Downtown San Juan | About 8 miles |
| Port of San Juan, the island’s main cargo gateway | Short haul within the metro area |
For context, SJU itself sits roughly 3 miles from downtown San Juan, so the airport, the port and our warehouse are all inside the same metropolitan cluster. Nothing on this island moves far to reach a plane or a ship.
A base for the wider Caribbean
From Puerto Rico, the rest of the Caribbean is a short haul rather than a transatlantic or Gulf crossing. If you serve multiple islands, holding regional stock here is usually cheaper than shipping each order from the mainland.
Common Questions Before You Call
The three things island shippers ask before booking a conversation.
Wouldn’t shipping from Florida be cheaper?
For low or irregular volume, often yes — and we will say so rather than sell you island storage you do not need. Consolidating in Florida and shipping per order works fine until the ocean leg starts delaying customers or the per-order freight adds up past what bulk shipping plus storage would cost.
Tell us your monthly order count and we will tell you honestly which side of that line you are on.
How much volume justifies holding stock on the island?
There is no universal number, because it depends on order frequency, product value and how much delay your customers tolerate. The useful test is whether you are shipping the same goods to Puerto Rico repeatedly in small consignments — if so, you are paying the ocean leg over and over.
A business sending a handful of orders a month almost never needs on-island stock. One shipping weekly usually does.
Who files the EEI on my shipments?
Raise this in your first conversation, because the answer depends on how the engagement is structured and who is named as the exporter of record. What matters is that it is explicitly assigned to someone rather than assumed — an unfiled EEI is the most common reason a Puerto Rico shipment stalls.
We will tell you plainly what we handle and what stays with you before anything moves.
How Puerto Rico Fits Into Our Network
Carolina is our island and Caribbean site, working alongside two mainland warehouses, all directed from our Michigan headquarters.
| Location | Address | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Washington, Michigan | 62170 Van Dyke Ave, Washington, MI 48094 | Headquarters — network control, no warehouse |
| Memphis, Tennessee | 1471 Rozelle St, Memphis, TN 38106 | National reach and the Southeast |
| Riverside, California | 7560 Jurupa Ave, Riverside, CA 92504 | West coast and imports |
| Carolina, Puerto Rico | Ave Jose Tony Santana, Bestthree Building C-8, Carolina, PR 00979 | Puerto Rico and the Caribbean |
Most clients using Puerto Rico also hold mainland stock, commonly at Memphis, which reaches the southeastern ports feeding the island.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I pay import duty sending goods from the US mainland to Puerto Rico?
No. Federal regulation places Puerto Rico inside the United States customs territory, so a mainland shipment is not an import and is not charged customs duty. This is what distinguishes Puerto Rico from the US Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa, which all sit outside it.
Is shipping to Puerto Rico the same as shipping between states?
Not quite. There is no duty and both CBP and the Census Bureau classify the shipment as domestic, but Electronic Export Information must still be filed — which is never required state to state. It is the single most common thing shippers miss.
What happens if the EEI is not filed?
Filing produces an Internal Transaction Number that must appear on the commercial loading documents so CBP can confirm the shipment was filed. Without it, the paperwork is incomplete and the shipment is liable to be held rather than moved.
Where is Cura’s Puerto Rico facility?
At Ave Jose Tony Santana, Bestthree Building C-8, Carolina, PR 00979, in the same municipality as Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport. It is one of three warehouses we operate and our only site outside the mainland.
Do you forward freight as well as store it?
Yes. We arrange movement between the mainland and the island and handle the documentation, and we warehouse on the island. Most clients use both, since the paperwork and the storage are easier to keep straight under one provider.
Can you serve other Caribbean islands from Puerto Rico?
Yes. Puerto Rico works well as a regional base because onward shipping to neighbouring islands is short-haul from San Juan rather than a crossing from the mainland. Note that other islands are outside the US customs territory, so those movements are genuine exports.
Would it be cheaper to just ship from Florida?
For low or irregular volume, often yes. On-island stock starts paying off when you ship frequently enough that the ocean leg is delaying customers or repeated small-consignment freight costs more than bulk shipping plus storage. Tell us your volumes and we will give you a straight answer.
How do I get pricing?
Use our quote form or call +1-800-813-7155 with what you ship to the island, how often, and whether you need storage as well as forwarding.