Duties are not the only charges on an import. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) also collects two fees on most commercial entries: the merchandise processing fee (MPF) and, for goods that arrive by sea, the harbor maintenance fee (HMF). They are small next to some duties, but they are due even on goods whose duty rate is "Free".
The merchandise processing fee (MPF)
The MPF pays for processing the entry. On a formal entry, it is a share of the customs value of the goods, the same value the duties are calculated on, held between a minimum and a maximum for each entry. The minimum and the maximum are adjusted for inflation every fiscal year, which starts on October 1 (19 CFR 24.23).
- Rate
- 0.3464% of the customs value
- Minimum
- $34.58 per entry
- Maximum
- $670.86 per entry
These are the amounts of fiscal year 2027, from October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027 (official source ↗). The minimum applies to an entry worth less than about $9,982.68, the maximum to an entry worth more than about $193,666.28; in between, the fee is the rate times the value.
| Value of the entry | MPF | Why |
|---|---|---|
| $5,000 | $34.58 | The minimum |
| $50,000 | $173.20 | 0.3464% of the value |
| $250,000 | $670.86 | The maximum |
One fee per entry, not per product
The MPF is calculated on the whole entry: the values of all its lines are added up, the rate is applied once, and the minimum and the maximum apply to that total. An entry of 10 products worth $1,000 each owes $34.64 on its $10,000; adding up the fee of each product calculated on its own would give $345.80, 10 minimums. Splitting the same goods over several entries works the other way: each entry pays at least the minimum.
Informal entries pay a flat fee
Low-value shipments, in general those worth $2,500 or less, can usually be entered under a simpler informal entry (19 CFR 143.21), with exceptions. An informal entry pays a flat MPF instead of a share of the value: for fiscal year 2027, $2.77 when the importer or its broker files it electronically, $8.30 when it is filed on paper, and $12.45 when CBP prepares it. A formal entry filed on paper also pays a surcharge, $4.15 for fiscal year 2027. TariffTrust calculates formal entries; it does not calculate the fees of an informal entry.
Who does not pay the MPF
- Goods that originate under some trade agreements, when the agreement is claimed on the entry: the USMCA (Canada and Mexico), and the agreements with Israel, Singapore, Chile, Australia, Bahrain, Central America and the Dominican Republic (CAFTA-DR), Oman, Peru, Korea, Colombia and Panama. Goods entered under other agreements, such as those with Morocco, Jordan or Japan, still pay it.
- A few other cases listed in 19 CFR 24.23(c), among them products of US insular possessions, products of the beneficiary countries of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, and most special provisions of Chapter 98.
- On an entry that mixes both, only the goods that do not qualify count toward the fee.
The harbor maintenance fee (HMF)
The HMF is a port use fee on goods unloaded from a vessel at one of the US ports on CBP's list: 0.125% of their value, with no minimum and no maximum (19 CFR 24.24). Goods worth $50,000 unloaded from a ship owe $62.50. Goods that arrive by air, by truck or by rail do not pay it, nor does a shipment that could be entered informally. Unlike the MPF, no trade agreement exempts goods from it.
On the entry summary
Both fees appear next to the duties on the entry summary, CBP Form 7501, each under its own code: 499 for the MPF and 501 for the HMF. They are paid with the duties.
How TariffTrust counts them
- The free calculator estimates one product as if it were the only product of its entry: its MPF includes the minimum or the maximum that entry would pay.
- In a workspace, checking a whole declaration calculates the fees once for all the lines of the entry, with the exemption of each line whose agreement is claimed.
- The HMF is counted for goods that arrive by sea. That is the default, except for goods from Canada and Mexico, assumed to arrive by land until you choose otherwise.
- You can leave both fees out: the total then reads "Duties" instead of "Duties and fees".
Updated October 30, 2026. General information as of that date, not legal or customs advice: the official texts prevail, and a licensed customs broker can confirm what applies to your goods.