The merchandise processing fee is a US customs user fee charged at 0.3464 percent of the customs value of a formal entry, then raised to a minimum or cut to a maximum per entry. For fiscal year 2027 (entries from 1 October 2026) the minimum is $34.58 and the maximum is $670.86; informal entries pay a flat amount instead. Goods that originate under USMCA and most US free trade agreements, US goods returned under Chapter 98 and a few other categories are exempt, and the exemption list is in 19 CFR 24.23(c).
The rest of this article shows where each of those numbers comes from, how to check the fee on an entry, and the places where classification and origin decide whether the fee is owed at all.
| Item | Rule | Legal source |
|---|---|---|
| Formal entry fee | 0.3464% of value under 19 USC 1401a | 19 CFR 24.23(b)(1)(i)(A) |
| Minimum and maximum | Base $25 and $485, adjusted for inflation every fiscal year | 19 USC 58c(b)(8)(A), 58c(l); 19 CFR 24.23(b)(1)(i)(B) |
| Informal entry | Flat fee, three tiers | 19 USC 58c(a)(10); 19 CFR 24.23(b)(2) |
| Exemptions | Listed categories and FTA-originating goods | 19 USC 58c(b); 19 CFR 24.23(c) |
| Who pays | Importer of record, with the entry summary | 19 CFR 24.23(b)(1)(i)(A) |
The current amounts (dated)
As of October 2026, the amounts below apply to goods entered or released on or after 1 October 2026, under CBP Dec. 26-14, “Customs User Fees To Be Adjusted for Inflation in Fiscal Year 2027” (91 FR 48398, 31 July 2026). CBP publishes new figures every year before the fiscal year starts on 1 October, so check the latest Federal Register notice before you use them in a budget.
| FY2027 amount | Value |
|---|---|
| Ad valorem rate (formal entries) | 0.3464% (unchanged) |
| Minimum per formal entry | $34.58 |
| Maximum per formal entry | $670.86 |
| Surcharge for a manual formal entry | $4.15 |
| Informal entry, automated, not prepared by CBP | $2.77 |
| Informal entry, manual, not prepared by CBP | $8.30 |
| Informal entry prepared by CBP | $12.45 |
The worked examples further down use these FY2027 limits.
Where the fee comes from in law
The fee was created by section 13031 of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA), codified at 19 USC 58c. Subsection (a)(9) authorises the ad valorem fee on formal entries, subsection (a)(10) the flat fees on informal entries, and subsection (b)(8)(A) the minimum and maximum. The base text of 58c(a)(9)(A) still reads 0.21 percent, but the rate in force, stated in 19 CFR 24.23(b)(1)(i)(A) and repeated in each annual CBP notice, is 0.3464 percent. The regulation states the minimum and maximum as base amounts of $25 and $485.
Those base amounts do not appear on any entry. Since the FAST Act added an inflation adjustment, now in 19 USC 58c(l), CBP compares the consumer price index with its fiscal year 2014 average and publishes adjusted figures each year using the method in 19 CFR 24.22(k). For FY2027 CBP applied an adjustment factor of about 38.3 percent, which is how $25 became $34.58 and $485 became $670.86. The percentage rate is not indexed. Only the floor and the cap move.
Under 19 USC 58c(g)(2), customs administrative and enforcement provisions apply to the fee as if it were a customs duty, so an MPF underpayment is handled like a duty underpayment, including in penalty cases.
How to calculate MPF on a formal entry
The calculation has two steps.
- Multiply the entered value by 0.003464.
- If the result is below the minimum, pay the minimum. If it is above the maximum, pay the maximum. Otherwise pay the result.
The base is the value of the merchandise determined under 19 USC 1401a, normally transaction value. Transaction value is the price paid or payable “exclusive of any costs, charges, or expenses incurred for transportation, insurance, and related services incident to the international shipment” (19 USC 1401a(b)(4)(A)), and it does not include customs duties and other federal taxes payable because of importation when they are identified separately (19 USC 1401a(b)(3)). So international freight and insurance stay out of the MPF base when they are properly identified, and so does every kind of duty. A product that carries a 25 percent Section 301 duty or a Section 232 duty on top of its normal rate pays exactly the same MPF as it would without them. Those duties are excluded from transaction value, and on the entry they are reported through HTS Chapter 99 lines that sit on top of the product’s normal classification, separately from the value.
That also means the Incoterm on the invoice changes the paperwork, not the base. A CIF price has to have the freight and insurance deducted to reach transaction value; an FOB price usually needs no deduction. If you are unsure which costs belong in the value, the explanation of how Incoterms 2020 relate to customs value walks through it.
Worked entries at FY2027 limits
| Entered value | 0.3464% of value | MPF payable | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| $6,000 | $20.78 | $34.58 (minimum) | 0.58% |
| $60,000 | $207.84 | $207.84 | 0.3464% |
| $180,000 | $623.52 | $623.52 | 0.3464% |
| $250,000 | $866.00 | $670.86 (maximum) | 0.27% |
| $1,000,000 | $3,464.00 | $670.86 (maximum) | 0.067% |
Two break-even points follow from the limits. Dividing $34.58 by 0.003464 gives about $9,983: below that entered value the minimum applies. Dividing $670.86 by 0.003464 gives about $193,666: above that value the maximum applies. Between the two, the fee is simply 0.3464 percent.
The fee is calculated per entry, not per invoice or per line. A broker files one entry covering three invoices from the same shipment, and the floor and cap apply to the total. That is why the same goods can carry a different MPF depending on how shipments are grouped into entries, which is the subject of the FTZ section below.
For the full duty arithmetic around the fee, from rate type to stacked duties, see the step-by-step US import duty calculation.
Informal entries and low-value shipments
A shipment valued at $2,500 or less can usually be cleared on an informal entry under 19 CFR 143.21. Informal entries pay one of three flat fees under 19 CFR 24.23(b)(2), depending on whether the entry is automated, manual, or prepared by CBP staff (see the dated table above). The 0.3464 percent rate, the minimum and the maximum do not apply. Note that 19 CFR 143.21(a) excludes from informal entry articles valued over $250 that are classified in Subchapters III and IV of HTSUS Chapter 99, so classification can force a low-value shipment onto a formal entry and the formal MPF.
Express consignment operators and centralized hub facilities pay a separate per-waybill fee under 19 CFR 24.23(b)(4), settled quarterly by the facility. That charge is not an MPF line on the importer’s entry summary, although carriers may pass it on.
Low-value shipments released under 19 USC 1321 (the $800 de minimis rule) have been exempt from MPF under 19 CFR 24.23(c)(1)(v). As of October 2026 that route is mostly closed: the $800 exemption in 19 USC 1321(a)(2)(C) has been suspended for shipments by all modes since 29 August 2025 (the separate gift and personal-article exemptions are unaffected); CBP made the suspension indefinite in interim final rules published on 24 June 2026 (for non-postal shipments, CBP Dec. 26-12, 91 FR 37789), and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act ends that exemption by statute from 1 July 2027. Shipments that used to clear as de minimis now go through informal or formal entry and pay the corresponding MPF.
Which goods are exempt from MPF
The exemptions are set by statute (19 USC 58c(b)) and listed in 19 CFR 24.23(c). They fall into three groups.
The first group is exempt by category, regardless of any claim:
- Articles classified in HTSUS Chapter 98, with an exception for 9802.00.60 and 9802.00.80 (below).
- Products of US insular possessions (General Note 3(a)(iv)).
- Products of Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act beneficiary countries (General Note 7).
- Products of least-developed beneficiary developing countries under GSP (General Note 4(b)(i)). GSP’s authorization lapsed on 31 December 2020, so check whether the program is in force before relying on this line.
- Products of Israel entered on or after 16 September 1998.
The second group is exempt only when the goods originate under a free trade agreement and the preference is properly claimed: USMCA (General Note 11, entered on or after 1 July 2020), Singapore, Chile, Australia, Bahrain, CAFTA-DR, Oman, Peru, Korea, Colombia and Panama. The goods must meet the agreement’s rule of origin. Those rules are written as changes in tariff classification between HS chapters, headings or subheadings, so an origin claim is only as good as the classification of the finished good and its non-originating inputs.
The third group is partial. For articles entered under 9802.00.60 (metal articles processed abroad) or 9802.00.80 (assembled abroad from US components), the ad valorem fee applies only to the part of the value on which duty is assessed: the cost of the foreign processing, or the full value minus the US components. The manual surcharge still applies.
What is not on the list pays the fee. Goods originating under the US-Jordan and US-Morocco agreements are not exempted by 19 CFR 24.23(c), and goods from GSP beneficiaries that are not least-developed beneficiaries pay MPF. CBP’s MPF and preference program table adds two clarifications: unconditionally free goods can still take the FTA exemption if they meet the rule of origin and the other agreement requirements, and the regulation cited for all of this is 19 CFR 24.23(c).
For USMCA entries that mix originating and non-originating goods, 19 CFR 24.23(c)(3) charges the fee only on the goods that are not originating. On a $100,000 USMCA entry where $70,000 of the goods originate, the fee is worked on the other $30,000: $103.92, which sits between the floor and the cap. The FTA paragraphs (c)(6) to (c)(15) do not repeat that mixed-shipment sentence.
MPF on goods withdrawn from a foreign trade zone
Two rules change the arithmetic for zone users.
First, the base. For merchandise entered from a foreign trade zone, 19 USC 58c(b)(8)(D)(vi) applies the fee only to the value of the privileged or non-privileged foreign status merchandise. Domestic status content in a finished product made in the zone is outside the base.
Second, the number of entries. Under 19 USC 1484(i)(1), the zone operator or user may file a single estimated entry for all merchandise withdrawn during any 7-day period, and that entry is treated as a single entry for the MPF, “including the maximum and minimum fee amounts.” A company that would otherwise file 12 entries a week, each above the cap, pays $670.86 once instead of $8,050.32. Over 52 weeks the difference is about $383,700 at FY2027 limits. The saving comes from the statute itself, which is why it is the main MPF lever for high-volume importers.
MPF and the harbor maintenance fee
The harbor maintenance fee is a separate charge with a different legal basis (19 CFR 24.24): 0.125 percent of value on commercial cargo unloaded at a covered US port, with no minimum or maximum. It applies to ocean cargo, not air cargo, and imports that qualify for informal entry are exempt from it. On a $1,000,000 ocean entry, MPF stops at $670.86 while HMF is $1,250. Every cost line of a US import, from duty to drayage, behaves differently in this way, and fees are easy to underestimate on high-value sea freight.
Common MPF mistakes
Calculating MPF on the CIF price or on the landed cost. The base is the 1401a value, which excludes properly identified international freight, insurance and all duties.
Treating MPF as a duty that changes with the HTS rate. The tariff rate has no effect on MPF. A duty-free good and a good paying 100 percent duty pay the same MPF on the same value.
Assuming every preference claim removes the fee. Only the programs listed in 19 CFR 24.23(c) do. A claim under the Jordan or Morocco agreement removes the duty but leaves the MPF.
Claiming the FTA exemption without the origin file. If CBP later finds the goods were not originating, the duty and the MPF are both due. Origin depends on a correct HS classification of the product and its inputs, so the records that support each classification decision are part of the MPF file too.
Using last year’s limits. The floor and cap change on 1 October each year.
Questions people ask
Is MPF refundable when goods are exported?
MPF is one of the charges listed in 19 CFR 190.3(a) as eligible for drawback, alongside duties and the harbor maintenance fee. Whether a particular claim can recover it depends on the drawback type and the facts, so treat it as a line to check in a drawback claim and not as automatic.
Does a reconciliation or post-summary correction change MPF?
Yes, if the value changes. Because the fee is calculated on entered value, a value increase on a post-summary correction or reconciliation can raise the MPF (unless the entry is already at the cap), and a decrease can reduce it (unless it is already at the floor).
Is MPF charged on goods entered for a bonded warehouse?
The fee applies when merchandise is entered or released for consumption. Under 19 USC 58c(b)(8)(E), “entered or released” includes merchandise withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, so the fee is collected at withdrawal.
If you are working through MPF exemptions that depend on a Chapter 98 classification or an FTA origin decision, I take on questions like these; you can reach me through the contact page.
Sources
- 19 CFR 24.23, Fees for processing merchandise (eCFR)
- 19 U.S.C. 58c, Fees for certain customs services (LII)
- CBP Dec. 26-14, Customs User Fees To Be Adjusted for Inflation in Fiscal Year 2027, 91 FR 48398 (Federal Register)
- 19 U.S.C. 1401a, Value (LII)
- 19 U.S.C. 1484, Entry of merchandise, subsection (i) (LII)
- 19 CFR 143.21, Merchandise eligible for informal entry (eCFR)
- 19 CFR 24.24, Harbor maintenance fee (eCFR)
- 19 CFR 190.3, Duties and fees subject or not subject to drawback (eCFR)
- CBP, Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) and Preference Program Table
- CBP Dec. 26-12, Indefinite suspension of the de minimis exemption for merchandise arriving through all modes other than the international postal network, 91 FR 37789 (Federal Register)
This article explains the law and practice in general terms. It is not legal advice on a specific product or shipment; for that, check the current official sources or ask a qualified adviser.