Merchandise Processing Fee: 0.3464%, FY2027 Min/Max, Exemptions

Key Points

• The merchandise processing fee (MPF) on a formal entry is 0.3464 percent of the entered value, set by 19 U.S.C. 58c(a)(9) and implemented in 19 CFR 24.23.
• For the fiscal year that began October 1, 2026, the fee on a formal entry is no less than $34.58 and no more than $670.86 per entry.
• The minimum and maximum are adjusted for inflation each fiscal year by a Federal Register notice, so the dollar figures change every October 1.
• Exemptions include goods that originate under the USMCA, products of least-developed beneficiary developing countries, and most chapter 98 claims; marking goods as Canadian or Mexican does not exempt them by itself.
• The fee is computed per entry summary, so a weekly foreign-trade zone entry caps the fee once a week, and the fee is refundable under drawback (19 U.S.C. 1313).

On this page

1. How the merchandise processing fee is calculated
2. Minimum, maximum, and the annual adjustment
3. Who is exempt from the merchandise processing fee
4. Foreign-trade zones, drawback, and informal entries
5. What importers should do
6. Key references

The merchandise processing fee is a user fee CBP collects on imported merchandise. On a formal entry it equals 0.3464 percent of the entered value, subject to a per-entry minimum of $34.58 and maximum of $670.86 for the fiscal year that began October 1, 2026. Certain goods, such as USMCA-originating goods and products of least-developed beneficiary developing countries, are exempt.

Read the source. The links in this article go to the primary documents: the statute, the regulation, and the official government pages themselves. Check them directly before relying on any figure here, especially the dollar amounts, which are reset every fiscal year.

How the merchandise processing fee is calculated

The authority for the fee is 19 U.S.C. 58c(a)(9), and the collection rules are in 19 CFR 24.23. For a formal entry, the fee is an ad valorem charge: a percentage of the entered value of the merchandise, bounded by a minimum and a maximum.

A worked example

Take a formal entry with an entered value of $184,250:

$184,250 x 0.3464% = $638.24

That result falls between the $34.58 minimum and the $670.86 maximum, so $638.24 is the fee. On a higher-value entry the same arithmetic would produce a larger number, and the fee would stop at $670.86. On a very low-value formal entry, the fee would rise to $34.58.

What the percentage applies to

The base is the entered value, not the duty amount and not the invoice total if the two differ. Value errors on the entry therefore flow directly into the fee. The Harbor Maintenance Fee is a separate charge with its own rate and its own rules, and the two are often confused on entry lines. See the sibling guide on how HMF and MPF errors arise on customs entries and the guide to the Harbor Maintenance Fee rate, payers, and exemptions.

Minimum, maximum, and the annual adjustment

The 0.3464 percent rate stays fixed in the statute. The dollar floor and ceiling are what move. Both are adjusted each fiscal year for inflation, and CBP announces the new figures through a notice in the Federal Register. Fiscal years start October 1, so the amounts you use depend on the entry date.

• Minimum: $34.58 per formal entry for the fiscal year that began October 1, 2026.
• Maximum: $670.86 per formal entry for the same fiscal year.

Brokers should confirm that their entry software and client quotes have rolled to the new figures each October. A stale cap in a duty estimate means every high-value entry is quoted wrong by the same amount.

Informal entries

Informal entries do not use the percentage. They carry a flat fee per entry, and that fee is also adjusted every year. Look up the current flat amount in the annual notice and in 19 CFR 24.23 rather than relying on a figure copied from an older quote.

Who is exempt from the merchandise processing fee

The exemptions are listed in 19 CFR 24.23(c). The main categories are:

• USMCA goods. Goods that originate under the USMCA and qualify to be marked as goods of Canada or Mexico are exempt. Marking alone is not an exemption: a product marked "Made in Canada" that does not meet the originating requirements and is not claimed as originating still owes the fee.
• Least-developed beneficiary developing countries. Products of these countries, and products of certain other programs listed in the regulation, are exempt.
• Chapter 98 claims. Most claims under chapter 98 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule are exempt, with important exceptions.

Subheadings 9802.00.60 and 9802.00.80

Goods entered under 9802.00.60 or 9802.00.80 are not fully exempt. The fee applies, but only on the dutiable portion of the value. If you claim either subheading, check that the entry reports the dutiable value correctly, because the fee follows that figure.

Claiming an exemption

An exemption is a claim made at entry, and it depends on the facts supporting it: origin, program eligibility, and the correct tariff line. If a claim was missed or made in error, the fee on the entry is wrong in one direction or the other. Overpayments can be addressed through the protest process; see the 180-day protest deadline explained.

Foreign-trade zones, drawback, and informal entries

Weekly foreign-trade zone entries

The fee is computed per entry summary. A foreign-trade zone operator who files a weekly entry covering many withdrawals pays the fee on that one entry summary, so the minimum and maximum apply once for the week. Without weekly entry, each withdrawal filed on its own entry summary would be subject to its own fee and its own cap. For zone users with steady, high-volume flows, this is why the per-entry structure matters.

Drawback

The merchandise processing fee is refundable under drawback, 19 U.S.C. 1313. A drawback claimant should include the fee paid on the import entry when assembling the claim, not just the duties. For how the claim types work, see the guide to manufacturing drawback under 19 U.S.C. 1313(a) and (b).

What importers should do

• Update fee calculators and customer quotes each October 1 using the minimum and maximum from the current Federal Register notice.
• Audit exemption claims: confirm USMCA origin (not just marking), program eligibility, and the correct dutiable value on 9802.00.60 and 9802.00.80 lines.
• Review entry structure for foreign-trade zone and high-volume flows, since the cap applies per entry summary.
• Include the fee in drawback claims and in any protest or post-summary correction where the entered value or exemption claim changed.

Key references

• 19 U.S.C. 58c: the statute authorizing customs user fees, including the ad valorem merchandise processing fee in subsection (a)(9).
• 19 CFR 24.23: the regulation on the fee, its computation, and the exemptions in paragraph (c).
• 19 U.S.C. 1313: the drawback statute under which the fee is refundable.
• Federal Register: where the annual inflation adjustment notice for the minimum, maximum, and informal entry fee is published.
• Harmonized Tariff Schedule: the official schedule, including chapter 98 provisions.
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection: agency guidance and CSMS messages on user fees.