Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF): Calculation, FY2027 Limits and Exemptions

The merchandise processing fee is the CBP user fee charged on imported goods at 0.3464% of their value for formal entries, with a minimum of $34.58 and a maximum of $670.86 per entry for fiscal year 2027, which began October 1, 2026. It is set by 19 CFR 24.23 and the statute behind it, 19 U.S.C. 58c, and it is paid by the importer of record with the entry summary alongside duty. The floor and cap are adjusted every fiscal year for inflation; the rate itself is unchanged.

MPF is small per entry and large across a year of entries, and it is one of the few customs charges an importer can influence through how shipments are entered and how origin is claimed. This guide covers the formal entry calculation, the FY2027 limits, the flat informal entry fees, the trade programs that exempt goods from MPF and the consolidation rules that control how many times the fee is charged. Its place in the full entry sequence is mapped in our guide to customs clearance procedures. Figures verified against 19 CFR 24.23 and the Federal Register as of November 13, 2026.

How MPF Is Calculated on Formal Entries (19 CFR 24.23)

On a formal entry, MPF is 0.3464% of the value of the merchandise as determined under 19 U.S.C. 1401a, the same appraised value used for ad valorem duty, under 19 CFR 24.23(b)(1)(i)(A). The result is then held between the fiscal year minimum and maximum. CBP’s Form 7501 instructions state the rule plainly: there is no de minimis for MPF, and the filer reports the minimum when the computed amount is lower and the maximum when it is higher. The fee is reported at line level under class code 499 and paid when the entry summary is presented, as explained in our guide to the CBP Form 7501 entry summary.

The fee applies to merchandise that is entered or released, which 24.23(a)(2) defines to include goods released under a special permit for immediate delivery, goods entered or released under 19 U.S.C. 1484(a)(1)(A), and withdrawals from warehouse for consumption. The minimum and maximum apply to each formal entry, release or warehouse withdrawal, so the unit that matters is the entry, not the container or the invoice.

Three worked examples with the FY2027 limits show how the caps bite. An $8,000 formal entry computes to $27.71 and pays the $34.58 minimum. A $120,000 entry pays the computed $415.68. A $400,000 entry computes to $1,385.60 and pays the $670.86 maximum. The minimum binds on any entry valued below about $9,982.68, and the maximum on any entry above about $193,666.28. A manually filed formal entry also pays a surcharge, $4.15 in FY2027, on top of the ad valorem amount.

MPF is not the only fee on an ocean entry: cargo unloaded at a covered US port also pays the separate harbor maintenance fee of 0.125% under 19 CFR 24.24. How MPF stacks with duty, freight and the other charges in a full cost model is in our guide to landed cost calculation, and our tariff calculator applies the current MPF limits by entry.

Fiscal Year 2027 Minimum and Maximum

CBP’s notice Customs User Fees To Be Adjusted for Inflation in Fiscal Year 2027, published July 31, 2026 at 91 FR 48398, raises the MPF minimum to $34.58 and the maximum to $670.86, effective October 1, 2026. The notice confirms that only the limitations change and that the 0.3464% rate stays the same, citing CBP’s November 1, 2017 notice at 82 FR 50523.

The adjustment follows the FAST Act formula built into 19 CFR 24.22(k): the base amounts in 24.23 ($25 minimum, $485 maximum, $2 to $9 informal fees, $3 surcharge) are fiscal year 2014 figures, indexed each year to the average CPI-U for the preceding June through May. CBP must publish the new amounts at least 60 days before they take effect, so the FY2028 figures, if they change, should appear in the Federal Register by early August 2027. Landed cost models and broker rate sheets built on the FY2026 limits ($33.58 and $651.50) are now out of date.

Informal Entry MPF

Informal entries pay a flat MPF instead of the ad valorem fee. For FY2027 the amounts are $2.77 when the entry is automated and not prepared by CBP, $8.30 when it is manual and not prepared by CBP, and $12.45 when CBP personnel prepare it, under 24.23(b)(2) as adjusted by the FY2027 notice. Informal entry is generally available for shipments valued at $2,500 or less under 19 CFR 143.21(a), with an exception for articles over $250 classified in Chapter 99, Subchapters III and IV, which is where most additional tariff headings sit. The thresholds and the October 2026 proposals to change informal entry are covered in our explainer on formal vs informal entry.

An importer may file a formal entry below $2,500, and when it does, the formal minimum applies: $34.58 instead of $2.77 on an automated informal entry. That gap is rarely the deciding factor, since formal entry is often chosen for a bond, a preference claim or a cleaner liquidation record, but it should be a conscious choice.

Express shipments follow their own track. Carriers operating express consignment carrier facilities or centralized hubs pay CBP $1.38 per individual air waybill or bill of lading in FY2027, quarterly, and goods from those facilities that are formally entered at $2,500 or less also pay the ad valorem MPF under 24.23(b)(4).

Exemptions: FTAs, USMCA and Other Origin Programs

Goods that originate under USMCA are exempt from MPF under 19 CFR 24.23(c)(3), whether they qualify under General Note 11 or for preferential treatment under 19 CFR 182.82, for entries on or after July 1, 2020. When originating and non-originating goods are entered together, the fee applies only to the non-originating portion, so a mixed entry from Mexico or Canada still pays MPF on the lines that do not qualify.

Paragraphs (c)(5) through (c)(15) extend the exemption to originating goods under the agreements with Israel, Singapore, Chile, Australia, Bahrain, the CAFTA-DR countries, Oman, Peru, Korea, Colombia and Panama. The list is specific, and an agreement that is not on it does not carry an MPF exemption by implication; the regulation, for instance, has no paragraph for Jordan or Morocco. The exemption is claimed line by line: CBP’s 7501 instructions require the special program indicator for each HTS number in column 31, and a line filed without it pays MPF even if the goods qualify.

Other exemptions in 24.23(c)(1) turn on the goods or the program rather than a trade agreement: Chapter 98 articles, products of US insular possessions, products of Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act beneficiaries, products of least-developed beneficiary developing countries under General Note 4(b)(i), merchandise under General Note 19, goods released under 19 U.S.C. 1321, and mail other than formally entered Inbound EMS items. For American goods returned after processing abroad under 9802.00.60 or 9802.00.80, the ad valorem MPF is charged only on the dutiable portion of the value.

Missed exemptions are a common finding in post-entry reviews, because the indicator is easy to drop when an entry is built quickly. 24.23(e) treats MPF as a customs duty for administration, enforcement and court jurisdiction, so an overpayment is corrected through the same procedures used to correct duty; a periodic review of origin claims and fee lines is part of customs audit support.

Consolidating Entries to Manage MPF

Because the cap applies per entry, the number of entries determines how much MPF an importer pays on high-value flows. The starting rule in 19 CFR 141.51 is that all merchandise arriving on one conveyance and consigned to one consignee goes on one entry. Section 141.52 then allows separate entries in listed cases, including separate bills of lading, different entry types and portions going to different ports or warehouses, if the Center director is satisfied there is no prejudice to the revenue.

The arithmetic is direct. Ten containers on one vessel for one consignee, each worth $60,000, cost $207.84 apiece in MPF if entered separately, $2,078.40 in total. On a single entry worth $600,000 the fee is capped at $670.86. Splitting entries by bill of lading for operational convenience therefore has a fee price, and it is worth knowing before a routing guide or a forwarder’s default practice sets it.

Foreign trade zones offer the structural version. Under 19 U.S.C. 1484(i), a zone operator or user may cover all merchandise withdrawn during a seven-day period with a single estimated entry, filed on CBP Form 3461 on or before the first day of the period (19 CFR 146.63(c) sets a narrower weekly entry for goods manufactured or changed in the zone), and that entry is treated as a single entry and release for MPF purposes, with the minimum and maximum applying to it. Our guide to CBP Form 3461 covers the entry mechanics, and the trade-offs against a bonded warehouse are in our FTZ vs bonded warehouse comparison. For continuous flows such as pipeline cargo, CBP also maintains monthly entry processing, referenced in the FY2027 fee notice.

Consolidation has limits. Entries cannot be combined across consignees or conveyances outside the programs that allow it, and a single large entry concentrates exam and data-error risk on one transaction. The decision is best made per lane, with volumes and values in hand, rather than as a blanket rule.

Frequently Asked Questions