MPF and HMF: the customs fees importers forget
Beyond duty, US Customs charges two fees on most imports: the Merchandise Processing Fee and the Harbor Maintenance Fee. Here's exactly what each is, how it's calculated, the annual min/max, and when each one applies.
April 16, 2026 · 5 min read
When people estimate the cost of importing, they think about duty and stop. But CBP charges two other fees on most commercial shipments — the Merchandise Processing Fee and the Harbor Maintenance Fee. They're small as percentages, but they're mandatory, they have quirks (a floor, a cap, a mode-of-transport condition), and leaving them out means your landed-cost number is wrong before you start.
Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF)
The MPF is CBP's charge for processing your entry. For formal entries it is 0.3464% of the customs (entered) value of the goods — an ad valorem fee. Crucially, it is bounded: there's a per-entry minimum and a per-entry maximum that CBP adjusts every fiscal year for inflation. So on a small entry you pay the minimum flat fee regardless of value; on a very large entry the fee is capped.
- Rate: 0.3464% of customs value (formal entries).
- Minimum and maximum: set per entry, adjusted annually by CBP — always check the current figures.
- Informal entries (typically low-value) carry a smaller flat MPF instead.
- Charged per entry, not per line — consolidating shipments can matter.
Because the min and max change each fiscal year, don't hard-code them. Verify the current amounts against CBP's fee notice — a good landed-cost tool reads the live figures for you.
Start freeCBP publishes the MPF rate and the annually-adjusted min/max in its COBRA user-fee notices.
CBP user-fee tableHarbor Maintenance Fee (HMF)
The HMF funds the maintenance of US ports and harbors. It is 0.125% of the customs value and — this is the key condition — it applies only to cargo that arrives by ocean at a US port. Goods flown in by air freight or trucked across a land border don't pay HMF. There's no minimum or maximum; it's a flat percentage of value.
- Rate: 0.125% of customs value.
- Applies to: commercial cargo arriving by vessel at US ports.
- Does NOT apply to: air freight or land-border entries.
- No floor or cap — it scales linearly with value.
How they fit into landed cost
On a $50,000 ocean shipment, MPF is about $173 (0.3464%) — likely under the annual cap — and HMF is $62.50 (0.125%). Neither will make or break a deal, but together they're a real few hundred dollars that belong in your calculation. The mistake isn't that they're large; it's that they're invisible until the entry summary lands.
Get MPF and HMF calculated automatically as part of your full landed cost.
Calculate landed costQuick reference
- MPF = 0.3464% of value, min/max per entry (adjusted yearly), all modes.
- HMF = 0.125% of value, ocean freight only, no min/max.
- Both are on top of duty and any Section 301 / 232 tariffs.
- Both are charged on customs value, not on freight or insurance.
Rates here reflect the standard statutory percentages; the MPF min/max change annually. Confirm the current figures with CBP before you rely on them for a specific entry.