Merchandise Processing Fee: 2026 Rates & How It Works

If you import into the United States, the Merchandise Processing Fee is one of those line items on the CBP entry summary that quietly adds up across the year. It is small enough per shipment to feel like a rounding error, and large enough across a year of imports to matter when you are building landed cost. As of October 1, 2025, the figures changed again, and a lot of importers are still working from last year’s numbers.

The rate of 0.3464% is unchanged, but the minimum and maximum caps moved up to $33.58 and $651.50 for fiscal year 2026. There are also separate flat fees for informal entries, a manual surcharge if your filing is not electronic, and a growing list of situations where MPF now applies that did not before, because of the Section 321 de minimis suspension. 

At Artemus Transportation Solutions, our ISF, AMS, and AES filing software supports the USA compliance process seamlessly, so we see how MPF affects real shipments every day. 

What Is the Merchandise Processing Fee?

The Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) is a user fee charged by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on most goods imported into the United States. For formal entries, it is an ad valorem fee of 0.3464% of the entered value of the merchandise, excluding duty, freight, and insurance. For fiscal year 2026, the minimum is $33.58 and the maximum is $651.50 per entry. It is collected at the time of entry summary and applies regardless of whether duty is owed on the goods.

What Does MPF Stand For & Who Collects It?

MPF stands for Merchandise Processing Fee. It was established under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 and is codified at 19 U.S.C. § 58c, with the operational rules in 19 CFR 24.23. 

The fee is collected by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the time the entry summary (CBP Form 7501) is filed. The importer of record is legally responsible for paying it, although in practice most importers pay through their customs broker.

What The Fee Actually Funds

MPF revenue funds CBP’s commercial operations: the people, systems, and infrastructure that process customs entries, run risk assessments, and clear cargo. It is sometimes confused with a tariff, but it is not. 

A tariff is a tax tied to the product and its country of origin. MPF is a flat-rate service fee for the act of processing the entry itself, and it applies on both dutiable and duty-free goods unless a specific exemption applies.

Know More About: Custom Clearance Charges & Fees: A Complete Guide

Merchandise Processing Fee 2026 Rates (& 2024 to 2025 History)

CBP adjusts user fees once a year under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, based on the change in the Consumer Price Index. The modification for the fiscal year 2026 was announced in the Federal Register notice 2025-13869 dated July 23, 2025, and the updated amounts became effective on October 1, 2025.

If the date of your entry summary is on or after October 1, 2025, the figures for FY2026 will be applicable.

FY2026 Formal Entry Rate, Minimum, Maximum, & Manual Surcharge

For a formal entry (typically commercial shipments valued at $2,500 or more), MPF is calculated at 0.3464% of the entered value. The minimum charge is $33.58 and the maximum is $651.50 per entry. If the entry is filed manually rather than electronically through the Automated Commercial Environment, an additional $4.03 surcharge applies. These are the headline numbers you will see on your Form 7501.

Informal Entry Tiers ($2.69 / $8.06 / $12.09)

Informal entries (generally shipments under $2,500) are not charged by percentage. Instead, MPF is a flat fee that varies by how the entry is processed. For FY2026, the rates are $2.69 for an automated informal entry not prepared by CBP personnel, $8.06 for a manual informal entry not prepared by CBP, and $12.09 if CBP personnel prepare the release. The cheapest tier is automated, which is one practical reason to use a broker connected to ACE.

Year-Over-Year Table: FY2024 vs FY2025 vs FY2026

Sources: CBP Customs User Fee article (FY2026 figures), NNR Global summary of the October 2024 increase, and CBP Federal Register notices.

Why MPF Adjusts Every October 1

The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015 requires CBP to compare the latest 12-month Consumer Price Index to the FY2014 baseline and adjust fees accordingly. If CPI moves more than 1%, the fees and their caps move with it. 

The rate itself (0.3464%) is set separately in statute and does not change with inflation, which is why only the minimum and maximum drift up each year while the percentage stays put. For FY2026, CBP applied a 34.331% cumulative inflation adjustment factor.

Know More About: How To Do Custom Clearance In USA For Goods? The Process

How Is The Merchandise Processing Fee Calculated?

The math itself is straightforward. The friction is usually in deciding which value to multiply, when to apply the minimum or maximum, and whether you are looking at a formal or informal entry.

Formula for formal entries: MPF = Entered Value × 0.3464%, then floored at the minimum and capped at the maximum.

Entered value is the declared customs value of the merchandise as reported on Form 7501. It excludes duty, ocean or air freight, and insurance. Working through three real scenarios makes the rules click.

Worked Example 1: Low-Value Shipment Hits The Minimum

A $5,000 shipment of automotive parts from Germany. The ad valorem calculation gives you $5,000 × 0.003464 = $17.32. That falls below the FY2026 floor of $33.58, so the importer pays the minimum: $33.58.

Worked Example 2: Mid-Value Shipment Pays Pure Ad Valorem

A $50,000 shipment of consumer electronics. The math is $50,000 × 0.003464 = $173.20. That sits cleanly between the minimum and maximum, so the importer pays exactly $173.20.

Worked Example 3: High-Value Shipment Hits the Maximum

A $400,000 container of industrial machinery. The ad valorem figure would be $400,000 × 0.003464 = $1,385.60. That exceeds the FY2026 cap of $651.50, so the importer pays the maximum: $651.50.

The Exact Thresholds Where The Minimum & Maximum Kick In

If you want the precise dollar lines where the rules switch over for FY2026:

• Shipments valued at $9,694 or less hit the minimum of $33.58.
• Shipments valued between $9,694 and $188,076 pay the ad valorem rate.
• Shipments valued at $188,076 or more hit the maximum of $651.50.

These thresholds shift slightly every year as the caps move with inflation, so for any new fiscal year, the easiest way to find the breakpoints is to divide the minimum and maximum by 0.003464.

Formal vs Informal Entry: The $2,500 Line

Whether your entry is formal or informal changes whether you pay the percentage or the flat fee. The general rule is that commercial shipments valued at $2,500 or more require a formal entry, which means the ad valorem MPF with min and max. 

Shipments under $2,500 typically qualify for informal entry, which gets one of the three flat tiers. Certain regulated goods (textiles flagged for quota, products subject to additional partner government agency requirements) must be filed formally regardless of value.

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Customs Merchandise Processing Fee vs Harbor Maintenance Fee

MPF and HMF appear on the same entry summary and get conflated constantly, but they fund different things and apply to different shipments. If you are budgeting landed costs, you need both lines.

MPF vs HMF At A Glance

When You Pay Both (& When You Do Not)

If you import by ocean vessel, you generally pay both MPF and HMF on the same entry. If you import by air, truck, or rail, you pay MPF only. HMF is uncapped, so on a high-value ocean shipment it can quietly become the larger of the two fees. A $1 million ocean container, for example, would owe $651.50 in MPF (capped) but $1,250 in HMF (uncapped).

Know More About: What Is Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF)? A 2025 Guide

MPF Exemptions & The End Of De Minimis

Not every shipment owes MPF. The exemption landscape changed significantly in 2025, and a lot of importers are still adjusting to what it means in practice.

Free Trade Agreement Exemptions

Many of the United States’ free trade agreements include an MPF exemption for qualifying goods. USMCA-qualifying goods from Canada and Mexico are exempt when properly claimed under the agreement’s rules of origin. The same is broadly true for goods qualifying under most other U.S. FTAs. 

Note that the FTA exemption applies only to MPF, not HMF, and the goods must meet the agreement’s origin requirements and be properly claimed on the entry. CBP’s guidance on MPF and preferential trade programs lays out the program-by-program details.

Unconditionally Free Goods & The TPL Nuance

Goods that are unconditionally duty-free under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule can also qualify for MPF exemption when imported under an FTA, even when ‘Free’ is not explicitly listed in the Special column, provided they meet the rules of origin. 

One important wrinkle: Tariff Preference Level goods (a textile-quota mechanism) are generally not eligible for the MPF exemption even when imported under an FTA, because they do not technically ‘originate’ in the FTA partner country. If you import textiles or apparel under USMCA TPL or a similar mechanism, expect MPF to apply.

What The Section 321 Suspension Means For MPF Exposure

For two decades, Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930 let any single shipment valued at $800 or less enter the United States duty-free, with no formal entry, no MPF, and minimal paperwork. That changed in 2025. On May 2, 2025, de minimis ended for goods originating in China and Hong Kong. On August 29, 2025, Executive Order 14257 extended the suspension to all countries worldwide. A White House proclamation in February 2026 confirmed the suspension continues.

The practical effect for importers is straightforward: many small parcels that previously slipped through without MPF now require a formal or informal entry, which means MPF applies. For a direct-to-consumer brand that used to ship under $800 from a Chinese fulfillment center, every package now triggers an entry and the corresponding fee. For e-commerce platforms importing high volumes of low-value packages, the cumulative impact is significant, and consolidation strategies have shifted from optional to essential.

Our customs brokerage has seen a clear uptick in formal entries for goods that historically moved as de minimis, and the CBP guidance on MPF and informal entry rates is the authoritative reference for which tier applies. If your supply chain was built around Section 321, the FY2026 MPF figures are now part of your cost structure in a way they were not before.

Know More About: ISF Form (Importer Security Filing): Elements & Top Practices

How Artemus Simplifies MPF Compliance For Importers & Brokers

MPF errors are rarely about the percentage itself. They usually come from manual entry mistakes, applying last year’s minimum or maximum to a current entry, missing an FTA exemption that should have been claimed, or paying the manual surcharge because the entry was not filed electronically. Each of these is a process problem, and each is automatable.

At Artemus, our ACE-connected filing tools handle entry summary preparation, validate entered values, apply the current FY2026 minimum and maximum automatically, and flag eligible FTA exemptions before the entry is transmitted. Our AMS filing software and AES filing software round out the compliance stack, so importers and brokers manage MPF, ISF, AMS, and AES from a single platform instead of stitching together four. The result is fewer manual surcharges, fewer post-entry corrections, and landed cost numbers you can trust.

Know More About: Artemus customs broker software platform

FAQs

1. What Does MPF Stand For?

MPF stands for Merchandise Processing Fee. It is a user fee that U.S. Customs and Border Protection charges on most goods imported into the United States to fund the processing of customs entries.

2. What Is The Merchandise Processing Fee For 2026?

For fiscal year 2026 (entries dated on or after October 1, 2025), MPF on formal entries is 0.3464% of the entered value, with a minimum of $33.58 and a maximum of $651.50. Informal entries are charged a flat $2.69, $8.06, or $12.09 depending on whether they are automated, manual, or CBP-prepared. A $4.03 surcharge applies to manual filings.

3. Who Pays The Merchandise Processing Fee?

The importer of record is legally responsible for paying MPF. In day-to-day practice, the fee is usually paid through a customs broker, who collects it as part of the entry summary process and remits it to CBP along with any applicable duties and other fees.

4. Is MPF Charged On Duty-Free Or FTA Goods?

MPF applies even when no duty is owed. Duty-free does not mean fee-free. However, goods that qualify under most U.S. free trade agreements, including USMCA, can claim an MPF exemption when properly declared. The FedEx MPF guidance provides a useful reference table on which carrier shipment types are MPF-eligible.

5. What Is The Minimum And Maximum MPF In 2025 Vs 2026?

For FY2025 (October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025), the formal entry minimum was $32.71 and the maximum was $634.62. For FY2026 (October 1, 2025 onward), those figures increased to $33.58 and $651.50. The 0.3464% rate did not change in either year.

6. Is The Merchandise Processing Fee Refundable Through Duty Drawback?

Yes. MPF is eligible for duty drawback when the imported merchandise is subsequently exported or destroyed under CBP supervision. Eligible importers can recover up to 99% of the MPF paid, subject to drawback program rules. The same is true for HMF, which is also drawback-eligible.

7. How Can Importers Reduce MPF Through Entry Consolidation?

Because MPF is capped at $651.50 per formal entry, consolidating multiple shipments from the same supplier onto a single entry can produce real savings. Five separate $50,000 entries would owe 5 × $173.20 = $866.00 in MPF. A single $300,000 entry covering the same goods would max out at $651.50. The savings appear once your consolidated entry crosses the maximum threshold (about $188,076 for FY2026). Consolidation must follow CBP rules around weekly entry, same supplier, and timing. Flexport’s MPF consolidation guidance includes a useful visualization of how the savings compound across shipments.

8. Does MPF Apply To Shipments Under $800?

Until 2025, shipments under $800 generally entered under Section 321 with no MPF. With the de minimis exemption now suspended for all countries (the Congressional Research Service report on Section 321 lays out the policy history in detail), most shipments under $800 require either a formal or informal entry, which means MPF applies. Whether the flat informal tiers or the ad valorem formal rate applies depends on shipment value, product type, and how the entry is filed.

Conclusion

The Merchandise Processing Fee is small per shipment but it compounds across a year of imports, and the figures changed materially on October 1, 2025. For FY2026, the rate held at 0.3464% but the minimum moved to $33.58 and the maximum to $651.50. Informal entry tiers, the manual surcharge, and the value thresholds where the caps kick in all shifted alongside.

The three takeaways worth keeping: use the current FY2026 numbers in every landed cost model, build MPF in alongside HMF and duty rather than as an afterthought, and automate filing so manual surcharges and minimum-or-maximum errors stop showing up on entry summaries. The de minimis suspension means MPF now applies to a wider universe of shipments than it did a year ago, which makes getting this right more consequential, not less.

If you want a closer look at how Artemus handles MPF, ISF, AMS, and AES filings from a single platform, our software and customs brokerage services are built for exactly this kind of multi-fee, multi-mode complexity.

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