Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF): How It Is Calculated and Who Is Exempt
Chen Cui Co-Founder of GingerControl What changed: Updated to the fiscal 2027 fees from October 1, 2026 (CBP Dec. 26-14): $34.58 minimum, $670.86 maximum, informal entries $2.77, $8.30 and $12.45, with every worked figure recomputed; Section 122 no longer listed as a Tariff Calculator layer.
The merchandise processing fee is 0.3464% of entered value with a FY2027 floor of $34.58 and cap of $670.86 per formal entry (from October 1, 2026), originating goods under USMCA and most other FTAs skip it entirely, and above about $193,666 of entry value the cap turns MPF into a volume game you can win by consolidating entries.
Next step:Price the full duty stack for one SKU
What is the merchandise processing fee?
The merchandise processing fee (MPF) is a U.S. customs user fee, charged under 19 CFR 24.23, that CBP collects on most imports to fund entry processing. For formal entries it is 0.3464 percent of the entered value, subject to a per-entry minimum and maximum. It is a fee, not a duty, but it lands on the same entry summary and belongs in every landed-cost model.
How much is MPF in FY2027?
For entries on or after October 1, 2026, the ad valorem rate stays 0.3464 percent, the minimum is $34.58, and the maximum is $670.86 per formal entry, per the Federal Register user-fee adjustment, CBP Dec. 26-14. You can check any entry in seconds with our free MPF calculator.
The merchandise processing fee for FY2027 is 0.3464 percent of entered value, clamped between $34.58 and $670.86 per formal entry. The rate has not moved since 2017; only the floor and cap adjust for inflation each October. The base excludes duty, freight, and insurance, so Section 301, Section 232, and other stacked tariffs never increase MPF. For an importer filing 1,000 mid-size entries a year, MPF alone is a five-to-six-figure line item.
How MPF is calculated, with worked examples
The formula is one multiplication and one clamp, but the clamp does all the interesting work. MPF applies to entered value: the customs value of the goods, excluding duty, international freight, and insurance.
| Entered value | 0.3464% raw | What you actually pay | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000 | $17.32 | $34.58 | Below $9,983, the floor binds |
| $50,000 | $173.20 | $173.20 | Between the bounds, the rate applies as-is |
| $193,666 | $670.86 | $670.86 | The value where the cap starts binding |
| $500,000 | $1,732.00 | $670.86 | Cap: everything above $193,666 rides free |
Three practical consequences fall straight out of that table:
- Small entries overpay by design. A $5,000 entry pays an effective 0.67 percent, nearly double the nominal rate, because of the floor.
- Large entries pay a vanishing rate. At $1 million entered value, $670.86 works out to 0.067 percent, about a fifth of the nominal rate.
- Stacked tariffs do not touch it. Duty is not part of the base, so a 50 percent Section 301 plus Section 232 load changes your duty bill, never your MPF. Our customs fees hub walks the full fee sheet line by line.
Informal entries (generally low-value shipments) pay a flat MPF instead: $2.77 automated, $8.30 manual, or $12.45 if CBP prepares the entry, per 19 CFR 24.23(b)(2) at FY2027 amounts.
Which imports are exempt from MPF?
Goods that qualify as originating under most U.S. free trade agreements skip MPF entirely under 19 CFR 24.23(c). CBP's MPF and preferential trade programs table is the authoritative list; confirmed exempting programs include:
| Program | MPF exempt for originating goods? |
|---|---|
| USMCA (Canada, Mexico) | Yes, since July 1, 2020 |
| U.S.-Chile FTA | Yes |
| U.S.-Singapore FTA | Yes |
| U.S.-Australia FTA | Yes |
Two traps to note. First, not every preference program exempts MPF, so check the CBP table for yours rather than assuming. Second, the exemption is MPF-only: the harbor maintenance fee, 0.125 percent on vessel-borne cargo with no floor and no cap under 19 CFR 24.24, still applies to ocean shipments. On a $2 million sea entry, HMF ($2,500) is nearly four times the capped MPF, the fee most importers forget to model.
The preference claim has to be earned: the goods must actually satisfy the rule of origin, with support on file. If you are qualifying products across a catalog, automating FTA qualification at scale covers how to do that defensibly. GingerControl is a trade compliance AI platform that helps importers, exporters, and customs brokers classify products, simulate tariff costs, and track policy changes, and its landed-cost math keeps fees like MPF and HMF separated from the duty stack so each line is right for the right reason.
How do high-volume importers reduce MPF?
Quotable insight: MPF is the only line on a 7501 with both a floor and a ceiling, which makes it a volume game rather than a rate game. Below $9,983 of entered value you overpay the 0.3464 percent rate by definition; above $193,666 the effective rate collapses, hitting 0.067 percent at $1 million. The lever is consolidation: ten capped entries a week cost $6,708.60, one weekly FTZ entry costs $670.86, about a $314,000 annual difference on identical goods.
The cap rewards fewer, larger entries. Three legitimate routes, in increasing order of commitment:
- Consolidate shipments into fewer formal entries. Two $100,000 entries pay $346.40 each ($692.80 total); one $200,000 entry pays the $670.86 cap. Small, but it compounds across a year.
- Claim the FTA preferences you already qualify for. Originating USMCA goods pay zero MPF; unclaimed preference is a pure giveaway at 0.3464 percent of every uncapped dollar.
- Weekly entry from a foreign-trade zone. All withdrawals in a 7-day period file as a single entry, one cap per week no matter how many shipments. At ten capped entries a week, that is about $314,000 a year, and it is usually the largest single FTZ benefit for high-frequency importers, bigger than the duty math itself. We walk the full zone economics, duty streams plus the MPF play, in our FTZ duty savings guide, and you can price the duty side with the FTZ savings estimator.
For a CAFTA-DR shipment, compare CAFTA-DR duty savings with the documentation work needed to support the preference.
What does not work: splitting values artificially, misdeclaring entered value, or leaning on de minimis thresholds that no longer exist. MPF sits on the entry summary CBP audits, and the fee saved is never worth the 19 U.S.C. 1592 exposure.
Checking your own entries for the MPF math
Start with the free MPF calculator: entered value in, MPF and HMF out, with the FY2027 bounds and informal-entry fees built in from the Federal Register figures. It takes ten seconds per entry and shows which bound, if any, is binding.
For the bigger picture, fees are the small line next to the duty stack. GingerControl's Tariff Calculator covers the full U.S. tariff stack, base duty, Section 232, Section 301 (including the forced-labor Section 301 from July 24, 2026) and other Chapter 99 lines, across 200+ countries, with fees modeled separately so your landed cost adds up the way CBP's invoice will. Calculate your duties
Fee engineering is one lane of a wider customs spend program, and the top 10 AI spend management platforms ranks which platforms read the fee and duty ledgers at all.
References
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Customs User Fees To Be Adjusted for Inflation in Fiscal Year 2027, CBP Dec. 26-14
Data cited: FY2027 MPF minimum $34.58, maximum $670.86, rate 0.3464 percent, informal entries $2.77, $8.30 and $12.45, effective October 1, 2026
Source: 91 FR 48398
Published: July 31, 2026 - Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 19 CFR 24.23, Fees for processing merchandise
Data cited: MPF mechanics, informal entry flat fees, FTA exemption provision in 24.23(c)
Source: 19 CFR 24.23 - Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 19 CFR 24.24, Harbor maintenance fee
Data cited: 0.125 percent HMF on vessel-borne cargo, no minimum or maximum
Source: 19 CFR 24.24 - U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Merchandise Processing Fee and Preferential Trade Programs
Data cited: which preference programs exempt originating goods from MPF
Source: CBP MPF and preferential trade programs - U.S. Government, Expanded weekly entry procedure for foreign trade zones
Data cited: single entry for all merchandise withdrawn from a zone during a 7-day period
Source: Federal Register, 19 U.S.C. 1484(i) implementation (PDF)
Published: July 25, 2002
Questions people ask
How is the merchandise processing fee calculated on a formal entry?
Multiply the entered value, excluding duty, freight, and insurance, by 0.3464 percent, then clamp the result to the FY2027 floor of $34.58 and cap of $670.86. A $50,000 entry pays $173.20; a $500,000 entry pays the $670.86 cap, not $1,732. GingerControl's free MPF calculator runs this exact math, including the informal-entry flat fees and the harbor maintenance fee, from the Federal Register figures.
What is the MPF minimum and maximum for FY2027?
For entries on or after October 1, 2026, the minimum is $34.58 and the maximum is $670.86 per formal entry, set by CBP Dec. 26-14 in the Federal Register. The 0.3464 percent rate itself has not changed since 2017, only the bounds adjust for inflation each fiscal year. GingerControl tracks these annual adjustments in its free MPF calculator so importers never model fees on last year's limits.
Do Section 301 or Section 232 tariffs increase my MPF?
No. MPF is charged on entered value, which excludes duty of every kind, so Section 301, Section 232, and other special tariffs never change the MPF base. An importer paying 50 percent in stacked duties on a $100,000 entry still pays MPF on $100,000, which is $346.40. GingerControl's Tariff Calculator keeps the duty stack and the fee base separate for exactly this reason, so landed-cost models do not double-count.
Which imports are exempt from the merchandise processing fee?
Goods that qualify as originating under most U.S. free trade agreements, including USMCA, Chile, Singapore, and Australia, are exempt from MPF under 19 CFR 24.23(c), though not every program qualifies, so check CBP's MPF and preferential trade programs table for yours. The exemption covers MPF only: harbor maintenance fee still applies to ocean cargo. For an importer with $20 million in qualifying annual entries, claiming the preference saves roughly $13,000 a year in MPF alone, which GingerControl quantifies per product in its FTA qualification analysis.
How can a high-volume importer legally reduce MPF?
Consolidate entries so more value rides under each $670.86 cap. Ten formal entries a week at the cap cost $6,708.60; the same goods on one weekly entry from a foreign-trade zone cost $670.86, about $314,000 a year less. Fewer, larger entries outside a zone work the same way at smaller scale. GingerControl's free FTZ savings estimator and MPF calculator let you price both routes before committing to either.
Is MPF the same as the harbor maintenance fee?
No. MPF applies to most formal entries regardless of transport mode and is capped per entry; the harbor maintenance fee is 0.125 percent on vessel-borne cargo only, with no minimum and no cap, under 19 CFR 24.24. A $2 million ocean entry pays $670.86 in MPF but $2,500 in HMF, so on high-value sea freight HMF quietly outgrows MPF. GingerControl's MPF calculator returns both fees side by side so the bigger line item never hides.
Not sure what the next tariff change costs you?
Hand this to GingerOS.
Pick a 30-minute slot on the next page with Chen Cui, our CEO. Bring one notice or one SKU list (an ERP export, a spreadsheet or an email will do) and see what GingerOS does with it.
Reviewed by Michael Weick, LCB / CCS
