CBP’s annual inflation adjustment to customs user fees takes effect on 1 October 2026, the start of Fiscal Year 2027. The merchandise processing fee minimum goes from $33.58 to $34.58, the maximum from $651.50 to $670.86, and the ad valorem rate stays exactly where it is at 0.3464 percent.
Several summaries of this notice describe a 38 percent increase. That figure is cumulative inflation since Fiscal Year 2014, and the published fees rise about 3 percent year over year. Any formal entry valued between roughly $9,983 and $188,077 pays the same merchandise processing fee on 2 October as on 30 September. Entries below that range pay the new $34.58 minimum, at most $1 more than before, and entries above it pay up to $19.36 more as the maximum moves from $651.50 to $670.86.
What is the merchandise processing fee, and what is the MPF minimum?
The merchandise processing fee is a US customs user fee charged on formal entries, calculated as a percentage of the entered value of the goods. The rate is 0.3464 percent. It is bounded at both ends: there is a minimum you pay no matter how small the entry, and a maximum you pay no matter how large.
For Fiscal Year 2027, the MPF minimum is $34.58 and the maximum is $670.86, effective for entries on or after 1 October 2026. The Fiscal Year 2026 amounts, in force until 30 September 2026, are $33.58 and $651.50. CBP states in the notice that only the limitation is increasing and the ad valorem rate of 0.3464 percent remains the same.
The MPF is one of a set of fees established under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, which CBP reviews each year under the FAST Act and adjusts when inflation clears a one percent threshold. The same notice adjusts vessel, truck, rail and passenger arrival fees, the customs broker permit fee, informal entry fees and express consignment fees. It does not touch duty, and it does not cover the harbor maintenance fee, which sits under separate authority.
The MPF bands, and which one your entry sits in
Because the MPF is a percentage bounded by a floor and a ceiling, the effect of the 1 October adjustment depends on where an entry sits relative to both the old and new thresholds.
- Below roughly $9,694. Both schedules apply the minimum, so the fee rises from $33.58 to $34.58.
- Roughly $9,694 to $9,983. The current schedule charges 0.3464 percent, while the FY2027 minimum still applies. The increase is less than $1 and varies with entered value.
- Roughly $9,983 to $188,077. Neither the minimum nor maximum applies under either schedule, so both charge 0.3464 percent and the fee is unchanged.
- Roughly $188,077 to $193,666. The current $651.50 maximum applies, while FY2027 still charges 0.3464 percent. The increase varies with entered value and reaches $19.36 at the top of the band.
- Above roughly $193,666. Both schedules apply their maximum, so the fee rises from $651.50 to $670.86.
Worked through actual entry values, the effect is small and uneven.
| Entered value | MPF through 30 Sep 2026 | MPF from 1 Oct 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000 | $33.58 (floor) | $34.58 (floor) | +$1.00 |
| $9,800 | $33.95 (percentage) | $34.58 (floor) | +$0.63 |
| $50,000 | $173.20 | $173.20 | No change |
| $150,000 | $519.60 | $519.60 | No change |
| $190,000 | $651.50 (ceiling) | $658.16 (percentage) | +$6.66 |
| $500,000 | $651.50 (ceiling) | $670.86 (ceiling) | +$19.36 |
The largest possible increase on any single entry is $19.36. An entry capped under both schedules pays that. Entries between roughly $9,983 and $188,077 remain in the percentage range under both schedules and pay nothing extra.
Where the 38 percent figure comes from
The 38 percent in the notice is a cumulative adjustment factor. CBP sets each fee by taking a base amount fixed in the regulations and increasing it by the total change in the Consumer Price Index since the Fiscal Year 2014 base year. For FY2027 that cumulative factor is 38.322 percent, up from 34.331 percent for FY2026.
The year-over-year increase in the inflation-adjustment multiplier works out at about 2.97 percent. The published amounts track it closely: the MPF minimum moves from $33.58 to $34.58 and the broker permit fee from $185.38 to $190.88, each roughly a 3 percent increase.
The separate 2.84 percent figure in the notice belongs to the inflation test. CBP compares the CPI-U average for June 2025 to May 2026 against the prior twelve-month average of 317.032, and adjusts the fees only if the increase exceeds one percent. The notice records the difference as 9.419 index points and rounds it to 9, and 2.84 percent is what that rounded 9 gives against the prior-year average. The unrounded 9.419 gives about 2.97 percent, which lines up with the rise in the published fees.
One thing to watch if you are checking the source. The notice states two different factors. Section C gives 38.222 percent. The variable calculation in the same section, and the announcement in Section D, both give 38.322 percent. The published fee table is computed at 38.322: the statutory base amounts of $25 and $485 for the MPF limits, $138 for the broker permit and $437 for the vessel arrival fee land exactly on the published figures at 38.322 percent and miss at 38.222 percent. Downstream summaries have picked up both numbers, so check which one you are reading.
Selected FY2027 customs user fees
| Fee or limitation | Through 30 Sep 2026 | From 1 Oct 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Merchandise processing fee, minimum | $33.58 | $34.58 |
| Merchandise processing fee, maximum | $651.50 | $670.86 |
| Merchandise processing fee, ad valorem rate | 0.3464% | 0.3464% (unchanged) |
| Commercial vessel arrival fee | $587.03 | $604.47 |
| Commercial vessel, calendar year maximum | $7,999.40 | $8,237.06 |
| Barges and other bulk carriers arrival fee | $147.76 | $152.15 |
| Barges and bulk carriers, calendar year maximum | $2,014.96 | $2,074.83 |
| Commercial truck arrival fee (CBP portion) | $7.35 | $7.60 |
| Commercial truck, calendar year prepayment (CBP portion) | $134.33 | $138.32 |
| Railroad car arrival fee | $11.08 | $11.41 |
| Railroad car, calendar year prepayment | $134.33 | $138.32 |
| Private vessel or private aircraft, first arrival or annual | $36.94 | $38.04 |
| Dutiable mail fee | $7.39 | $7.61 |
| Commercial vessel or aircraft passenger arrival fee | $7.39 | $7.61 |
| Passenger arrival from a US territory or possession | $2.59 | $2.67 |
| Customs broker permit user fee | $185.38 | $190.88 |
| Surcharge for manual entry or release | $4.03 | $4.15 |
| Informal entry, automated, not prepared by CBP | $2.69 | $2.77 |
| Informal entry, manual, not prepared by CBP | $8.06 | $8.30 |
| Informal entry, manual, prepared by CBP | $12.09 | $12.45 |
| Express consignment, per waybill or B/L | $1.34 | $1.38 |
Two details in the truck line are easy to miss. The arrival fee is adjusted down to the nearest lower nickel, which is why $7.61 becomes $7.60. And the CBP fee is only part of what a truck pays: the USDA APHIS agricultural inspection fee of $14.50 brings the total single crossing fee to $22.10. On the annual transponder, the CBP portion of $138.32 plus the APHIS portion of $870.60 gives a total of $1,008.92.
The notice also records a detail worth knowing for high-frequency crossings: once eighteen single crossing fees have been paid against a vehicle identification number in a DTOPS account within a calendar year, the nineteenth and subsequent crossings carry only the $14.50 APHIS fee.
Who actually feels this, and what to ask your broker
Importers whose costs move on 1 October include those filing low-value formal entries at the minimum and high-value entries affected by the ceiling shift. For an importer filing a high count of entries that remain at the minimum under both schedules, the effect accumulates directly: each entry costs $1 more, so a thousand such entries a year add about $1,000.
For importers with many low-value entries, the adjustment is a prompt to look at a cost that predates it: how often those entries land at the flat minimum. An entry of $3,000 and an entry of $9,000 each pay $34.58 if filed separately. If those two shipments arrived on the same conveyance and could be filed as one $12,000 entry, the combined MPF would be about $41.57 rather than $69.16 under the FY2027 limits.
Finding consolidation candidates depends on knowing, before the entry is filed, which containers are actually on the same vessel, and a rollover or transshipment change after booking can split shipments you expected to arrive together. If your team checks that shipment by shipment on carrier sites, see how ops teams follow vessel and voyage changes across carriers in one view.
The questions worth putting to your customs broker before your first October entry:
- How many of our entries in the last twelve months paid the flat MPF minimum rather than the percentage?
- How many paid the maximum, and would our profile change if the ceiling threshold moves to roughly $193,666?
- Which of our low-value shipments arrive on the same conveyance and could be consolidated onto a single entry?
- Are any of our entries being filed manually and picking up the $4.15 manual entry surcharge unnecessarily?
- Would a foreign trade zone change our MPF exposure at our volume, and what would the administrative cost be against the saving?
- Do any of our goods qualify for an MPF exemption under a trade agreement such as USMCA, and are we claiming it?
Reduced MPF is one of the standard reasons importers look at foreign trade zones, alongside duty deferral. Our comparison of CFS, CY, FTZ and bonded warehouse options covers the trade-offs, and the US import checklist covers where entry filing sits in the wider process. The specifics of eligibility and procedure belong with a licensed broker.
Frequently asked questions
What is the MPF minimum for 2027?
The merchandise processing fee minimum is $34.58 for Fiscal Year 2027, required for entries on or after 1 October 2026. The FY2026 minimum of $33.58 applies through 30 September 2026.
Is the MPF rate changing on October 1, 2026?
No. The ad valorem rate stays at 0.3464 percent. CBP’s notice states that only the limitation is increasing. Entries that remain in the percentage range under both the FY2026 and FY2027 limits will pay the same merchandise processing fee after 1 October as before.
Are customs fees going up 38 percent?
No. The 38.322 percent figure is a cumulative adjustment factor measured from the Fiscal Year 2014 base year and applied to base amounts fixed in the regulations. The year-over-year increase in the published fees is about 3 percent.
What is the maximum merchandise processing fee for FY2027?
$670.86, up from $651.50. An entry pays the maximum once 0.3464 percent of entered value exceeds it, which happens at roughly $193,666 in entered value under the new limit.
Further reading
- Customs User Fees To Be Adjusted for Inflation in Fiscal Year 2027, CBP Dec. 26-14, Federal Register, 31 July 2026
- Customs User Fees To Be Adjusted for Inflation in Fiscal Year 2026, CBP Dec. 25-10, Federal Register, 23 July 2025
- Customs Bulletin and Decisions, Vol. 60, No. 24, US Customs and Border Protection, 19 August 2026
Fee amounts are CBP’s published FY2026 and FY2027 schedules from the Federal Register notices linked above, effective 1 October 2025 and 1 October 2026 respectively. The entered-value thresholds, the per-entry comparison table and the year-over-year percentages are our calculations from the rate, limitations and index values published in those notices, and are not CBP-published figures. This post covers COBRA user fees only, and does not address duty, the harbor maintenance fee, brokerage charges or any other line on an entry summary. Eligibility for foreign trade zone treatment, trade agreement exemptions and entry consolidation depends on your specific goods and operations. Confirm with a licensed customs broker before acting.
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