Customs fees are the duties, taxes, and administrative charges the U.S. government collects on goods entering the country. On a typical import, you are paying several separate things at once: the import duty tied to what the product is and where it came from, a merchandise processing fee, sometimes a harbor maintenance fee, and any federal excise tax that applies to the category of goods. Since 2025, nearly every shipment owes something, because the $800 duty-free exemption that used to cover small parcels has been suspended.
What Actually Shows Up on the Bill
The total is a stack of independent charges. Each is calculated on its own, and one can apply even when another doesn’t.
The import duty, or tariff, is usually the largest line. Every product is classified under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, and the classification determines the percentage rate applied to the product’s value. These rates are authorized under the Tariff Act of 1930 and maintained by the U.S. International Trade Commission.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 USC 1202 – Harmonized Tariff Schedule In 2025 additional tariffs layered on top of the schedule rates for most trading partners, which is covered further down.
The Merchandise Processing Fee funds CBP’s processing work and applies to nearly every entry. For formal entries (commercial shipments valued over $2,500), it is 0.3464% of the shipment’s value, with a floor of $33.58 and a ceiling of $651.50 as of October 2025.2U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Information on Customs User Fee Changes Effective October 1, 2025 Informal (lower-value) entries pay a flat fee of $2.69, $8.06, or $12.09 depending on how they are processed.3U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Customs User Fee – Merchandise Processing Fees
The Harbor Maintenance Fee adds 0.125% of cargo value for goods arriving by ocean vessel.4eCFR. 19 CFR 24.24 – Harbor Maintenance Fee Air freight and land-border shipments don’t pay it. On a $50,000 ocean shipment, it adds $62.50.
Federal excise taxes apply to specific categories no matter where the goods are made. Imported distilled spirits, wine, and beer carry per-unit excise taxes collected by CBP at the time of importation.5eCFR. 27 CFR Part 27 Subpart D – Tax on Imported Distilled Spirits, Wines, and Beer Tobacco products and certain petroleum products owe them too. Crude oil and imported petroleum products, for example, owe a per-barrel tax under Section 4611 of the Internal Revenue Code that funds the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund and the Hazardous Substance Superfund.6Internal Revenue Service. Petroleum Tax – Crude Oil Exports; Reinstatement of Hazardous Substance Superfund Financing Rate
How the Duty Amount Is Calculated
Three pieces of information drive the duty: what the product is, where it came from, and what it’s worth.
Product Classification
Every traded product maps to a code in the Harmonized System, an international classification kept by the World Customs Organization that groups goods into over 5,000 six-digit categories.7World Customs Organization. What Is the Harmonized System (HS)? The United States extends these to eight or ten digits for more specificity, and each code carries its own duty rate. A cotton t-shirt and a polyester t-shirt may sit under different codes at different rates. Getting the code wrong means paying the wrong amount, and CBP checks.
Country of Origin
Where the product was manufactured decides which tariff layers apply. The same HS code might owe 5% from a free trade partner, 15% from a country subject to the 10% reciprocal tariff, or well over 100% if the origin is China. Trade agreements like USMCA can reduce or eliminate duties for qualifying goods from Canada and Mexico, but only if the importer files a certification of origin with the nine data elements required by Annex 5-A.8U.S. Customs and Border Protection. U.S. – Mexico – Canada Agreement (USMCA) Skipping the paperwork means paying the full rate even on a product that would have qualified.
Declared Value
Most U.S. duties are a percentage of transaction value: the price actually paid. That value has to appear on the commercial invoice along with a description of the goods, quantities, and seller information.9U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Commercial Invoice Requirements When Clearing or Filing Entry Documents With U.S. Customs and Border Protection CBP compares declared values to market data. Understating value to lower duty is one of the fastest ways to trigger a penalty investigation.
A Worked Example
Say you’re importing a product with a 5% base Harmonized Tariff Schedule rate, made in a country subject to the 10% reciprocal tariff but no other special tariffs. On a $10,000 ocean shipment, the math looks roughly like this: $500 in base duty, $1,000 in reciprocal tariff, $34.64 for the merchandise processing fee, and $12.50 for the harbor maintenance fee. About $1,547 before any brokerage costs. The same product from China could owe many times that.
The 2025 Tariff Layers
Since April 2025, an executive order has imposed a baseline 10% additional tariff on imports from all trading partners, with higher country-specific rates for many nations.10Federal Register. Regulating Imports With a Reciprocal Tariff To Rectify Trade Practices That Contribute to Large and Persistent Trade Deficits These reciprocal tariffs stack on top of whatever HS-schedule rate the product already carries.
China faces the heaviest load. Between fentanyl-related tariffs, reciprocal tariffs, and pre-existing Section 301 duties from the first Trump administration, Chinese imports now carry cumulative additional tariff rates that can reach 145% or more depending on the product category. Steel, aluminum, automobiles, and auto parts from any country also carry their own 25% tariffs layered on top of the baseline. Calculating your duty is no longer just “look up the HS rate.” You have to identify every tariff layer that applies to the product’s origin and add them together.
The $800 De Minimis Exemption Is Gone
For years, Section 321 of the Tariff Act let individual shipments valued at $800 or less enter the country with no duties, taxes, or formal paperwork.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 USC 1321 – Administrative Exemptions That is no longer the case. The exemption for goods from China and Hong Kong ended on May 2, 2025. Then a February 2026 executive order suspended it for shipments from all countries.12The White House. Continuing the Suspension of Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries
Under the current rules, virtually all imported goods have to be entered through the Automated Commercial Environment with duties, taxes, and fees paid, regardless of value. International postal shipments follow a separate process and may be subject to specific duty rates rather than the full tariff schedule, but they are no longer duty-free either. A $30 item ordered from an overseas retailer now owes the same tariff rates as a $30,000 commercial shipment. For most consumers, this shows up as an unexpected charge from the carrier at delivery.
Antidumping and Countervailing Duties
Certain products face antidumping (AD) or countervailing duty (CVD) orders on top of everything else. These apply when the Department of Commerce finds that a foreign manufacturer is selling below fair market value (dumping) or receiving government subsidies. The International Trade Administration maintains the list of covered products and countries.13International Trade Administration. Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations
AD/CVD rates can exceed 200% of the product’s value and receive no exemptions. If you’re importing something that competes with a domestic industry, such as steel, solar panels, certain chemicals, or furniture, check for active orders before you place an order.
Customs Bonds
Commercial imports valued above $2,500, or any shipment subject to another federal agency’s requirements (like the FDA for food or ATF for firearms), need a customs bond before CBP will release the goods.14U.S. Customs and Border Protection. When Is a Customs Bond Required A bond guarantees CBP will get paid. The minimum bond is $100, but the amount is generally set based on the duties expected to accrue.15eCFR. 19 CFR Part 113 – CBP Bonds
A single-entry bond covers one shipment and is priced as a percentage of shipment value plus duties. A continuous bond covers a year of imports and makes sense for regular shippers. Customs brokers can arrange either, but you pay for it. No bond in place when one is required means your goods sit at the port.
How You Actually Pay
For most personal purchases from abroad, the shipping carrier handles clearance and advances the duty to CBP for you. UPS, FedEx, and DHL all act as customs brokers for the shipments they carry.16UPS Supply Chain Solutions. Import Customs Clearance Guide You receive a bill for duties and taxes owed to the government plus the carrier’s brokerage fee, which typically runs from $5 to $50 for personal shipments. Payment usually goes through the carrier’s online portal by credit card.
Businesses importing at scale either work with a licensed customs broker or file entries themselves through the Automated Commercial Environment. CBP accepts ACH debit (if the company or broker holds a Payer Unit Number), ACH credit, and payments through Pay.gov.17U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Acceptable Electronic Payment Methods Credit cards are accepted for non-commercial entry duties at designated border locations. Payment is due before the goods are released.
If Something Goes Wrong
Mistakes on customs paperwork have real financial consequences, and CBP distinguishes honest errors from deliberate fraud. Penalties under 19 U.S.C. ยง 1592 scale with fault:18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 USC 1592 – Penalties for Fraud, Gross Negligence, and Negligence
- Negligence: up to two times the duties the government was shortchanged, or up to 20% of dutiable value if the error didn’t affect duties.
- Gross negligence: up to four times the lost duties, or up to 40% of dutiable value.
- Fraud: up to the full domestic value of the merchandise, on top of the duties still owed.
These penalties reach false statements, inaccurate valuations, wrong classifications, and any material omission on entry documents. The most common trigger is undervaluing goods to reduce duty, and the negligence penalty can still apply even if the undervaluation wasn’t intentional.
If CBP misclassifies your product or applies the wrong rate, you can file a formal protest within 180 days of the liquidation notice or the decision you’re contesting.19Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 USC 1514 – Protest Against Decisions of Customs Service Separately, if you paid full duties but later discover the goods qualified for a reduced rate under a trade agreement, you can file a post-importation refund claim within one year of the import date.20eCFR. 19 CFR Part 10 Subpart P – Post-Importation Duty Refund Claims Missing the one-year window forfeits the refund permanently.
Goods you never clear sit in a bonded warehouse racking up storage charges. Merchandise left unclaimed for six months with duties, taxes, fees, and storage unpaid is considered abandoned, and CBP can appraise and sell it at public auction.21Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 USC 1491 – Unclaimed Merchandise; Disposition of Hazardous or perishable goods can be sold sooner. You can still claim the goods any time before the sale by paying everything owed, but you can’t export them to sidestep the duty once the abandonment clock has started.
Don’t Forget State Use Tax
Federal duties aren’t the last tax on the bill. Most states impose a use tax on goods bought from outside the state, including from other countries, when no sales tax was collected at purchase. The use tax rate matches the state’s sales tax rate, and combined state and local rates run from zero in a handful of states to over 10% in the highest-tax jurisdictions. The obligation exists whether the import is a $200 personal purchase or a $200,000 commercial order. Businesses that import regularly face audit risk if they fail to account for it.