MPF & HMF Fees 2026–2027: Min & Max Rates

What are MPF and HMF?

MPF and HMF are the two recurring U.S. border fees that sit on top of your duty stack. They are not tariffs: duties are taxes on the goods, while these two fund services — MPF pays for Customs processing of the entry, HMF pays for harbor maintenance. Both are charged on the same customs value as your duties, which is why every serious cost model (including our landed cost formula) carries them as separate line items.

• MPF — Merchandise Processing Fee: 0.3464% of customs value, charged once per formal entry (not per line item, not per shipment within an entry), with a legal minimum and maximum that reset every federal fiscal year (19 U.S.C. §58c).
• HMF — Harbor Maintenance Fee: 0.125% of customs value, charged on sea and water shipments only, with no minimum and no maximum (26 U.S.C. §4461 / 19 CFR 24.24).

MPF minimum and maximum for 2026 and 2027

The numbers people search for, current as of the September 2026 fee schedule:

The FY2026 figures come from CBP's fee-schedule notice (CSMS #65741993); the FY2027 figures are from the Federal Register notice 91 FR 48398 (published July 31, 2026). The percentage never moves — only the floor and ceiling adjust each October.

When the minimum and maximum actually bind:

• Entries under roughly $9,700 pay the $33.58 minimum instead of 0.3464% (FY2026) — below that value, 0.3464% of the customs value falls under $33.58. A $3,000 entry would owe only $10.39 at the pure percentage, but is charged $33.58: on small entries MPF can exceed 1% of value.
• Entries above roughly $188,000 hit the $651.50 ceiling (FY2026). A $1,000,000 entry pays $651.50, not $3,464 — past the cap, MPF becomes effectively free on the marginal value.

HMF: the 0.125% fee with no cap

HMF is simpler and more brutal at scale: 0.125% of customs value on any cargo that arrives by vessel, with no floor and no ceiling:

• $10,000 sea shipment → $12.50
• $250,000 sea shipment → $312.50
• $10,000,000 sea shipment → $12,500 (while MPF stays capped at $651.50)

The same duty-free goods that skip MPF exemptions still pay HMF — there is no origin-based exemption for it. Air, truck and rail shipments owe no HMF at all.

How MPF and HMF are calculated on a real entry

Read the fee lines of that table:

• MPF shows $33.58, not $17.32. The ad-valorem math gives 0.3464% × $5,000 = $17.32, but that is below the FY2026 floor — so the $33.58 minimum is charged. This is the single most-missed fee on small entries.
• There is no HMF line. This shipment flies; HMF applies only to vessel cargo. The same shipment by sea would add 0.125% × $5,000 = $6.25.

Consolidation is the lever you control: because MPF is charged per entry, merging five $10,000 orders into one $50,000 entry replaces five minimums with one 0.3464% charge ($173.20) — see the per-unit MPF consolidation effect worked out in the landed cost guide.

Who doesn't pay the standard MPF

Three groups escape the 0.3464% + min/max math:

1. Informal entries (typically postal/courier shipments up to $2,500) pay fixed tiers instead of MPF — currently $2.69 (value up to $100), $8.06 (up to $1,000), $12.09 (up to $2,500). Note that on a $2,400 parcel that is 0.5% — above the formal ad-valorem rate.
2. USMCA-qualifying goods from Canada and Mexico that claim preference are exempt from MPF (19 CFR 24.23); qualifying goods under certain other free-trade agreements are too.
3. Nobody escapes HMF on vessel cargo — there is no informal tier or origin exemption for it.

One more surcharge to know: paper/manual entries add a $4.03 processing surcharge to MPF. E-filing through ABI avoids it.

What changes on October 1, 2026 (FY2027)

Only two numbers move: the MPF floor goes $33.58 → $34.58 and the ceiling $651.50 → $670.86. The rate stays 0.3464%, HMF stays 0.125% with no cap, and the informal tiers carry over.

The Federal Register notice (91 FR 48398) is already published, so the new figures are locked; CBP's formal CSMS announcement is the last procedural step. Our fee-change radar entry tracks that confirmation, and the tariff calculator switches to the FY2027 floor/ceiling automatically based on your entry date — entries filed on Sep 30 pay FY2026 fees, entries filed Oct 1 pay FY2027.

What MPF is NOT changing into: a tariff. Despite search interest every October when the limits reset, the fee stays a flat 0.3464% user fee — it does not stack with your duty layers and is not affected by Section 301/232 policy shifts.