Broker service quote

Customs Broker Fee Calculator — US, UK & EU

Verify any US, UK, or EU customs broker quote line-by-line — MPF, HMF, bond premium, entry fee, and PGA surcharges with the arithmetic visible.

Customs brokerage

Service quote

Quote ref: SCL-260611
Basis: Per single entry

Estimated broker service fees — not duty or import tax, and not a binding quotation. Tune the entry below; line items and the total recompute live.

Broker quote worksheet

Rates effective 2025-10-01 · verified 2026-06-11 · dataset 2026.06.11

CBP Merchandise Processing Fee: $166.27
CBP Harbor Maintenance Fee: $60.00
ISF (10+2) filing fee: $50.00
Broker entry preparation fee: $195.00
Customs bond premium (US only): $241.13
Commodity complexity surcharge: $0.00
Total estimated broker cost: $712.40

Sources

19 U.S.C. § 58c(a); 19 CFR § 24.23 — CBP Merchandise Processing Fee — formal rate, floor, ceiling, and flat informal-entry fee.
90 FR 34665 — FY2026 COBRA fee adjustments (effective 2025-10-01): formal MPF $33.58–$651.50, informal MPF $2.69.
26 U.S.C. § 4461 — Harbor Maintenance Fee, 0.125% of value. Ocean entries only; no ceiling.
CBP Form 301 / CBP bond sufficiency guidance — US-only. Single-entry bond face = entered value + duties, taxes & fees; 3× value when PGA-regulated (e.g. FDA). UK uses HMRC duty-deferment accounts; the EU uses comprehensive guarantees — no CBP-style per-entry bond exists there.
Market estimate — surety bond pricing — Single-entry premium ≈ 0.5% of bond face with ≈ $55 surety minimum; continuous bond ≈ $500/yr. Surety pricing is not regulator-set — your surety's quote prevails.
Market estimate — broker service fees — Entry preparation, per-line, ISF filing, and PGA-surcharge figures are industry benchmarks, not regulator-set and not an association tariff. Your broker's own fee schedule prevails.

Figures are estimates from published statutory fees and market-benchmark broker rates. Your broker’s own fee schedule and your surety’s quote prevail.

Once you know the brokerage cost

Book and track the shipment itself

This estimator prices the broker’s service fees only — the entry, the filings, the bond. The freight, courier rates and the wider cross-border landed cost are a separate decision. Easyship is a multi-courier shipping and landed-cost platform you can compare those on.

Compare shipping options on Easyship →

Easyship is an independent third party — not a customs broker and not affiliated with this tool. The link may become a paid referral in future; it is a plain link today and never changes the free estimate above.

The short answer

Updated 2026-06-11 · rates verified 2026-06-11

A $25,000 formal US customs entry pays $86.60 in CBP Merchandise Processing Fee (0.3464% of entered value, clamped to $33.58–$651.50 for FY2026, rates effective 2025-10-01) plus a broker entry-preparation fee that typically runs $100–$200. Ocean entries add a 0.125% Harbor Maintenance Fee and an ISF filing; air entries pay neither. UK and EU imports owe no CBP fees at all — only the declarant's service fee (≈£100 UK benchmark; EU varies by Member State).

CBP MPF — formal entry (value $2,500 and up): 0.3464% of value · min $33.58 · max $651.50
CBP MPF — informal entry (under $2,500): $2.69 flat
Harbor Maintenance Fee (US ocean entries only): 0.125% of value · no ceiling
Single-entry bond premium (market estimate): ≈0.5% of bond face · $55 surety minimum
Broker entry fee, US (market estimate): $100–$200 typical · $175 worksheet benchmark

Sources: 90 FR 34665 — FY2026 CBP fee adjustment (Federal Register, Jul 23, 2025) · 19 CFR § 24.23 — merchandise processing fee (eCFR) · 19 CFR § 24.24 — harbor maintenance fee (eCFR)

How this estimate is built

Every line in the worksheet is computed from a published statutory rate or a documented industry fee range — never from a hidden multiplier. Expand any fee row's derivation text to see the exact arithmetic that produced its number.

Methodology, data sources, and verification dates

Statutory fees (US). The CBP Merchandise Processing Fee is 0.3464% of entered value for formal entries, clamped to the statutory minimum and maximum published in the Federal Register fee adjustment for the current fiscal year (19 U.S.C. § 58c(a)(9), 90 FR 34665). Shipments under $2,500 clear as informal entries and pay the flat informal MPF instead — the worksheet switches automatically, and assumes formal at exactly $2,500 (the conservative posture). The Harbor Maintenance Fee is 0.125% of cargo value and applies to ocean entries only (26 U.S.C. § 4461). Both are pass-through charges your broker collects for CBP — they are identical regardless of which broker you hire.

Broker service fees. Entry preparation fees, per-line charges, ISF filing, and PGA surcharges are not set by statute. The figures used here are market estimates compiled from published forwarder price lists and worked examples — no official association fee schedule exists for these charges, and every such row is labeled "market estimate" in the worksheet. Your quote may legitimately sit outside these ranges for complex commodities, after-hours clearance, or bundled freight services; your broker's own tariff prevails.

Bonds (US only). Customs bonds are a US CBP requirement — UK importers use HMRC duty-deferment accounts and EU importers use comprehensive guarantees under the Union Customs Code, so the worksheet marks the bond row as not applicable outside the US and never adds it to UK or EU totals. Single-entry premiums are estimated at roughly 0.5% of the bond face — the entered value plus estimated duties, taxes, and fees, sized at three times the value for PGA-regulated goods such as FDA shipments — with a surety minimum of about $55; both figures are market estimates, not regulator-set prices. Continuous bonds are billed annually (around $500 per year for the $50,000-minimum face), so the worksheet shows them at $0 per entry instead of inflating a per-entry total.

EU totals are a range. Member State customs handling and disbursement surcharges are not harmonised. The worksheet shows the low end of the documented range and flags the spread rather than pretending a single EU-wide number exists.

Freshness. Each dataset row carries the date the underlying source was last verified by the operator; the worksheet header shows the dataset version and warns when verification is older than the staleness window. If a figure looks outdated, check the cited source — statutes win over this page.

What this tool does not do. It does not calculate duty or import VAT (use a landed-cost calculator for that), it does not quote freight, and it cannot price brokerage for regulated commodities requiring custom compliance work. It estimates the brokerage and statutory-fee layer of an import so you can sanity-check a quote line by line.

Customs broker fees: frequently asked questions

How much does a customs broker charge per entry in 2026?

For a standard US formal entry with 1–3 tariff lines, entry preparation fees typically run $100–$200 — this worksheet uses $175 as a midpoint-high benchmark, plus $5 per extra tariff line. UK customs declarations benchmark around £100 ($95 in the worksheet); EU declarant fees vary by Member State ($110 indicative midpoint). All of these are market estimates compiled from published forwarder price lists — no regulator or association sets broker service fees, so your broker's own tariff prevails. US entries additionally pay statutory CBP fees (MPF, plus HMF on ocean cargo) that are identical whichever broker you hire.

What is the CBP Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) for FY2026?

Formal entries pay 0.3464% of entered value, clamped to a $33.58 minimum and a $651.50 maximum — the FY2026 figures from 90 FR 34665 (published July 23, 2025; rates effective 2025-10-01; verified against the Federal Register on 2026-06-11). Worked example: a $25,000 entry pays 0.3464% × $25,000 = $86.60, between the floor and the ceiling. A $250,000 entry computes to $866 and is clamped to the $651.50 statutory ceiling. Shipments under $2,500 clear as informal entries and pay a flat $2.69 instead (19 CFR § 24.23(b)(2)). Expect new floors and ceilings when the FY2027 COBRA adjustment takes effect on October 1, 2026.

How much does a single-entry customs bond cost?

Sureties typically price single-entry bonds at about 0.5% of the bond face with a $55 minimum per bond — market estimates; surety pricing is not regulator-set. The face follows CBP sufficiency guidance: entered value plus estimated duties, taxes, and fees, sized at three times the value for PGA-regulated goods such as FDA shipments. Worked example: an $800 air parcel builds a face of $802.69 (value plus its $2.69 informal MPF); 0.5% × $802.69 = $4.01, which clamps to the $55 surety minimum — on small shipments the minimum dominates. A continuous bond ($50,000 minimum face) runs about $500 per year, billed annually — so it shows as $0 per entry here.

Do I pay MPF and HMF on air freight imports?

MPF yes — HMF no. The Merchandise Processing Fee applies to every US entry regardless of transport mode. The Harbor Maintenance Fee (0.125% of cargo value, 26 U.S.C. § 4461) applies to ocean entries only and has no ceiling. The ISF (10+2) security filing likewise exists only for ocean/vessel cargo (19 CFR pt. 149). An air entry therefore skips both rows — on a $48,000 ocean entry, that difference is $60 of HMF plus an ISF filing fee of about $50 (market estimate).

Do parcels under $800 still clear US customs duty-free (de minimis)?

No. The Section 321 de-minimis exemption (formerly up to $800) is suspended for shipments from all countries under Executive Order 14324, in force since August 29, 2025. Low-value shipments now require a customs entry: under $2,500 they normally clear as informal entries paying the flat $2.69 MPF (FY2026), but the broker's entry preparation fee applies regardless of value — which is why brokerage usually dwarfs statutory fees on small parcels. For the duty and import-tax side of a low-value shipment, use the duty and tax import calculator linked in the related tools below.

Do UK and EU imports need a customs bond?

No — customs bonds (CBP Form 301) exist only in the US system. UK importers secure and defer duty through HMRC duty-deferment accounts; EU importers operate comprehensive guarantees under the Union Customs Code. This worksheet marks the bond row as not applicable outside the US and never adds it to UK or EU totals. EU totals also display as a range rather than a single figure, because Member-State customs handling and disbursement surcharges are not harmonised — the worksheet shows the documented low end plus an indicative spread.

Why is my broker's quote higher than this estimate?

The statutory rows (MPF, HMF) are fixed by law, but everything a broker prices commercially can legitimately exceed these benchmarks: bundled freight or last-mile delivery, after-hours clearance, classification work on complex commodities, disbursement fees for advancing duties, and storage or exam charges if CBP holds the cargo. This estimator covers the brokerage and statutory-fee layer of a routine entry so you can question a quote line by line — ask your broker to itemise any charge that does not map to a worksheet row.

This estimator covers the brokerage layer only. The rest of your landed cost lives in these companion tools:

Duty & Tax Import Calculator — estimate the customs duties and import taxes that sit on top of these broker fees.
Customs Value Builder — build the dutiable customs value your broker declares on the entry.
Importer of Record Checker — confirm who can act as importer of record before an entry is filed.

Part of ShipCost Lab →

Disclaimer

Results are orientative. They do not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice. Consult a licensed customs broker for any filing decision.