U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) for Fiscal Year 2024 which includes the increase in fees related to the arrival of vessels, barges, trucks railroad cars, and aircrafts. Another group of fees being increased, such as the Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) is assessed when entering merchandise. COBRA Fees are adjusted at the beginning of the CBP Fiscal Year in order to reflect increases in inflation, thus the new fees will be effective October 1, 2023.
The driver date for the Merchandise Processing Fee is the entry date. The current ad valorem rate of 0.3464% will NOT change. The MPF minimum and maximum for formal entries (class code 499) will change. The minimum will increase to $31.67 (from the current $29.66); and the maximum will increase to $614.35 (from the current $575.35).
The calculation of landed cost, and shipper’s quotations should take the fee increases into account.
The Federal Register publication which includes all the fees that will be affected by the increase can be accessed here.