How to Calculate Landed Cost for US Imports After the 2026 Tariff Changes

Landed cost is what a product really costs you once it is in your warehouse: the supplier's price plus everything it takes to get it there and through customs. In a year when US tariffs changed three times, a price sheet built in January can be badly wrong by October. Here is how to rebuild it.

What changed in 2026

Date	Change
February 20	The Supreme Court ruled that tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were unlawful, ending the 2025 "reciprocal" and fentanyl tariffs.
February 24	A temporary 10% tariff on most imports took effect under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, limited by law to 150 days.
July 24	Section 122 expired. New Section 301 tariffs of 10% or 12.5% on imports from 60 economies, tied to forced-labor enforcement, took effect the same minute.
October 1	Fiscal year 2027 customs fees began: the Merchandise Processing Fee minimum rose to $34.58 and the maximum to $670.86.

Normal duty rates, the older Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods, and Section 232 tariffs on products such as steel and aluminum continued throughout. For most importers, the practical change was a swap of one 10% layer for a 10% or 12.5% layer, with a different legal basis.

The formula

landed cost = goods + freight + insurance + duties and tariffs + customs fees + broker fees

The steps below fill in each part.

Step 1: Find the dutiable value

US duty is charged on the transaction value: in most cases, the price on your supplier's commercial invoice. International freight and insurance are not part of it. This is different from the EU, the UK and many other countries, where duty is charged on a value that includes shipping, so don't copy a formula from a non-US source.

Step 2: Find the normal duty rate

Look up your product's 10-digit HTS code in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States and read the General rate. Rates range from free to well over 30%. Getting the code right matters more than anything else in the calculation; two similar products can be classified in codes with very different rates. If in doubt, ask a licensed customs broker or request a binding ruling from CBP.

Step 3: Add the additional tariffs

Each additional tariff is a separate percentage of the same dutiable value, added on top of the normal duty. As of October 2026, check for:

• The 2026 Section 301 forced-labor tariff: 10% or 12.5%, depending on the country of origin
• Section 301 tariffs on China: many Chinese products also carry an older 7.5% to 100% tariff
• Section 232 tariffs: on products such as steel, aluminum and certain vehicles and parts

Exemptions and interactions between these change, and some products are excluded from one tariff because another applies. Confirm the stack for your exact code and origin.

Step 4: Add the customs fees

• Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF): for formal entries, generally shipments of $2,500 or more, 0.3464% of the value, but never less than $34.58 or more than $670.86 per entry. Informal entries pay a flat fee, $2.77 for an automated entry.
• Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF): 0.125% of the value for ocean shipments only.

Step 5: Add freight, insurance and broker charges

These aren't dutiable, but they are part of your cost. Brokers and couriers often add disbursement fees for paying duty on your behalf, so ask for their full fee schedule.

Worked example: air versus ocean

Say you buy 200 units at $20 each ($4,000), with a 6.5% normal duty and a 12.5% Section 301 forced-labor tariff. Air freight costs $900 and ocean $450, plus $20 insurance and a $125 broker fee.

	Air	Ocean
Goods	$4,000.00	$4,000.00
Normal duty (6.5%)	$260.00	$260.00
Section 301 tariff (12.5%)	$500.00	$500.00
MPF	$34.58 (minimum)	$34.58 (minimum)
HMF (0.125%)	—	$5.00
Freight and insurance	$920.00	$470.00
Broker	$125.00	$125.00
Landed cost	$5,839.58	$5,394.58
Per unit	$29.20	$26.97

Duties and customs fees add almost 20% to the product cost in both cases. Freight is what separates them.

If the same product came from China with an extra 25% Section 301 tariff, the ocean landed cost rises to $6,394.58, or $31.97 per unit. A $20 product now costs 60% more than its factory price by the time it arrives.

The minimum fee trap on small orders

The MPF minimum hits small formal entries hardest. On a $2,500 shipment, $34.58 is about 1.4% of the value; on a $100,000 shipment it would be 0.35%. Splitting orders into smaller shipments to "save" doesn't help either: each formal entry pays at least the minimum, and shipments are formal from $2,500 upward.

Below $2,500, shipments usually clear as informal entries with a flat processing fee, but they still pay normal duty and additional tariffs. The old $800 de minimis exemption, which let low-value parcels in duty-free, has been suspended since August 2025.

Turning landed cost into a price

Once you have a per-unit landed cost, set your price against it, not against the factory price. A common check is gross margin:

margin = (price − landed cost) ÷ price

At a $45 selling price, the air example's $29.20 landed cost gives a 35% margin; the China ocean example's $31.97 gives 29%. If you budgeted from the $20 factory price, you would have expected 56%.

Keep the calculation current

Tariffs in 2026 have changed with court rulings and agency notices, sometimes with only days of warning. Recheck your rates when you place each order, and keep the date and source of every rate you use. The import duty and landed cost calculator lets you enter each tariff separately and uses the fiscal year 2027 customs fees.