CBP Issues User Fees FAQs, is Working to Consolidate Fees
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a frequently asked questions document to its website on user fees.
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The FAQ document covers customs user fees, merchandise processing fees, immigration user fees, agriculture user fees, land border inspection fees, and miscellaneous user fees. It also includes a schedule of user fees that lists certain fees, their statutory authority and parallel regulation, the fee rate, and any country of origin exemptions.
The following are highlights of this document:
Difference Between User Fees and Taxes
A user fee is a fee assessed to users for goods or services provided by the federal government. User fees are normally related to the costs of the goods or services provided. Once collected, they must be deposited into the general fund of the Treasury, unless the agency has a specific authority to deposit the fees into a special fund of the Treasury.
A tax is a sum that legislation imposes upon persons, property, or activities to pay for government operations. When Congress imposes taxes, it need not consider benefits bestowed by the government on an individual but may base taxation solely on an individual’s ability to pay.
Types of User Fees Collected by CBP
CBP collects the following types of user fees:
- Customs User Fees (called COBRA1): To ensure all carriers, passengers and their personal effects entering the U.S. are compliant with U.S. customs laws
- Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF): To process merchandise entering into the U.S. and ensure compliance with customs laws and trade rules
- Immigration User Fees: To determine compliance with immigration laws and admissibility for passengers entering the U.S. by air and sea
- Agriculture User Fees: To ensure that plants and animals entering the U.S. do not present a risk to public safety
- Land Border Inspection Fees: To determine compliance with immigration laws and admissibility for passengers entering the U.S. by land
- Miscellaneous User Fees: Various purposes (fees include Customhouse Broker Licensing, and patent enforcement)
CBP Working to Consolidate Fees
In response to a question on why there are multiple fees for a single type of entry, CBP states that the customs, immigration and agriculture fees represent the legacy agencies that used to charge these fees.
CBP is currently working to consolidate these fees. As the current fees were initially managed by three different agencies, each fee category has its own stipulations. For example, vessels must pay both an agriculture inspection fee (AQI) and customs fee (COBRA). Each fee has an associated cap. The AQI cap is achieved with 15 payments and COBRA cap is achieved with 13.6 payments.
User Fees Set, Adjusted by Congress and Departmental Regulation
Customs and immigration inspection user fees are set and adjusted by the act of Congress and agriculture inspection user fees are set and adjusted by departmental regulation.
Schedule of User Fees
CBP’s FAQ includes a schedule of user fees that lists certain fees, their statutory authority and parallel regulation, the fee rate, and any country of origin exemptions. The following is a list of the user fees and their cost and country of origin exemption (see FAQs for statutory authority and parallel regulation):
| Fee | Fee Rate/ Annual Decal/Cap/User Fee | Country of Origin Exemption2 |
| COBRA Fees | ||
| Commercial Vessel | $437/$5,955 (Cap) | None |
| Commercial Vehicle | $5.50/$100 (Annual Decal) | None |
| Rail cars | $8.25/$100 (Prepay) | None |
| Private Aircraft/Vessel | $27.50 (Annual Decal) | None |
| Air/Sea Passenger | $5.50 | Canada, Mexico, U.S. territories, possessions, or adjacent Islands3 |
| Cruise Vessel and Ferry Passenger travel from Canada, Mexico, U.S. territories, possessions, or adjacent Islands | $1.93 | None |
| Dutiable Mail | $5.50 | None |
| Customs Broker | $138 (Annual Fee) | None |
| Barge/Bulk Carriers From Canada and Mexico | $110/$1,500 (Cap) | None |
| Other Customs Fees | ||
| MPF | Formal Entries: $25 (for entries valued under $11,904); maximum to $485 (for entries over $230,952) or ad valorem rate of .21 percent. Informal Entries4: $2 automated; $6 manual (non-Customs prepared); $9 manual (Customs prepared) | See 19 CFR 24.23 |
| Express Consignment Carrier Fee | $1.00 per individual bill or bill landing (CBP receives 50% and the other 50% goes to the U.S. General Account) | None |
| User Fee Airports | Per Inspector - $140,874 for the first year and $123,438 for succeeding years. | None |
| Agriculture Fees5 | ||
| Air Passenger | $5.00 | None |
| Commercial Aircraft Clearance | $70.75 | None |
| Commercial Truck | $5.25/$105 (Annual Decal) | None |
| Commercial Vessel | $494/$7,410 (Cap) | None |
| Commercial Railroad Car | $7.75/$155 (Prepay) | None |
(See FAQ for list of immigration and land border fees.)
1Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)
2Does not include numerous exceptions for classes of passengers and types of vehicles.
319 CFR 24.22 classifies the following islands as "adjacent islands" : Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda-UK, British VI-UK, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada and South Grenadines, Guadeloupe-France, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique-France, Netherlands Antilles, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and North Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands-UK
4Informal entries generally refer to merchandise with a value of less than $2,000 or personal importations regardless of value.
5CBP and APHIS negotiate the split of revenue from agriculture inspection user fees every year.