I examine all my customs entries line by line. I question every line item that I am not familiarized before, to make sure I am not fooled by these acronyms.
Today I would like to show you some key elements you should pay attention to your 7501 entry summary for your the importation of each of your goods so you have a clear idea what duties and fees you are paying for.
You will first want to be navigated to the middle section where says 27- 28,29,30,31,32,33,34 ,35, 37,38,39,40. These sections give you a clear break down of the duties, taxes and miscellaneous fees.
Duty Payment
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of United States ( AKA: HTSUS ) number in section 29 is unified 10 digits number that determines your commodity goods duty rate. You can find the respective duty rate and calculated duty dollar amounts in section 33 and 34.
I suggest every importer should do some good research before placing international orders. Inaccurate tariff number misrepresentation can be very risky to your business. Either you overpay the duty payment that you could have avoided on you you short pay the duty payment and then when US Customs audit or liquidate your entry, you end up paying back the difference anyway plus any applicable interests and penalties.
Tips on saving duty payment : Duty rate is only based on dutiable invoiced value. In another word, not-dutiable charges including freight charges, insurance cost, booking fee, etc. If you pay the charge to the seller and it is not related to products, you should separate them in the invoice so that your broker can make proper non-dutiable payment deduction. Section 32 B CHGS means non-dutiable charges
Internal Revenue Taxes
If you import tobacco and liquor, you will find applicable Internal Revenue ( AKA I.R) tax rate in section 33 C and Internal Revenue tax dollar amount in section 34
Anti dumping or Countervailing Fee
Certain products such as in-shell pistachio nuts from Iran, Diphosphonic acid from China is subject to Antidumping. If your importing product is subject to AD/CD fee, you should think twice before you import because these fees are quite high. You can find AD/CV fee in section 33 B, AD/CV case number in section 29 B
Merchandise Processing Fee
Merchandise Processing Fee （ AKA: MPF), often neglected by us, is a mandatory fee charged by U.S Board of Protection to process the importation of your goods.
If your commodity worth USD 2500 or more, MPF formal entry fee is 0.3464% of your dutiable invoiced value or minimum 26.67$ whichever is higher OR 0.3464% of your dutiable invoiced value or maximum 508.7$ whichever is lower.
If your commodity worth less than USD 2500, MPF informal entry fee is a set fee and ranges from $2.00, $6.00 or $9.00 per shipment.
You will find MPF fee in the area beneath section 29.
Harbor Maintenance Fee
Harbor Maintenance Fee ( AKA: HMF), often neglected by us too, is a mandatory fee charged by U.S board of Protection for majority Ocean Cargo. It is deposited into Harbor Maintenance Trust fund, from which Congress may appropriate amounts to pay for harbor maintenance and development projects and related expenses. \
Regardless of your entry type, HMF is 0.125% of your dutiable invoiced value.
You will find HMF fee in the area beneath section 29
Other Fee
There are some other miscellaneous fees like cotton fees, sugar fee, beef fee, potato fee, pork fee, mushroom fee, etc. Check with your customs broker for the details. These fees will be listed in the area beneath section 29.
A 7501 entry summary is like a financial statement to outline the duty, taxes and miscellaneous fees that you are paying for. Next time when you get a bill from your broker, don't forget to always ask for your 7501 entry summary!
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