Executive Summary
CBP’s July 31 notice sets adjusted COBRA fees and corresponding limitations for Fiscal Year 2027, required as of October 1, 2026.
Key amounts include $604.47 for commercial vessel arrivals, $7.60 for commercial truck arrivals, eleven dollars and forty-one cents for railroad car arrivals, and one hundred ninety dollars and eighty-eight cents for customs broker permits.
The merchandise processing fee remains 0.3464 percent, but its minimum rises to thirty-four dollars and fifty-eight cents and its maximum to six hundred seventy dollars and eighty-six cents.
The notice has an inconsistency in its stated adjustment factor and says CBP intends to publish later technical corrections to certain references.
Fiscal Year 2027 COBRA user fees change on October 1, 2026. In its July 31, 2026, notice, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announces adjusted fees and corresponding limitations under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). The notice covers commercial and private arrivals, certain entry and release fees, express-consignment waybills or bills of lading, merchandise processing fees, and customs broker permit user fees.
Which Fiscal Year 2027 COBRA Fees Change?
The adjusted amounts are required beginning October 1, 2026. The notice lists the following arrival and broker permit fees, along with annual or calendar-year limitations where applicable:
- Commercial vessel arrival: $604.47, with a calendar-year maximum of eight thousand two hundred thirty-seven dollars and six cents.
- Barges and other bulk carriers: one hundred fifty-two dollars and fifteen cents, with a calendar-year maximum of two thousand seventy-four dollars and eighty-three cents.
- Railroad car arrival: eleven dollars and forty-one cents; the calendar-year prepayment limitation is $138.32.
- Commercial truck arrival: $7.60; the calendar-year prepayment limitation is $138.32.
- Private vessel or private aircraft first arrival and calendar-year prepayment: thirty-eight dollars and four cents.
- Dutiable mail: $7.61. Commercial vessel or aircraft passenger arrival: $7.61. A commercial vessel passenger arriving from a U.S. territory or possession: two dollars and sixty-seven cents.
- Customs broker permit user fee: one hundred ninety dollars and eighty-eight cents.
These amounts apply to the fee categories identified in the notice, not to every customs charge associated with an arrival or entry. In particular, the truck amounts exclude the separate agricultural inspection charges described below.
How Does the Truck Arrival Fee Work in 2027?
The $7.60 commercial truck arrival fee is CBP’s charge only. The notice says it does not include the Fiscal Year 2027 Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Agricultural and Quarantine Inspection user fee of $14.50, which CBP collects for the Department of Agriculture. Together, the two amounts make a $22.10 single-crossing fee.
Once eighteen single-crossing fees have been paid and used for a vehicle identification number or vehicle in a Decal and Transponder Online Procurement System account during a calendar year, the nineteenth and later single crossings for the rest of that year require only the $14.50 APHIS fee. CBP’s $138.32 truck calendar-year prepayment fee likewise excludes the separate APHIS commercial truck with transponder fee of $870.60. The notice gives the combined commercial vehicle transponder annual user fee as $1,008.92.
The truck arrival fee is adjusted down to the nearest lower nickel. Do not substitute the full inflation calculation for the listed $7.60 amount.
What Entry and Merchandise Processing Fees Apply?
The notice sets the express-consignment carrier or centralized hub facility fee at $1.38 per individual waybill or bill of lading. It also lists a minimum limitation of forty-eight cents and a maximum limitation of $1.38. CBP states that although the minimum limitation is published, the fee charged is the fee required by statute.
The merchandise processing fee minimum increases to thirty-four dollars and fifty-eight cents, and the maximum increases to six hundred seventy dollars and eighty-six cents. The ad valorem rate remains 0.3464 percent; the notice says only the limitation is increasing.
Other listed entry or release charges are a four dollars and fifteen cents surcharge for manual entry or release; two dollars and seventy-seven cents for an informal entry or release that is automated and not prepared by CBP personnel; eight dollars and thirty cents for an informal entry or release that is manual and not prepared by CBP personnel; and twelve dollars and forty-five cents for an informal entry or release that is manual and prepared by CBP personnel. The notice points to separate information for monthly pipeline entries.
When Do the Fiscal Year 2027 COBRA Fees Start?
- July 31, 2026: Notice published. CBP published the adjusted Fiscal Year 2027 amounts.
- October 1, 2026: New amounts required. The adjusted fees and limitations apply from this date.
The notice says CBP made its annual inflation determination by comparing the June 2025 to May 2026 CPI-U average with the June 2024 to May 2025 average. It reports a 2.84 percent increase, above the one percent threshold for an adjustment. The notice’s published tables supply the new amounts, including the truck fee rounded down to the nearest lower nickel.
What Should Brokers and Importers Check Before October?
Identify affected transactions. Review expected commercial arrivals, covered private arrivals, dutiable mail, passenger arrivals, entries and releases, express-consignment bills or waybills, and broker permit payments scheduled on or after October 1.
Update fee and limit settings. Confirm that billing systems, entry instructions and broker procedures use the applicable Fiscal Year 2027 amount. For merchandise processing fees, retain the 0.3464 percent rate while updating the minimum and maximum limitations.
Separate CBP and APHIS truck charges. Check single-crossing and transponder arrangements against the distinct CBP and APHIS amounts. For vehicles in the relevant account, verify whether eighteen single-crossing fees have already been paid and used during the calendar year.
Confirm the fee category. Match each arrival, entry or release to the notice’s listed category and preparation method. Do not treat the total truck crossing charge as CBP’s fee alone.
What Is Unclear in the Fiscal Year 2027 Fee Notice?
The notice states in one passage that the adjustment factor is 38.222 percent, but later reports 38.322 percent and says the adjusted amounts are set using that latter figure. The published tables provide the fee amounts to apply, but the notice does not explain the discrepancy or state whether CBP will issue a clarification.
CBP also says it intends to publish a future Federal Register document making technical corrections to the customs regulations, including specified Appendix B references. That future document has not yet been issued in this notice, and the notice does not provide a publication date for it.
Sources
- Customs User Fees To Be Adjusted for Inflation in Fiscal Year 2027, Federal Register
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