HMF 2026: 0.125% of the entered value, with no minimum and no maximum. The Harbor Maintenance Fee is a federal user fee assessed on the value of commercial cargo arriving by vessel through U.S. ports. It is authorized by the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 and codified at 26 U.S.C. § 4461, with revenue deposited into the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to finance Army Corps of Engineers harbor dredging and maintenance.
The HMF rate is 0.125% (or 0.00125 as a decimal) of the entered merchandise value, ad valorem. Unlike the MPF, the rate is set by statute rather than adjusted annually, and has been unchanged since 1987. Key features:
- No minimum and no maximum, every dollar of vessel-imported value is assessed
- Applies to imports, domestic shipments between U.S. ports, and passenger vessels. Collection on exports was struck down as unconstitutional in United States Shoe Corp. v. United States (1998) and is not collected
- Applies to vessel cargo only, no HMF on imports arriving by air, truck, or rail
- Applies regardless of country of origin or trade program, there is no FTA exemption for HMF
- Does not apply to U.S.-Canada or U.S.-Mexico inland-waterway shipments
Worked example
A $100,000 ocean shipment:
0.125% × $100,000 = $125.00 in HMF
Because there is no cap, a $2,000,000 container of the same goods owes 0.125% × $2,000,000 = $2,500.00. On large containerized entries HMF often exceeds the MPF, which is capped at $651.50.
Landed-cost context
For an importer modeling landed cost, the rough math is:
Landed cost = merchandise value + freight + insurance + duty + MPF (0.3464%, capped at $651.50) + HMF (0.125%, no cap, ocean only) + any Section 232 / Section 301 / AD / CVD
For air freight, HMF drops out, sometimes a relevant factor in mode-of-transport decisions on high-value, low-weight goods. In practice, HMF appears on every ocean entry's Entry Summary as a separate line alongside the MPF, duty, and any Chapter 99 trade-remedy charges. Browse the CBP rulings database for HMF-related decisions.