# The Harbor Maintenance Fee: Who Pays It and When It Shows Up

Source: https://landedcosthq.com/blog/2026-11-07-harbor-maintenance-fee-who-pays/

Cross-border operations guide · November 7, 2026


**Short answer:** The HMF is 0.125 percent of cargo value on ocean shipments, with no floor and no cap. On $100,000 of cargo it is $125. The importer of record owes it, even when the broker files and remits it.

## What the fee is, and what it pays for

The harbor maintenance fee is a federal port use fee set by law at 0.125 percent of cargo value, authorized under 26 USC 4461 and established by the Water Resources Development Act of 1986. The money goes into the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, which pays for harbor projects such as dredging, jetty maintenance, and channel work by the US Army Corps of Engineers. CBP collects it, and the regulations sit in 19 CFR 24.24.

The fee is small per shipment and large in aggregate: annual collections exceed $2 billion. It is also one of the most stable numbers in the tariff system. The rate has not changed since the tax was enacted in 1986, so the only variable in the calculation is how the cargo is valued, which for imports is the appraised value CBP uses for duty purposes under 19 USC 1401a.

## Ocean only, and the export exception

The HMF applies only to commercial cargo loaded or unloaded at US ports by vessel. Air freight does not pay it. Road and rail imports do not pay it. Shipments that merely transit US ports do not pay it. If you import by sea from Asia or Europe, it applies to you. If you import by air, the line should be zero, and a landed cost model that charges HMF on an air shipment is wrong in a way that is easy to miss and easy to fix.

The export exception is the part people forget. In 1998 the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. U.S. Shoe Corp. that applying the fee to exports violated the Export Clause, so exports no longer pay it. Domestic shipments between covered US ports do pay it, as do cargo admitted into foreign trade zones and passengers on commercial vessels, at the same 0.125 percent rate calculated on the fare. The fee is about port use, not about import versus export, and the Court drew the line at the constitutional text, not at the policy.

## How it gets paid

For imports, the fee is paid with the duties and other fees on the entry summary, CBP Form 7501, and it is based on the value CBP appraises for duty. The importer of record is legally liable, the broker files and remits, and the forwarder passes the charge through. If no other duty or fee applies and the harbor maintenance fee exceeds $3, the importer submits payment with the entry forms.

Domestic shippers, foreign trade zone operators, and passenger vessel operators file quarterly, using CBP Form 349, the Harbor Maintenance Fee Quarterly Summary Report, with payment due within 31 days of the quarter's end. CBP can audit years of HMF payments, and interest on underpaid quarters compounds, which is why the fee deserves a line in the landed cost model even though it is small. A 0.125 percent fee on a $2 million annual ocean program is $2,500 a year, and an unfiled quarter is a liability that grows quietly until the audit finds it.

Keep reading: [Insurance in Landed Cost: CIF vs FOB and the Duty You Owe](https://landedcosthq.com/blog/2026-11-07-insurance-landed-cost-cif-fob/), [Brokerage Fees in Landed Cost: What You Are Actually Paying For](https://landedcosthq.com/blog/2026-11-07-brokerage-fees-landed-cost/).

## Frequently asked questions

## How much is the harbor maintenance fee?

The harbor maintenance fee is 0.125 percent of cargo value, which works out to $125 for every $100,000 of cargo. There is no minimum and no cap: a $10,000 shipment pays $12.50 and a $10 million shipment pays $12,500.

## Does the HMF apply to air freight?

No. The HMF applies only to ocean shipments loaded or unloaded at US ports. Air freight, road, and rail imports do not pay it. If your goods arrive by air, the HMF line on your landed cost model should be zero, and if it is not zero, the model is wrong.

## Who pays the HMF, me or my broker?

The importer of record owes it. The licensed customs broker files the entry, calculates the fee on the declared value, and remits it to CBP through ACH or Periodic Monthly Statement, and the freight forwarder typically passes the charge through on the customer invoice. But the liability is the importer's, so confirm someone is actually filing and paying it.

## Do exports pay the HMF?

No. In 1998 the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. U.S. Shoe Corp. that applying the fee to exports violated the Constitution's Export Clause, so exports no longer pay it. The fee applies to imports and to domestic shipments between covered US ports, not to cargo leaving the country.