MFN — The baseline that's usually zero (but don't assume)
Most-Favored-Nation duty is the ordinary tariff the US applies to almost every country — the rate sitting in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule for your specific 10-digit HTS code. For consumer goods, MFN rates are often 0%. For others — apparel can run 14–32%, certain footwear subheadings reach 37.5%, some ceramic lines carry double-digit MFN — the baseline alone can make a shipment unworkable.
MFN is the first number on the tab, and the one you have the least control over. It's set by the code, and the code is a legal classification governed by the General Rules of Interpretation. Get the code wrong and everything downstream — 301, AD/CVD, the whole stack — is wrong too. Use our tariff rate lookup to nail the 10-digit HTS before quoting.
Section 301 — The China surcharge that keeps shifting
Section 301 tariffs are additional duties imposed specifically on goods of Chinese origin — over and above MFN. They were first imposed in 2018 in four tranches (Lists 1 through 4A), and the political landscape around them moves constantly.
As of mid-2026, the practical numbers most importers face are: 7.5% on the bulk of consumer goods (List 3 — furniture, luggage, most electronics, toys), 25% on List 1 and 2 items (industrial machinery, certain auto parts, medical devices), and 100% on electric vehicles and their batteries. The 7.5% layer on List 3 is the one nearly every consumer-goods importer from China encounters. It's deceptively small — $750 on a $10,000 shipment — but it sits on top of everything else. Our Section 301 guide covers the full list breakdown, exclusions, and the legal architecture.
Unlike MFN, Section 301 has an exclusion process — narrow, political, and unreliable, but it exists. And unlike MFN, a Section 301 rate can change overnight by executive action. The largest 301-related risk isn't the 7.5% you see today; it's the rate that might be in place when your container arrives.
AD/CVD — The layer that breaks the model
Anti-dumping and countervailing duties are the reason two identical-looking $10,000 containers from China can have duty bills $21,600 apart. AD targets products sold into the US below fair value; CVD targets products backed by foreign government subsidies. Both are product-and-country-specific, and both are cash deposits collected at the border — not final assessments, a distinction that matters when the annual administrative review arrives.
The headline numbers are hard to ignore because they're enormous relative to everything else. The wooden bedroom furniture order (case A-570-890, live since 2005) carries a China-wide rate of 216%. Ceramic tableware orders run similarly steep. Combined AD+CVD orders on aluminum extrusions and crystalline silicon solar cells have reached 200%+ — reshaping entire supply chains toward Southeast Asian manufacturing in the process.
The practical question: AD/CVD is not a universal tariff. It applies only if your specific product, from your specific country, sits under an active order. How to check that, how to find your factory's rate, and how to navigate circumvention and sunset reviews — that's a separate discipline, and worth doing before you commit to a purchase order. For importers who have never looked, this is the layer that turns a profitable container into a loss.
MPF and HMF — The small ones nobody budgets
Two fees sit at the bottom of every entry summary, and almost nobody models them until they see the bill.
The Merchandise Processing Fee — MPF — is 0.3464% of entered value on formal entries, with a floor of $33.58 and a ceiling of $651.50 (FY2026). On a $10,000 shipment that's $34.64. On a $200,000 shipment it caps at $651.50. Informal entries pay a flat rate: $2.69 for automated filings, $8.06 or $12.09 for manual. The fee is mandatory, non-negotiable, and applies to every single formal entry regardless of origin or commodity.
The Harbor Maintenance Fee — HMF — is 0.125% of the entered value and applies only to cargo that arrives by ocean vessel. Air freight and truck shipments from Canada or Mexico don't pay it. On a $10,000 ocean container, HMF is $12.50. It's the smallest line item on the summary by a wide margin, but it's also the one importers most often forget exists. Between MPF and HMF, a $10,000 shipment owes about $47 before any tariff even enters the equation.
How the stack works — two containers, same origin, same boat
Both containers leave Shenzhen on the same vessel, bound for Los Angeles. Both carry $10,000 CIF in invoice value. Both come from China, so both face Section 301. One holds wooden bedroom furniture from a factory stuck at the 216% China-wide anti-dumping rate. The other holds Bluetooth speakers — no active AD/CVD order. The difference is one database query.
| Duty layer | Bedroom furniture (China, 216% AD) | Bluetooth speaker (China, no AD) |
|---|---|---|
| MFN | HTS 9403.50: 0%* wooden bedroom furniture — most 9403.50 subheadings; verify your specific code | HTS 8518.21: 0% single loudspeaker, mounted in enclosure |
| Section 301 | List 3: 7.5% → $750 | List 3: 7.5% → $750 |
| AD/CVD | A-570-890: 216% → $21,600 China-wide rate; cooperating producers pay 0–41% | No active order → $0 |
| MPF | 0.3464% → $34.64 | 0.3464% → $34.64 |
| HMF | 0.125% → $12.50 | 0.125% → $12.50 |
| Total | $22,397.14 | $797.14 |
The Section 301 and fee layers are identical. MFN is identical. The $21,600 gap is one anti-dumping order — one product class, from one country, under one case number. That's the scale we're talking about, and it's the reason "is my product on an AD/CVD order" is the highest-value question any US importer can ask before committing to a purchase order.
* Most 9403.50 subheadings for wooden bedroom furniture are duty-free (0% MFN). Some carry higher rates — our furniture calculator uses 8.0% as a conservative default for the broader category. At 8% MFN, the furniture example totals $23,197 instead of $22,397; the AD layer still accounts for 93% of the bill. Verify your specific 10-digit code at the Tariff Rate Lookup.
Which layers can you actually do something about?
Some charges are fixed. Some have escape hatches. Here's what you can actually change:
| Layer | Can you change it? | How | Worth the effort? |
|---|---|---|---|
| MPF, HMF | No | Budget for them. MPF caps at $651.50 per entry. | Non-negotiable |
| MFN | Maybe | Correct HTS classification to a lower-rate subheading — get an attorney, don't guess. | High effort, high payoff if margins are thin |
| Section 301 | Rarely | USTR exclusion (narrow, slow). Or shift country of origin — real origin, not a transshipment. See our Section 301 guide. | Exclusion: unlikely. Origin shift: big lift but drops 301 entirely. |
| AD/CVD | Yes — if you act early | Separate-rate review for cooperating factories (0%–41% instead of 216%). Or switch to a supplier in a non-covered country with genuine substantial transformation. Our AD/CVD guide covers both paths. | Highest payoff: turns a $22,397 bill into $797 |
Frequently asked questions
Do all these layers apply to every shipment?
No. MFN and MPF apply to every formal entry regardless of origin. Section 301 applies only to goods of Chinese origin. AD/CVD applies only if your specific product from your specific country sits under an active order — a minority of all US imports, but an extremely expensive minority. HMF applies only to ocean freight.
Which layer usually costs the most?
If your product is on an AD/CVD order, the trade-remedy duty almost always dwarfs everything else — 216% versus 7.5% isn't close. If you're not on an AD order, Section 301 is the largest add for most Chinese consumer goods. For high-MFN products like apparel (14%–32%), the baseline MFN can be the biggest number, even before Section 301 stacks on top.
Can I bypass these by shipping in small batches under de minimis?
Not anymore. The $800 Section 321 de minimis exemption has been suspended globally since August 2025 and made indefinite in June 2026 — small shipments are no longer automatically duty-free regardless of origin. AD/CVD never had a de minimis loophole to begin with — trade-remedy duties apply to the full entered value of a formal entry regardless of shipment size. Read the de minimis threshold guide and the 2026 reform explainer for the current state of play.
Is the number on my entry summary the final amount I owe?
Most of it, yes. MFN, Section 301, MPF, and HMF are final at entry. But AD/CVD is collected as a cash deposit — and the actual final rate may be adjusted up or down in the annual administrative review, sometimes years after the goods cleared. A deposit of 41% can become a final bill of 61%, or a refund of 20%. Budget for the swing. See our AD/CVD guide for how reviews work.
One more layer worth knowing about: Section 122. Since February 2026, a temporary 10% global surcharge has been sitting on top of the layers above for most US imports. That surcharge expires July 24, 2026 — but its Section 301 replacement could land within weeks at potentially higher rates. We broke down the legal clock, the CAPE refund process, and what importers should model in our Section 122 expiration guide.