Customs Value (Transaction Value)

Customs value is the dollar figure CBP uses to calculate your duties and fees, and by law the primary method is transaction value — the price actually paid or payable for the goods when sold for export to the United States. To that base you must add certain statutory additions if not already included: packing costs, selling commissions, assists (tooling or materials you supplied to the manufacturer for free), royalties, and proceeds of resale that flow back to the seller. For instance, if you pay a factory $100,000 for goods but also gave them a $10,000 mold to produce them, your declared customs value is $110,000, and every ad-valorem duty and fee is figured on that larger number. It matters because under-declaring value is a customs violation that triggers penalties, while over-declaring means you overpay on every percentage-based charge.