Amazon FBA Import Duty and Landed Cost (2026)

Amazon Is Not Automatically the Importer of Record

CBP collects duty from the importer of record — the party named on the entry. Amazon FBA does not automatically become IOR when goods arrive at a fulfillment center. In the typical seller-import model, you (or your US entity) are the IOR: you post the bond if the shipment is over $2,500 or PGA-regulated, you classify the goods, and you pay the duty. Some sellers use a third-party IOR service or a US buyer of record; that is a contract choice, not an Amazon default.

If you are a first-time IOR, start with the first-time importer guide: Form 5106, a single-entry or continuous bond, and a licensed broker filing through ACE. Keep the commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, and CBP Form 7501 for five years. Those records are what later IEEPA refund or duty drawback claims are built from.

The 2026 Duty Stack on FBA Inventory

Treat FBA inbound like any other commercial import:

1. MFN / column-1 duty from the HTS line (often Free on electronics, 10–20% on many apparel lines).
2. Section 301 forced-labor tariff — 10% standard or 12.5% for the higher-tier list (China, Vietnam, Brazil, and other named economies). This replaced the expired 10% Section 122 rate on July 24, 2026.
3. China Section 301 (7.5–100% by list) if origin is China or Hong Kong (EO 13936 treats HK as CN).
4. Section 232 if the heading is covered: 50% on articles wholly of steel/aluminum/copper (25% on derivatives; no forced-labor stack on the metal content); 25% auto 232 on 8702/8703/8704; 25% semiconductor 232 on 8541/8542 that does stack with forced-labor; 25% or 100% UAS 232 on 8806 as of September 3, 2026.
5. EU-US deal: most EU-origin goods pay a 15% all-inclusive ceiling (July 1, 2026). Aircraft 8802/8803 from the EU are MFN-only as of September 1, 2026.

USMCA zeros the forced-labor layer on qualifying Mexican or Canadian goods — except Canadian autos and furniture under Section 338 (50%, USMCA-blind, effective August 22, 2026). KORUS and AUSFTA zero MFN only; they do not cancel forced-labor or 232.

Worked Examples: $10,000 of FBA Inventory

These are calculator-style estimates, not a broker invoice.

• Vietnamese phone cases, HTS ~3926, 0% MFN: Vietnam is in the 12.5% forced-labor tier. Duty ≈ $1,250. No China 301.
• Chinese electronics accessories with 25% China 301: 12.5% forced-labor + 25% 301 = 37.5% → about $3,750.
• Chinese steel hardware, wholly of steel: 50% Section 232 + 25% China 301 = 75%. Forced-labor does not stack on the metal content.
• German small appliances under the EU deal: 15% all-inclusive ceiling → $1,500, unless the HTS MFN is already 15% or higher (then MFN only).

On top of duty, budget the Merchandise Processing Fee (0.3464%, FY2026 min $33.58 / max $651.50 on formal entries) and 0.125% Harbor Maintenance Fee on ocean arrivals. Amazon's inbound placement and prep fees are separate and are not customs charges.

Estimated Landed Cost Before the FC Appointment

Landed cost here means the cash it takes to get the goods through US customs — product value, your freight, duty, and government fees. It is an estimate. It is not a CBP invoice, a freight quote, or a promise of what a marketplace will charge to receive the carton.

Use the US customs duty calculator. Look up the HTS line, enter product value, then open Add freight and fees:

• Product / customs value — usually the price you paid the supplier for the goods. Not the retail list price.
• Estimated duty — the stacked 2026 rate on that value.
• Freight (your estimate) — type the forwarder or carrier number. This site does not publish a live freight rate.
• Other fees (your estimate) — brokerage, a bond premium, or a similar charge you already know. Leave it blank if you do not have a figure.
• Estimated MPF — formal entries over $2,500: 0.3464% of customs value, FY2026 floor $33.58, ceiling $651.50. Entries at or under $2,500 are usually informal and pay a flat $2.69, $8.06, or $12.09 depending on how the entry is filed. The calculator uses $2.69 in that case and says so.
• Estimated HMF — 0.125%, ocean arrivals only. Leave the ocean box off for air freight.

Worked illustration, not a quote. $10,000 of Vietnamese phone cases at 12.5% duty = $1,250. Formal MPF = 0.3464% × $10,000 = $34.64. Ocean HMF = $12.50. If you also type $800 freight, $40 insurance, and $150 brokerage, the estimated total is $12,287.14. Change any of those typed amounts and the total changes. Check CIF only when freight is not broken out of the supplier invoice — separately invoiced international freight is usually not dutiable, so the default leaves duty on the product value.

Marketplace referral fees, inbound placement, prep, and monthly storage sit outside this total. Add them from the seller account, not from this calculator.

Common Pitfalls for FBA and Marketplace Sellers

These are the mistakes that turn a workable listing into a bill the spreadsheet did not have:

• Treating the marketplace as the importer of record. Receiving at a fulfillment center does not make Amazon the IOR. You (or the US entity on the entry) owe the duty.
• Assuming cartons under $800 are still duty-free. Commercial de minimis is suspended. The traveler personal exemption does not cover inventory in a truck.
• Declaring the retail price, or the opposite cheat. Customs value is the price paid for export to the United States. A factory invoice of $8 and a $28 list price can both be real. Declaring $8 when you paid $18 is a false entry. If a supplier offers to undervalue the invoice for customs, decline it.
• Classifying the prep, not the good. An FNSKU label, a polybag, or a bundle insert does not change the HTS heading. A steel bracket is still a steel article for Section 232.
• Putting HMF on an air shipment, or skipping MPF because duty is zero. HMF is ocean-only. MPF is owed on most duty-free goods. A formal entry under about $9,700 hits the $33.58 MPF floor, which matters on small first orders.
• Mixing up this year's duty with a 2025 refund. The calculator estimates duty you would pay now. An IEEPA refund, if one exists, is about duties already paid on 2025 through early 2026 entries. They are different numbers.

Declared Value, First Sale, and What Amazon Sees

CBP duty is calculated on customs value — generally the price actually paid or payable for the goods when sold for export to the United States, plus certain assists and packing. FBA referral fees, Amazon storage, and the price you later list at on the retail page are not the customs value.

A factory invoice of $8 and a $28 Amazon list price is normal. Declaring $8 when you actually paid $8 is correct; declaring $8 when you paid $18 is not. CBP can examine FBA inbound like any other entry. Mis-valuation and HTS shopping to stay under a rate are the two fastest ways to turn a profitable ASIN into a penalty file.

If a supplier offers to 'undervalue the invoice for customs,' that is a request to file a false entry. Decline it.

Prep, Labeling, and Re-boxing Do Not Reclassify the Good

FBA prep — poly-bagging, FNSKU labels, inserting inserts, bundling two units — almost never changes the HTS heading. Classification follows the article's essential character, not the Amazon-ready packaging. A cotton t-shirt labeled for FBA is still a cotton t-shirt. A steel bracket in a retail box is still a steel article for Section 232.

Sets and kits are the exception: GRI 3 can classify a gift set by essential character or, if that fails, by the heading that occurs last. If you are building FBA bundles from separately imported components, classify (and pay) each inbound component on its own entry, then worry about the retail kit later.

When a Refund or Drawback May Apply

Two different programs get sold to marketplace sellers as one 'Amazon tariff refund.' They are not the same, and neither is a consumer check.

IEEPA refunds (duties already paid). If you were the importer of record and paid IEEPA reciprocal duties on FBA inbound between April 2025 and February 2026, that IEEPA layer is refundable through CAPE. CBP's September 15, 2026 update to the Court of International Trade reported about $134.7 billion accepted for processing and $122 billion certified to Treasury. Phase 3 for finally liquidated entries is confirmed to launch October 6, 2026 for CIT plaintiffs only. Amazon will not file your CAPE declaration. Section 232, China Section 301, MFN, and the current forced-labor tariff are not in that IEEPA pool. Start with how to claim an IEEPA refund, CAPE refund status if you already filed, and the tariff-refunds hub.

Commercial filers who want help: Tariff Recovery Today powered by Irongate, with Master Plan — a licensed filing team, not attorneys and not Frost Law. Contingency: no recovery, no fee. Not a promised amount and not legal advice. The button at the bottom of this page opens their apply form.

Duty drawback (goods that leave the US later). A domestic Amazon sale does not create a drawback event. Drawback can apply when imported merchandise is later exported or destroyed under CBP rules — returns-to-vendor, foreign liquidation, or inventory that ships out to fill a Canadian or Mexican order. Recovery is up to 99% of eligible duties plus MPF and HMF, with a five-year lookback. Section 232 duties have been excluded from drawback by proclamation since 2018. Read duty drawback for e-commerce returns and exports and the drawback hub before you assume unsold FBA stock is refundable. It is not, unless it actually leaves the country or is destroyed under the statute.

Scam warning: there is no approved consumer 'tariff dividend' or $2,000 government check. Anyone asking you to pay a fee for a personal refund check is running a scam. IEEPA refunds, when they exist, go to the importer of record via ACH — not to Amazon customers as a stimulus payment.