Importer Landed Cost Calculator

This calculator shows how much an import tariff raises your landed cost and cuts your gross margin at a fixed selling price. Enter the product cost, the tariff rate, freight, fees, and your target selling price. It returns landed cost and gross margin in dollars and percent, before and after duty. It is for informational purposes only. Results are estimates, not a substitute for your broker's entry summary or your accountant's cost records.

For the rules behind each cost line, including MPF and HMF fees, bonds, and customs value adjustments, read the importer landed cost guide.

What each input means

Keep every field on the same basis: either the whole shipment or a single unit. The calculator works either way, as long as you don't mix them.

How the calculator does the math

• Duty = product cost × tariff rate
• Landed cost = product cost + duty + freight + fees
• Gross $ before tariff = sell price − product cost − freight − fees
• Gross $ after tariff = sell price − landed cost
• Margin % = gross dollars ÷ sell price

"Before tariff" means with no duty at all. If your product already carried a General rate before a new tariff, the "before" figure overstates your old margin. To isolate the effect of a new tariff layer, enter only the new rate in the tariff field and add the old duty in dollars to the fees field.

How to read the results panel

The Margin Impact panel lists nine rows. The ones to act on:

• Estimated duty is the cash you will owe CBP, generally due with the entry summary about 10 working days after release.
• Landed cost is the true cost of the goods. Use it, not the supplier invoice, as your cost of goods when you set prices.
• Margin % after tariff is the number to compare with your floor. If it falls below the floor, at least one of the three responses below is necessary.
• The gap between the two gross-dollar rows equals the duty. It shows how much profit the tariff removes if nothing else changes.

Worked example with the default values

The calculator opens with a $10,000 shipment, a 10% tariff, $800 freight, $300 fees, and a $16,000 selling price.

• Duty: $10,000 × 10% = $1,000
• Landed cost: $10,000 + $1,000 + $800 + $300 = $12,100
• Gross before tariff: $16,000 − $10,000 − $800 − $300 = $4,900, a 30.6% margin
• Gross after tariff: $16,000 − $12,100 = $3,900, a 24.4% margin

A 10% tariff cut the margin by 6.2 points and removed 20% of the gross profit dollars on this shipment.

Three ways to respond, with the numbers

1. Raise the price to keep the margin percentage. New price = landed cost ÷ (1 − target margin) = $12,100 ÷ (1 − 0.30625) = $17,441. That is a 9.0% price increase, larger than the 6.25% the duty represents as a share of the old price, because the margin is applied on top of the duty as well.

2. Raise the price to keep gross dollars only. New price = $16,000 + $1,000 = $17,000, a 6.25% increase. Margin percentage settles at $4,900 ÷ $17,000 = 28.8%. Many sellers choose this middle path when competitors are not raising prices.

3. Ask the supplier for a discount. To fully offset the duty at a $16,000 price, the product cost must fall until cost × 1.10 = $10,000, so cost = $9,091, a 9.1% discount. Because duty is charged on the lower price too, each dollar of supplier discount saves $1.10.

Most importers end up combining all three: a partial supplier concession, a partial price increase, and some margin absorbed. For how that split plays out across the supply chain, see who pays import tariffs.

Sensitivity table: same shipment, different tariff rates

Holding cost at $10,000, freight at $800, fees at $300, and price at $16,000:

The 12.5% row matches the Section 301 rate that took effect July 24, 2026 for China, Vietnam, and most of the other 60 economies covered. The 25% and 50% rows match common Section 232 rates on wood products and on steel and aluminum articles. At 50%, a product with a 30% pre-tariff margin loses money unless the price moves.

Comparing two suppliers on landed cost

The cheapest factory price often isn't the cheapest landed cost. Run the calculator once for each option, using the same selling price.

Supplier B quotes 8% more but lands $750 cheaper. The comparison only holds if the goods actually meet the USMCA rules of origin and you hold a valid certification of origin. If the claim fails, the duty comes back retroactively at liquidation.

Using it for marketplace and per-unit pricing

If you sell on a marketplace that deducts referral and fulfillment fees, enter net proceeds (selling price minus those fees) in the target sell price field. Otherwise the margin will look better than what reaches your bank account.

For a single SKU, work per unit. Say you buy a unit for $12.00, pay a 25% combined duty, allocate $1.40 of freight and $0.45 of fees per unit, and net $26.00 per sale after marketplace fees:

• Duty: $12.00 × 25% = $3.00
• Landed cost: $12.00 + $3.00 + $1.40 + $0.45 = $16.85
• Margin: ($26.00 − $16.85) ÷ $26.00 = 35.2%, down from 46.7% with no duty

If your floor is 40%, the net price has to reach $16.85 ÷ 0.60 = $28.08, or the unit cost has to fall.

Where to get the tariff rate

• You know the HTS code: look up the additional-tariff layer in the HTS-8 tariff lookup, then add the General rate from the USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule.
• You only know the product type: start with the trade-weighted default in the category tariff calculator. Use it for early quotes, not purchase orders.
• You're unsure of the classification: follow the steps in how to find your HTS code before you rely on any rate.

Building the fees field

A quick way to fill "Brokerage & fees" for an ocean shipment:

1. MPF: 0.3464% of product cost, at least $34.58 and at most $670.86 per formal entry from October 1, 2026 (CBP FY2027 fee notice)
2. HMF: 0.125% of product cost, ocean only
3. Broker entry fee, ISF filing, and your bond premium or allocation, from your broker's quote
4. Drayage and terminal charges, unless you put them in freight

On the default $10,000 shipment, MPF is $34.64 and HMF is $12.50, so a $300 fees figure leaves about $253 for broker, bond, and handling.

Who uses this calculator

• Amazon and e-commerce sellers checking whether a SKU still clears its margin floor after fees and duty.
• Wholesale importers deciding whether to re-quote customers mid-season.
• Brand owners comparing a supplier in a 10% Section 301 country with one in a 12.5% country.
• Procurement teams testing whether a domestic supplier's higher price now beats an import's landed cost.

Limits of this model

The calculator assumes an ad valorem rate on product cost. It doesn't model specific or compound duties (such as cents per pair plus a percentage), MPF minimums and caps, antidumping deposits, currency swings, or the timing of cash payments. It also treats freight and fees as fixed. For anything beyond a planning estimate, use your broker's numbers, and recheck after any tariff change. The US import tariffs hub lists the latest guides.