What is the UPS brokerage fee?
Short answer
It is what UPS charges for preparing and filing your customs entry, as your broker. It is separate from the duty, separate from the federal processing fee, and separate from the disbursement fee for advancing money — those are three different lines.
UPS acts as customs broker by default on international shipments into the United States. Someone has to file the entry with Customs, and unless you have arranged otherwise, UPS does it and charges for it. The amount varies by entry type: an informal entry on a low-value parcel is filed differently from a formal entry, and the charge follows.
The confusion usually comes from the fact that a single shipment can produce three UPS charges at once. Brokerage covers filing the entry. Disbursement covers advancing the duty to Customs. Storage covers the parcel waiting. Each is published separately, and each can be checked separately.
This is also where you have the most leverage of anywhere on a customs bill. You can decline UPS brokerage and self-file or appoint your own broker — but only if you arrange it before UPS clears the shipment. Once the entry is filed, the charge is incurred and there is no undoing it.
What to check
- Identify whether your entry was informal or formal — the brokerage charge differs.
- Check the amount against the UPS published brokerage rates for that entry type.
- Confirm the disbursement fee is a separate line and not duplicated.
- If you import regularly, price your own broker against UPS's schedule.
Common questions
Sources
- FR
- 90 FR 34665
- effective
- 2025-10-01
- retrieved
- 2026-08-09
FY2026 MPF: formal 0.3464% ad valorem, min $33.58, max $651.50, $4.03 manual filing surcharge. Informal fixed fees $2.69 / $8.06 / $12.09. MPF value base excludes duty, freight, and insurance.