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Customs Valuation & Landed Cost

Landed Cost

Also known as: Total Landed Cost

Landed cost is the complete, all-in cost of getting a product from the supplier to the buyer's door, combining the price of the goods with international freight, insurance, customs duties, trade-remedy duties, brokerage, port and handling charges, inland transport, and applicable taxes and fees. It is the figure that reveals a sourcing decision's true economics, and it can differ dramatically from the invoice price once tariffs and logistics are included. Calculating landed cost accurately — and modeling how it changes with origin, classification, and trade-policy shifts — is central to competitive pricing and supply-chain strategy.

The JFS takeLicensed customs broker · Filer 82G

The number that should drive sourcing decisions and rarely does. Unit price plus freight, insurance, duty, additional tariffs and processing fees — and it routinely reorders which supplier is actually cheapest. Comparing suppliers on unit price alone compares the wrong figure.

Where it matters for compliance

  • Landed cost is a commercial calculation, not a customs one. Only some of its components are dutiable.

Related terms

Tariff / DutyA tariff, or customs duty, is a tax levied by a government on goods as they are imported (and occasionally exported), calculated most commonly as a percentage of the customs value (an ad valorem duty), as a fixed charge per unit of quantity or weight (a specific duty), or as a combination of the two (a compound duty).Merchandise Processing FeeThe merchandise processing fee is a charge assessed by United States customs on most formal and informal import entries to help fund the processing of merchandise, calculated for formal entries as a percentage of the shipment's value within a legislated minimum and maximum, and as a small flat amount for many informal entries.Marine Cargo InsuranceMarine cargo insurance protects the owner of goods against physical loss or damage while they are in transit by sea, and usually by the connecting land and air legs of an international journey as well.

Reviewed by a licensed customs broker. Definitions are general information, not legal or customs advice for a particular shipment. Duty rates, tariff programs and agency requirements change frequently.