Trade Agreements, Origin & Policy
Most Favored Nation
Also known as: MFN, Normal Trade Relations
Most favored nation, also called normal trade relations, is the core non-discrimination principle of the multilateral trading system: a country that grants a tariff concession or favorable treatment to one trading partner must extend the same treatment to all other members. The MFN rate is thus the standard, non-preferential duty applied to imports from most countries, the baseline against which preferential and penalty rates are measured. Exceptions are permitted for free trade agreements, preference programs for developing countries, and sanctioned or non-market economies, but the MFN principle keeps ordinary tariffs uniform and predictable across partners.
The default rate: Column 1 General in the U.S. schedule, and what you pay absent a preference. The alternative is not a penalty — it is Column 2, the statutory rate for countries without normal trade relations, and it is punishing.
It has always applied to dutiable mail. What changed in July 2026 is the end of de minimis for postal shipments, so parcels that used to enter free now meet the ordinary rate for the first time.
Where it matters for compliance
- Column 1 General is the rate for goods from countries with normal trade relations. Column 2 applies where they do not, and the gap is large.
- The end of de minimis changed which shipments are dutiable, not what they are dutiable at.
Related terms
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.