How to read a CBP 7501 entry summary

The entry summary (CBP Form 7501) is what your customs broker files with CBP for a shipment. It records what was imported, its value, the duty and the fees. You usually get a copy from your broker, and it is the best record of what you were actually charged.

The top of the form

The entry number, the dates and the port identify the shipment. Keep the entry number: it is how you and your broker refer to this shipment later.

The product lines

Each product line has a line number, the HTS number (usually 10 digits), the country of origin, a description, the quantity, the entered value, and the duty rate and amount. The rate on this line is the base rate: the General rate, or a special rate if a trade agreement was claimed.

The extra duty lines

Under a product line you may see more lines with numbers starting 9903. Each is an extra duty, such as one set under Section 301 or Section 232, with its own rate and amount. Add their rates to the base rate to get the whole duty on that line. These are the extra tariffs the base rate leaves out (see Section 301 and other extra tariffs).

The fees and the totals

The merchandise processing fee and the harbor maintenance fee appear as their own lines, 499 and 501, followed by the totals for entered value, duty and fees. See MPF and HMF.

Checks worth doing

• On each line, the duty should equal the rate times the entered value.
• The lines should add up to the totals.
• The base rate should match the schedule for that code. If it does not, ask your broker why (a trade agreement claim is a common reason).
• The country of origin on each line should be where the goods were made.
• Every extra line should be one you expected for that product and origin.

Turning it into a rate for your product

To find the extra tariff on a product, add up the extra duty amounts on its line and divide by the entered value. On a line with an entered value of $12,400 and extra duties of $930 (7.5%) and $2,480 (20%), the extra duty is $3,410, which is 27.5% of the value. That is the percentage to enter as the product’s extra tariff. These are example figures.

What Marginify does with it

Upload the entry summary and Marginify reads each line, checks that the duties and totals add up and that the base rate matches its own, and shows the extra tariffs you paid. Nothing changes on your products until you tick the lines to use. The file is deleted once it has been read. Entries from Canada (the CBSA CAD) are read the same way.