💰

CBLE teaching domain

Valuation, Duties & Fees

Choose the lawful appraisement method, build customs value, and calculate duties and fees.

Study unit 1About 8 minutes

Can transaction value be used?

Ability objective

Decide whether transaction value is available before attempting any value calculation.

Core rule

Start with transaction value, but use it only when the limitations in 19 CFR 152.103(j) are satisfied. A related buyer and seller do not automatically disqualify the method; the question is whether the relationship influenced the price or an accepted test value supports it.

Authority and lookup route

19 U.S.C. 1401a(a)–(b)

U.S. Code → Title 19 → §1401a → subsections (a) and (b)

Current legal baseline; confirm the edition designated for the exam sitting

19 CFR 152.103(j)–(l)

19 CFR → Part 152 → Subpart E → §152.103 → paragraphs (j) through (l)

Current legal baseline; confirm the edition designated for the exam sitting

Reference lookup task

Find the four limitations on transaction value and the two routes for accepting a related-party price.

Route: Open §152.103 and scan the paragraph headings for “Limitations on use” and “Related buyer and seller.”

Worked example

A U.S. buyer and foreign seller are related. The price closely approximates the transaction value of similar merchandise sold to unrelated U.S. buyers. May transaction value still be used?

1Identify the issue as a limitation on transaction value, not an addition to price.
2Locate §152.103(j)(2), then the related-party validation rules in paragraphs (j) and (l).
3Compare the facts with the test-value route for similar merchandise sold to unrelated buyers.
4Conclude that relationship alone is not disqualifying; the stated test value can support acceptance.

Conclusion: Yes, assuming the approximation is established under the regulatory test-value rules.

Common traps

×Treating every related-party sale as automatically unacceptable.
×Calculating additions before confirming that transaction value is available.
×Missing a restriction or condition whose value cannot be determined.

Authority checked: 2026-08-18

Full Knowledge Related-category practice

Study unit 2About 9 minutes

Build transaction value correctly

Ability objective

Separate dutiable additions from excluded or already-included costs and apportion an assist.

Core rule

Add the five statutory categories only to the extent each is not already included in the price actually paid or payable and sufficient information exists: buyer packing, selling commissions, assists, qualifying royalties or license fees, and resale proceeds accruing to the seller.

Authority and lookup route

19 CFR 152.103(b)–(e)

19 CFR → Part 152 → §152.103 → additions, assists, royalties, and proceeds

Current legal baseline; confirm the edition designated for the exam sitting

19 U.S.C. 1401a(b)(1)

U.S. Code → Title 19 → §1401a(b)(1)

Current legal baseline; confirm the edition designated for the exam sitting

Reference lookup task

Locate the five additions and identify the phrase that prevents double counting.

Route: In §152.103, begin at paragraph (b)(1), then follow the cross-references for assists, royalties, and proceeds.

Worked example

The buyer pays $80,000 for 10,000 units, supplies a $20,000 mold free of charge for the full production run, and pays a separately stated $2,000 buying commission. What amount is added for these two items?

1Classify the mold as a production assist supplied by the buyer.
2Allocate the $20,000 assist over the 10,000-unit production run: $2 per unit.
3Treat the separately identified buying commission as nondutiable, unlike a selling commission.
4Add $20,000 for the shipment if it contains the full production run; add $0 for the buying commission.

Conclusion: $20,000 is added; the separately identified buying commission is not.

Common traps

×Adding a buying commission as though it were a selling commission.
×Adding a cost that the invoice price already includes.
×Allocating an assist over the wrong production quantity.

Authority checked: 2026-08-18

Full Knowledge Related-category practice

Study unit 3About 7 minutes

Move through the valuation hierarchy

Ability objective

Choose the next lawful appraisement method when transaction value cannot be determined or used.

Core rule

The statutory sequence is transaction value, identical merchandise, similar merchandise, deductive value, computed value, then a reasonably adjusted fallback. The importer may request that computed value be considered before deductive value.

Authority and lookup route

19 U.S.C. 1401a(a)

U.S. Code → Title 19 → §1401a(a) → methods (A) through (F)

Current legal baseline; confirm the edition designated for the exam sitting

19 CFR 152.101; 152.104–152.107

19 CFR → Part 152 → Subpart E → basis and methods after transaction value

Current legal baseline; confirm the edition designated for the exam sitting

Reference lookup task

Find the default sequence and the single importer election that can reverse two adjacent methods.

Route: Start at §152.101 for the sequence, then confirm the statutory election in 19 U.S.C. 1401a(a)(2).

Worked example

Transaction value and the values of identical and similar merchandise are unavailable. The importer makes no election. Which method is considered next?

1Confirm that the first three methods are unavailable.
2Check whether the importer elected to reverse deductive and computed value.
3Because there is no election, keep the default statutory order.
4Select deductive value before computed value.

Conclusion: Deductive value is considered next.

Common traps

×Skipping directly from failed transaction value to fallback value.
×Assuming computed value always precedes deductive value.
×Treating the importer election as automatic.

Authority checked: 2026-08-18

Full Knowledge Related-category practice

Study unit 4About 10 minutes

Validate transaction value between related parties

Ability objective

Decide whether a related-party price is acceptable through the circumstances-of-sale route or the test-value route.

Core rule

Answer first: relationship alone does not disqualify transaction value. The price may be accepted when the circumstances of sale show that the relationship did not influence it, or when the price closely approximates an eligible test value at or about the same time, with appropriate commercial-level, quantity, additions, and seller-cost adjustments. The October 2026 exam uses the 2025 Annual CFR; current-law valuation work requires a separate current-source check.

Authority and lookup route

19 U.S.C. 1401a(b)(2)(B) and 1401a(g)(1)

Title 19 U.S.C. → §1401a → related-party acceptance and definition of related persons

Official U.S. Code source. For the October 2026 exam, answer from the CBP-designated HTS, CFR, and policy-document editions when they control.

19 CFR 152.103(j)(2) and 152.103(l)

Part 152 → §152.103 → related buyer and seller; circumstances and test values

October 28, 2026 CBLE: Title 19 CFR, 2025 Annual Edition. Check the current eCFR separately for live-law work.

Read on CBLE Ace →

Government original ↗

Reference lookup task

Build a two-column table for circumstances of sale and test values, including the evidence and adjustments required by each route.

Route: Read §152.103(j)(2) first, then §152.103(l)(1)–(2) for examples and closely-approximates factors.

Worked example

A parent seller prices goods to its U.S. subsidiary using the same formula used for unrelated distributors. The price recovers all costs plus a profit representative of the seller's same-class sales.

1Identify the parties as related, but do not reject transaction value automatically.
2Choose the circumstances-of-sale route rather than assuming a test value exists.
3Compare the pricing method, cost recovery, and profit evidence with §152.103(l).
4Treat the evidence as support for acceptance, subject to CBP's evaluation of the full record.

Conclusion: The facts can support a finding that the relationship did not influence the price, but they do not compel automatic acceptance without CBP review.

Common traps

×Rejecting every related-party transaction value automatically.
×Treating a tax transfer-pricing study as conclusive customs evidence.
×Using an unsupported, noncontemporaneous, or unadjusted comparison as a test value.

Authority checked: 2026-08-18

Full Knowledge Related-category practice

Study unit 5About 10 minutes

Calculate duty, MPF, and HMF in the correct order

Ability objective

Calculate line duty and separately test the value base, mode, port, exemptions, and annual limits for MPF and HMF.

Core rule

Answer first: calculate duty from the proper customs value or statutory quantity and the exam-designated HTS rate. For a formal entry, MPF is generally 0.3464 percent of the §1401a value, subject to exemptions and annually adjusted minimum and maximum amounts. HMF is 0.125 percent of value only for covered commercial-vessel cargo and ports, subject to its exemptions. Do not apply either percentage to the duty amount. October 2026 answers use the 2026 HTS Basic and 2025 Annual CFR; current rates and annually adjusted fee caps require a separate live-law check.

Authority and lookup route

19 CFR 24.23(b)(1)(i) and 24.22(k)

Part 24 → MPF rate, value base, exemptions, and annual adjustments

October 28, 2026 CBLE: Title 19 CFR, 2025 Annual Edition. Check the current eCFR separately for live-law work.

Read on CBLE Ace →

Government original ↗

19 CFR 24.24(a) and 24.24(c)

Part 24 → HMF rate, vessel and port conditions, and exemptions

October 28, 2026 CBLE: Title 19 CFR, 2025 Annual Edition. Check the current eCFR separately for live-law work.

Read on CBLE Ace →

Government original ↗

HTSUS applicable tariff line and General Note 3

2026 HTS Basic → classified tariff line → applicable rate column; then General Note 3

October 28, 2026 CBLE: 2026 HTS Basic Edition. Later current-law revisions must not replace the exam-designated Basic Edition.

Reference lookup task

For one entry, find the HTS duty rate, customs-value base, MPF rule and limits, then the HMF mode, port, and exemption conditions.

Route: Use the designated HTS first, then §§24.23 and 24.24; keep duty, MPF, and HMF on separate calculation lines.

Worked example

Customs value is $40,000, the ad valorem duty rate is 5 percent, and a formal vessel entry unloads at a covered port with no fee exemption. The raw MPF falls within the applicable annual limits.

1Calculate duty: $40,000 × 5% = $2,000.
2Calculate MPF from value, not duty: $40,000 × 0.3464% = $138.56.
3Calculate HMF from value: $40,000 × 0.125% = $50.
4Add the three separate amounts: $2,000 + $138.56 + $50 = $2,188.56.

Conclusion: The stated total is $2,188.56, subject to the problem's no-exemption and within-limits assumptions.

Common traps

×Applying MPF or HMF to the duty amount instead of the proper value base.
×Skipping the vessel, covered-port, trade-program, or other exemption analysis.
×Freezing one year's MPF minimum and maximum into every exam or live-law calculation.

Authority checked: 2026-08-18

Full Knowledge Related-category practice