Aug. 4, 2025
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced inflation-based adjustments to customs user fees for its 2026 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1, 2025.
These changes are mandated by an inflationary trigger contained in the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation, or FAST, Act. Under this law, CBP compares the current Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) to the prior year and must adjust custom user fees if that rate is greater than 1%.
For the 12-month period from June 2024 to May 2025, used by CBP to determine CPI-U data, the inflation rate was calculated to be 2.59%.
The most relevant changes for business aircraft operators include the adjusted commercial vessel arrival fee and the increased yearly maximum cap of $7,999.40. The CBP’s one-time business aircraft first arrival calendar year prepayment fee also grows slightly, as does the commercial aircraft passenger arrival fee, which is assessed per passenger and will rise by a few cents.
For more information, the full list of adjusted FY 2026 fees can be found in the Federal Register notice Doc. 2025-13869. Current rate tables and information on when and where the fees are collected are also available on CBP’s website.
NBAA members are encouraged to review the updated rates now and ensure that their auto-generating accounting software, booking tools and rate tables reflect the new fee amounts ahead of the October implementation.
“Even incremental cost changes require careful planning,” said Laura Everington, NBAA director of international operations and regulations. “Now is the time to assess operations for the coming year and set in place appropriate changes to meet CBP’s new fees before they take effect on Oct. 1.”
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.