What a landed price includes, and what a factory quote leaves out

A factory price usually stops at the factory gate or the port, while a landed price runs all the way to your door. Here’s every cost in between, so you can compare the two properly.

What is a landed price?

A landed price is what equipment costs once it has arrived where you’ll use it, with everything along the way already paid: the equipment, freight, insurance, customs clearance, import duties and fees, and delivery.

There’s no official trade term called “landed price”. The closest one is DDP (Delivered Duty Paid), one of the Incoterms rules published by the International Chamber of Commerce. Under every other Incoterms rule, import duties aren’t in the seller’s price.

What does a factory quote include?

Overseas factories usually quote under one of these Incoterms rules, and each one stops at a different point.

Term	The seller’s price covers	You still arrange and pay for
EXW (Ex Works)	The equipment, ready for pickup at the factory	Export clearance, transport to the port, ocean freight, insurance, US customs, duties, fees and delivery
FOB (Free On Board)	The equipment, cleared for export and loaded on the ship at the named port	Ocean freight, insurance, US customs, duties, fees and delivery
CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight)	The above, plus ocean freight and basic insurance to the US port	US customs, duties, fees, port charges and delivery from the port
DDP (Delivered Duty Paid)	Delivery to the named place, with import clearance and duties paid	Unloading at your site

FOB and CIF are meant for sea shipments. The insurance in a CIF price only has to meet a minimum level of cover, so some risks stay uninsured.

Buying EXW, FOB or CIF from an overseas supplier also normally makes you the importer of record. That matters, because federal regulations make duties “a personal debt due from the importer to the United States”. Paying a customs broker doesn’t change that if the broker fails to pay.

Every cost between the factory and your door

Cost	What it is	Who sets it
Equipment	The factory price, including export packing or crating	The factory
Origin charges	Trucking to the port, export clearance and loading	Freight forwarder and port
Freight	Shipping to a US port in a full container (FCL) or a shared one (LCL), or by air	The carrier
Cargo insurance	Cover for loss or damage in transit	Your insurer
Import duties	A percentage of the customs value, set by the tariff code and the country of origin	The US government
Customs fees	The Merchandise Processing Fee and, for sea freight, the Harbor Maintenance Fee	The US government
Customs broker and bond	Filing the entry with US Customs. A bond must be on file before a formal entry is released	Broker and surety
US port charges	Terminal handling, and container freight station fees to unpack a shared container	Terminal and warehouse
Delivery	Trucking from the port to you, plus a liftgate if your site has no loading dock	Trucking company

A few more costs only show up when something goes wrong:

• Customs exams. US Customs picks some shipments for inspection, and the importer pays “any expense involved in preparing the merchandise for Customs examination”, such as moving and unloading the container.
• Storage charges. Demurrage and detention kick in when a container sits at the terminal past its free days, or stays out too long before it’s returned.
• Filing penalties. Ocean importers have to file an Importer Security Filing at least 24 hours before the cargo is loaded at the foreign port. A late or inaccurate filing can cost $5,000 per violation.

Get cargo insurance. By law, an ocean carrier isn’t liable for more than $500 per package unless a higher value was declared on the bill of lading, and a crated refrigerator worth thousands of dollars can count as one package.

How import duties are worked out

Three things set the duty:

1. The tariff code. Every product has a classification in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, which you can search at hts.usitc.gov. The code sets the regular duty rate.
2. The country of origin. Where the equipment was made decides which rate applies, and whether extra tariffs apply.
3. The customs value. Duty is a percentage of the customs value, which is generally the price paid for the goods, including packing. International freight and insurance aren’t included.

Extra tariffs can sit on top of the regular rate:

• Steel and aluminum (Section 232). Since April 6, 2026, these tariffs are charged on the full customs value of the products on the government’s lists, however much metal they contain. The lists include stainless steel sinks and kitchen articles, some refrigerators and freezers, and some machinery for cooking or heating food. The rate for most of these products is 25 percent, with lower rates for products from some countries.
• Country of origin (Section 301). These tariffs apply to goods from specific countries, on top of everything else.

Tariffs changed several times in 2026 alone:

• February 20, 2026: the Supreme Court ruled that the emergency powers law used for the broad 2025 tariffs doesn’t authorize tariffs.
• February 24: a temporary 10 percent import surcharge took effect for 150 days.
• April 6: the steel and aluminum tariffs moved to the full value of listed products.
• July: the President directed new Section 301 tariffs of 10 to 12.5 percent on goods from 60 economies.

So always check the date on a duty estimate, and look up the current rate for the exact tariff code before you compare quotes.

Customs fees: MPF and HMF

• Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF): 0.3464 percent of the customs value on formal entries. For the fiscal year that started October 1, 2026, it’s at least $34.58 and at most $670.86 per entry.
• Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF): 0.125 percent of the value of cargo unloaded from a ship. Air freight doesn’t pay it.

A worked example

Here’s how the government charges add up on an example ocean shipment. The duty rate is made up for the example, since the real rate depends on the tariff code and the country of origin.

Line	How it’s worked out	Amount
Equipment, FOB	The factory price	$10,000.00
Customs value	The price paid, without international freight and insurance	$10,000.00
Import duty	Example rate of 10 percent (not the rate for any real product)	$1,000.00
Merchandise Processing Fee	0.3464 percent, which falls between the minimum and maximum	$34.64
Harbor Maintenance Fee	0.125 percent, ocean shipments only	$12.50
Government charges	Duty plus fees	$1,047.14

On top of that come ocean freight, insurance, the customs broker, port and container station charges, and delivery. Those depend on size, weight, route and season, so you’ll need real quotes for them. Add them to the factory price before you compare it with a landed price.

What a landed price usually doesn’t include

• Sales or use tax. These are state and local taxes, separate from customs. If no sales tax is charged on a purchase, your business may owe use tax to your state, so check with your accountant.
• Installation and connection. Gas, electrical and plumbing connections should be made by licensed professionals where your local codes require it.
• Permits and inspections for your site.
• Unloading or inside delivery, unless the quote includes it.

How to compare a factory quote with a landed quote

Ask each supplier:

1. Which Incoterms rule is this price, and to which place?
2. Who will be the importer of record?
3. Which tariff code and duty rate did you assume, and as of what date?
4. Is the freight insured, and for how much?
5. What happens at delivery: curbside, liftgate or inside?
6. How long is the price valid?
7. Is the equipment listed for US use? Our guide to UL, ETL and NSF marks explains what to look for.

Then compare the cost per unit, delivered.

How Tally Wholesale prices

We quote one landed price per unit, in US dollars, covering the equipment, freight, customs clearance and duties to your US delivery address. We import the equipment, pay the duties and clear customs, so you won’t get a separate freight or duty bill. Your quote sets out the delivery terms, such as curbside or dock delivery and whether a liftgate is included, along with the delivery timeline.

Quotes are valid for 14 days, because freight and duty rates move. Unless your quote says otherwise, the price doesn’t include sales or use tax or installation. A 50% deposit starts production, and the balance is due before the equipment ships. How it works covers each step, and the terms of sale have the details.

To see a landed price for your equipment, request a quote with the equipment, quantity and delivery ZIP code.