US Commercial Service fees in 2026: what $2,500 buys, and what else is on the table
Since July 22, 2026, a partner search costs $2,500 and a Gold Key $3,250 for every US firm. What you get, what the alternatives cost, and when to pay.
Tomasz Kowal · Data and public procurement
21 October 2026 · 8 min read
On July 22, 2026, the US Commercial Service, the export-promotion arm of the International Trade Administration (ITA), switched to a new fee schedule. The headline change: the small-business and medium-business discounts are gone. A small manufacturer that paid $750 for an International Partner Search now pays $2,500, the same as any other US company.
That is a real increase for the firms the service mainly exists to help. It does not make the service a bad buy. Here is what changed, what you get, what the alternatives cost, and how to combine them.
Putting it simply: The Commercial Service still does something no database does: a trade specialist in the country contacts companies on your behalf and comes back with up to five that said they are interested, or sits in the meetings with you. What changed is the price, now one rate for everyone. Cheaper routes exist for the step before that, building and checking the shortlist, and many states will reimburse part of the fee through STEP grants.
Disclosure: Cresques is our own product, and it appears in the comparison below. We compare on facts you can check and link to every source.
What changed on July 22, 2026
ITA published the revision in the Federal Register on June 22, 2026. Its stated reason is OMB Circular A-25, which asks agencies to recover the full cost of services that benefit an identifiable recipient. An independent cost study found that the hourly rate was still adequate, but "the actual level of effort for delivering most of the standard services … was higher" than the 2016 analysis that set the old fees. The notice also says plainly: "The previously listed discounts for small and medium enterprises are no longer available."
| Service | Old fee: small / medium / large | New fee (all US firms) |
|---|---|---|
| International Partner Search (IPS) | $750 / $1,750 / $2,250 | $2,500 |
| IPS Plus Virtual Introductions | $900 / $2,100 / $2,700 | $3,300 (+$90 per introduction beyond five) |
| Gold Key Service, standard package | $950 / $2,300 / $3,400 + direct costs | $3,250 + direct costs (+$800 for more than five appointments or more than eight hours) |
| Initial Market Check | $350 / $900 / $1,300 | $1,950 per market |
| Contact List (5–10 names, no interest check) | $150 / $350 / $450 | $950 |
Two details are easy to miss. First, large companies now pay slightly less for a Gold Key than before ($3,250 against $3,400). Second, the fees cover staff time only: translation, transportation, venue and catering are billed on top, as is staff travel beyond 80 km or two hours from an ITA office.
The schedule also lists, for the first time, four services available only through the Rural Export Center: a market-ranking Matrix ($2,900), a One Country Report with up to ten potential partners ($2,900), a Potential Partner List of up to ten companies ($1,200) and a REC Check background report on one partner ($450). trade.gov describes these as services "not previously reflected" in the schedule; as of October 21, 2026, we could not confirm from an official source what they cost, if anything, before.
Eligibility has not changed: you must be "an export-ready U.S. company seeking to export goods or services of U.S. origin or that have at least 51% U.S. content."
What the money buys
For an IPS, ITA identifies and contacts potential matching firms in the target country, sends them your information, and gives you a report with profiles and contact details of up to five partners or distributors "that have expressed an interest in the client's goods/services." The Plus version adds video introductions with up to five of them. A Gold Key goes further: matchmaking appointments with up to five interested partners, with Commercial Service staff attending.
The value is in the words "expressed an interest". A list from a database tells you who might fit. An IPS tells you who picked up the phone to a US government trade specialist and said yes, send more. In markets where a cold email to a company is restricted, Germany and the Netherlands among them (see /markets/de and /markets/nl), an introduction from the embassy is also a clean, lawful first contact.
How long it takes: the current trade.gov service pages do not publish a lead time, and as of October 21, 2026, we could not confirm one from an official source. Ask your local trade specialist before you plan a trip around a Gold Key.
The follow-on discounts
The new schedule keeps a sequence discount that matters for budgeting. After an Initial Market Check, a follow-on IPS costs $550 if bought within 180 days; after an IPS, a Gold Key costs $800 if bought within 60 days. So a Market Check plus a partner search comes to $2,500 in total, and a partner search followed by a Gold Key comes to $3,300, close to the price of a Gold Key alone, but with a written report on each candidate first.
The other routes, and what each costs
Prices as published on the dates we checked; euro amounts converted at the National Bank of Poland rate of October 21, 2026 (€1 ≈ $1.12) and rounded.
| Route | What you get | Price | What it does better |
|---|---|---|---|
| State STEP grant (SBA, run by each state) | Partial reimbursement of export costs, including Commerce Department services | Varies by state. Wyoming: 75% of eligible expenses, up to $5,000 per award, two awards per period (July 1, 2026 to September 29, 2027). Alabama lists Gold Key and IPS fees as eligible | Cuts the cost of every other route |
| Exhibiting at a leading EU trade fair | A stand in front of a whole sector for four days | Space plus mandatory fees for 12 m², before stand build, travel and staff: MEDICA 2026 about €4,680 (≈ $5,250); A+A 2027 about €3,880 (≈ $4,350); Interclean Amsterdam 2028 €6,021 (≈ $6,760) including the compulsory shell scheme | Seeing ranges and people face to face |
| Enterprise Europe Network | Free partnering database of company offers and requests; advisers | Database: free. Five US contact points, all European American Chambers of Commerce (Cincinnati, Dallas, Carolinas, Miami, New York) | Companies that have said they want a partner |
| Paid directories (europages and similar) | Searchable company listings | Free for companies doing research; sellers pay for visibility (Top Ranking from £28 a month) | Breadth: 2.2 million registered companies on europages |
| Customs-data tools | Shipment-level import/export records | Varies; see our comparison | Excellent where a customs record exists, such as US imports |
| LinkedIn Sales Navigator Core | People and account search, messaging | $119.99 a month or $1,079.88 a year per seat | Reaching named individuals |
| Cresques | Companies that won public supply contracts in your category in one country, each tied to the award notice | Free: 10 credits once, which is one market map. Starter €49 (≈ $55) a month for 60 credits; Growth €149 (≈ $167) for 200. A market map is 10 credits, a full company profile 4. Card payments open shortly | Documented evidence of who already sells your category, in hours |
Customs-data tools work from customs declarations and bills of lading, and goods moving between EU member states need no customs declaration, so these tools cannot show a French distributor buying from a German maker. Directories and Sales Navigator show what companies say about themselves, not what they sold. Cresques covers one slice of the market: public contracts above the EU thresholds published on TED, from November 2023 to today. It shows that a public buyer chose a company to supply your category. It does not show whether that company is open to a new supplier, or anything about its private-sector sales; we explain the limits in what a contract award tells you about a distributor.
When to pay the $2,500 anyway
Pay for an IPS or Gold Key when:
- You need a warm introduction, and someone in the embassy whose call gets returned.
- The target country restricts unsolicited email to companies, and you have no other lawful channel.
- Your state's STEP program will reimburse a large part of it.
A self-serve evidence list is enough when:
- You are choosing the first country and want to see how many local companies already win contracts in your category there. Our market comparison walks through that choice.
- You are building a shortlist and want to know which names deserve an approach.
- A distributor has approached you and you want to check what it has actually sold to public buyers.
The two are not rivals: a brief that names companies with a track record in your category gives the trade specialist a better start than a product description alone.
A sequence that combines them
- Pick the country on evidence. Create a market in Cresques (country plus your CPV categories) on the Free plan and see who wins public contracts in your category. Repeat for two or three countries if you have credits.
- Shortlist and check. Open the award history of the most relevant names, look at their websites and ranges, and narrow to five to ten candidates. Unlock a full company profile where it is worth 4 credits.
- Apply for STEP before you spend. Each state sets its own rules and deadlines, so ask your state trade office before you commit the spend.
- Brief the Commercial Service with names. Order an IPS for the chosen country and give the trade specialist your shortlist alongside your product details. Within 60 days, book the Gold Key follow-on ($800) with the companies that said yes.
- Meet the right people at the fair. If your sector has a leading fair, use it to see the finalists' ranges, not to start from zero.
For the wider decision between a distributor, a subsidiary and selling online, see what each route into Europe costs; for the tariff side, see the EU's zero tariffs on US industrial goods and why now.
What this means for a US manufacturer
The Commercial Service's partner services now cost roughly three times as much for small firms as they did in June. They are still among the few ways to get a vetted, interested European partner on the phone with a US government official in the room, and STEP money can cover part of the bill. The way to get more from the fee is to arrive with a shortlist built on evidence. Start with our guide for US manufacturers and the distributor playbook, and see pricing for what a market map costs.
Disclosure: Cresques is our own product.