Trump's 10% tariffs on Chinese imports have resulted in sticker shock for online shoppers, some of whom report that shipping providers are requesting import fees that range from $20 to $100+.
The tariffs took effect on Tuesday, prompting shipping providers DHL and UPS to implement new import fees on processed packages. According to screenshots and videos posted online, those extra fees can be quite high.
"I'm calling out all shopping girlies: We've been hit," said one TikTok user who posted a notice from DHL requiring an extra $115.91 to deliver the package. "I'm sorry, I can't pay that," she said.
Others, including small business owners, posted notices from UPS showing they need to pay $100 to $200 to receive their shipments from China -- far more than they expected.
"Holy crap. I'm refusing the shipment," wrote one user on Reddit, who received an invoice from UPS demanding $167 in "brokerage fees" for an order that was supposed to only cost $125.
Wired reports that UPS appears to be struggling to process the tariffs, causing it to slap fees on all Chinese imports as if they were valued at $800. Previously, US consumers could receive foreign packages duty-free if they were valued at under $800, something known as the de minimis tax exemption. But over the weekend, President Trump scrapped the de minimis exemption for all goods coming from China as he placed a 10% tariff on the country.
The ensuing confusion and backlash perhaps prompted him to backtrack, at least temporarily. In a new executive order, Trump revived the exemption, but only until "the Secretary of Commerce [notifies] the President that adequate systems are in place to fully and expediently process and collect tariff revenue applicable" to packages under $800.
As a result, orders from Temu, Shein, and AliExpress should resume to the US without added imported duties for now.
Meanwhile, USPS is also preparing to collect import duties on all inbound packages from China and Hong Kong after briefly suspending shipments on Tuesday. So far, consumers haven't reported import fees through USPS, a major shipping provider for Temu.
Instead, Bloomberg reports that Temu and Shein are requiring Chinese merchants to pay an additional 30% levy on all retail goods sold on their platforms. As a result, many merchants will need to raise prices when their margins are already razor-thin.
Temu, UPS, and DHL didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.