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Some shoppers are getting surprised with new fees from online purchases, sometimes days or weeks after ordering, as tariffs on Chinese goods hit U.S. consumers.

It’s not clear how widespread the issue is, but shoppers are reporting that they have been getting notices from carrier companies, including UPS and DHL, that they owe new fees, long after the purchase was made.
The Trump administration has imposed tariffs of 10 percent on nearly every country and 30 percent for most products from China. On top of that, the White House closed a loophole, known as the de minimis exemption, on small-value items from China. Packages worth less than $800 used to enter the country tariff-free, but as of May 2, those shipments from China are subject to tariffs.

All of those changes have been ensnaring shoppers across the United States who report making purchases and then receiving a note from a carrier company informing them that they need to pay duties to receive the their goods. The notes don’t typically identify tariffs as the culprit, but shoppers who looked into the fees discovered that tariffs were indeed the problem.

Many of these bills may have happened when tariffs were new or changing, and as small or midsize companies were learning to deal with the new import processes. Now that tariffs on Chinese goods appear to be at a new, stable level, experts expect to see retailers increase base costs, add tariff line items onto purchases, or increase their shipping and handling fees.
UPS and DHL did not respond to requests for comment. On its website, UPS tells international shippers that if “the recipient will be responsible for these charges, we recommend you inform them of this before the transaction, to avoid any surprises.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/05/16/tariff-bills-ups-dhl-shoppers-fees/