By Esther Fung

Bruce Prangley ordered a $77 shirt in August from a Swedish sports brand. He paid $30 for shipping. Then, two weeks after the package was delivered, he received an unexpected bill from FedEx for $42.35.

The surprise bill was a tariff charge.

It was the result of a rule change by the Trump administration, making all e-commerce packages entering the U.S. subject to tariffs. Packages worth $800 or less previously had been exempt from duties. The change is catching some shoppers unawares.

"I ordered the same item twice -- one was tariffed, and one wasn't," said Prangley, a resident of Cape Cod in Massachusetts who practices a sport called swimrun that combines running and swimming long distances. He ordered the shirt from Ark Sports, which sells specialized gear for the sport. "The extra duty was not even on my mind," Prangley said. "It certainly will be now."

The Trump administration in May ended the so-called de minimis tariff exemption for packages from China and in late August ended it for goods from everywhere else. The changes are causing havoc in international package delivery. Nearly 90 foreign post offices say they have stopped sending e-commerce packages to the U.S. altogether.

In May and June, the average number of packages worth $800 or less arriving in the U.S. each day fell to one million, down from an average of four million last year.

FedEx and United Parcel Service say they are seeing an increase in packages that need customs clearance, and have been directing confused customers to FAQs on their websites. DHL says that because of missing information on shipping labels, it is holding more parcels pending calculation and payment of duties. All three carriers say they facilitate tariff payments to the government on behalf of sellers or buyers. They charge brokerage or processing fees for this service.

Anthony DeSousa, a pizza shop owner in Estes Park, Colo., was expecting his annual shipment of oven replacement parts from Canada this month. They were worth around $640. Before delivery, he received an email from UPS, saying that he owed "government charges" of $1,196.12 and "brokerage charges" of $128.17. The bill didn't break down how the tariffs were calculated.

The email said he could prepay the fees online or pay the UPS carrier when the package was delivered.

"At first I thought it was a scam," said DeSousa. "Imagine you order a $20 pizza and you get an additional $57 tariff bill upon delivery because of duties on the prosciutto di Parma from Italy and the bell peppers from Peru."

DeSousa reached out to the supplier, which said that it would pay the tariff. But the supplier had trouble paying through the UPS website so on the third delivery attempt, DeSousa declined the package.

Some sellers are covering the cost of tariffs upfront. This saves their customers from getting hit with a tariff bill upon delivery.

The seller can indicate on a package's international shipping label whether the seller or the recipient is responsible for paying any duties. If left blank, the carrier defaults to collecting payment from the recipient.

Prangley, who ordered the swimrun shirt from Sweden, said he was caught off guard not just by the tariff bill but by the fact that the shirt was made in China. He had assumed it was made in Sweden. Goods from Sweden are subject to a 15% tariff, while those from China are taxed at 54%.

Ark Sports says on its website that "shipping, taxes, additional fees and duty costs may vary and must be paid by the customer." An Ark spokesman said the brand is working to make its website clearer to prevent such surprises in the future.

Since the Supreme Court is reviewing the legality of President Trump's tariffs, Prangley said he isn't sure whether he will pay his tariff bill or not.

Write to Esther Fung at esther.fung@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 15, 2025 20:00 ET (00:00 GMT)

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