FedEx pulled a fast one and sent me the tariff bill several days after the package arrived from AU; about 8% of the R&P price. What can you do but pay it when that’s the only source for the part.

しょうがない〜
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As I reported above Canada Post needs a certificate that the duties/tariffs have been paid, before they can accept a package for shipment to the US.

However, Fedex told me they are not required to do that, because in the case of courier shipments the duties/tariffs are collected from the receiver.

So there may be some nasty surprises coming.

I think perhaps the prepaid duty/tariff requirements might apply to all foreign post office shipments, whereas the sea freight might fall under the treatment for couriers.

 

I shipped an FD privacy cover by Fedex Ground to the US from Canada this week. The next day I got a call from Fedex in the US, that they would not advance the parcel to customs as the "car parts. interior" included metal content. I needed to provide them with a form "Section 232" declaring the metal content. They said if i did noi reply in 5 days they would proceed to clear based on 100% metal content basis at a 50% tariff rate (200% for aluminum).

I was very concerned by the potential delay, as my friend got charged $300 in storage fees in a similar situation.

In any event, Fedex sent me a form which I completed and emailed back to them. They felt that was enough to proceed to clear.

The thing is - the only metal on the privacy cover is about 6~8 very small machine screws.

If customs requires a Section 232 declaration for everything with even a little metal, it could jam up the works. Furthermore, it seems you have to estimate the metal content and identify the country of "pour or smelting". Failure to do this could result in the full tariff (50%) and possibly applying it to the entire value of the shipment.

I don't know how fedex detected the metal in the parcel.

So I declared steel screws weighing 0.016 Kg and sent a picture (see below)

I can report that the fedex agents i dealt with were very friendly and efficiant and super responsive.

The problem with their on-line shipping form is, although they warn to provide very detailed information, the box only allows a very limited amount of characters in the description.

I would recommend including a picture of the parcel contents be included with the documents, going forward.

 

Sounds like there is something in the process that is severely broke there. They may just default "car parts" as metal such as body panels, rotors, wheels, engine parts etc. I have not dealt with this yet, is there a defined list you have to claim or can you use something like fabric or upholstery?

 

Fedex warns you to make the description as detailed as possible. To do that you may have to override, somehow, their character limit in the comment box.

Also the on-line form Section 232 they provide keeps defaulting to declaring aluminum. I had to print it out and cross out the aluminum entry.

I was lucky I was helped by pro-active Fedex agents, but they could have just let it go to customs and trigger a 100% automatic allocation to "metal".

This would then become the problem for the importer who pays the tariff/taxes.

BTW, I have not heard if my package has cleared customs, or not.

 

The fedex form has some AI which provides you with the customs categorization based on your description. Of course the longer your description, the more the AI gets confused. You can go download the full lists of customs categories and hunt down the specific category for your item, which has always been a requirement. But when tariffs were near zero on just about everything, the customs agents might not have cared if you guessed the correct category or not.

Now it is deadly.

 

As you all should know by now by just living in he USA: it always takes too long for our government to catch up to changes they make in order to get it correct.

 

Buyee has posted up the following disclaimer:

【Notice】UPS Customs Clearance for Shipments to the United States

Thank you for using Buyee.



Recently, posts on social media have claimed that “UPS shipments to the United States are being delayed or disposed of during customs clearance.” Buyee has confirmed these points with UPS and reviewed the actual shipping status.



■ Confirmed Situation

・According to UPS, due to recent U.S. tax changes (including the abolition of the De Minimis threshold and tariff adjustments), some items may require additional customs checks or document submissions. UPS has also posted a service alert indicating the possibility of delays for U.S-bound international shipments.



・We have seen tracking pages show the status “Unable to clear customs – under disposal.” However, this is a temporary system status update. In practice, customs processing continued afterward, and many of these shipments were ultimately delivered normally.



・After the introduction of DDP (Delivered Duty Paid), our review of UPS shipments shows that the vast majority cleared customs and were delivered as usual, with an average delivery time of about 1.9 days, indicating stable performance.



Based on the above, Buyee will continue working closely with UPS and strengthen our support structure.



Please note that, for certain items, U.S. Customs may ask the recipient to provide additional documents. If UPS contacts you, we kindly ask for your prompt cooperation.



If you are unsure how to complete the documentation or have any questions, please feel free to contact Buyee Customer Support.



Buyee remains committed to delivering your packages safely. We will continue to work with UPS and other international carriers to provide a secure and reliable shipping experience.

 

Jesse Streeter has just advised me that shipping by Japan Post by seamail is once again available.

He was holding boxes destined for Canada pending end of the Canada Post strike.

A box (fender liners) that was going to cost C$660 by courier is now costing C$61 by seamail..

 

I bought something from Alibaba where they hit me with a 50 dollar duty up front. And then when it was time for delivery DHL hit me for 30 dollars. Did customs go "nuh uh" on the declared price or why would I be hit twice?

 

Could have just been a customs clearance fee on this side.

 

Agree - Investing in any of those is like buying art - it's a bubble because its value is what the buyer will pay for it - it has little intrinsic value.

 

Well US Customs kicked back my shipment of the privacy cover. It seems FEDEX agent did not deliver the additional documentation on time, so the box suddenly appeared at my back door.

Meanwhile I read more about the Section 232 form requirement and it seems more convoluted than I was aware.

Likely will not be making any shipments to the US for the time being.

I don't see any additional handling charges in my Fedex account (for the time being).