Why did I get a customs bill from UPS, FedEx, or DHL?
A courier customs invoice mixes two different things: what the U.S. government charged on your goods, and what the courier charges for handling the entry. They are not the same bill.
What is actually on a courier customs bill?
Plain answer: A courier customs bill usually mixes two different things. The first is what the U.S. government charged on your goods: the product's base HTS duty, any Section 301 list tariff (25% on List 3, 7.5% on List 4A), the 12.5% Section 301 forced-labor duty on covered China-origin goods, any Section 232 duty, and a small customs fee. In FY2026 that fee is $2.69 to $12.09 on an ordinary informal entry, 0.3464% of product value on a formal entry (minimum $33.58, maximum $651.50), or $1.34 per waybill on a parcel cleared at an express courier facility. Ocean freight adds a 0.125% Harbor Maintenance Fee.
The second is the courier's own charges for making the entry and fronting the money: entry preparation or brokerage, duty and tax advancement, collect on delivery, storage, and correction fees. Those are private prices, not taxes, and they are not part of what this site's calculator estimates.
This page was last checked against official sources on 4 September 2026.
Most people land here after the same experience: a China sample order, a small wholesale lot, or a parcel a supplier said was "all included" arrives, and the courier asks for money before it hands the box over. The amount looks nothing like the duty you were expecting.
Usually there is no mystery in it. The bill is a stack, and once you split the stack into government charges and courier charges, most of the surprise has an ordinary explanation. This page walks that split, then shows what to gather and where to ask if a line still looks wrong.
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Which charges are the government's and which are the courier's?
The government charges are set by law and are the same whoever carries your goods. The courier charges are that company's own prices for a service it performed, and they vary by carrier, by service level, and by how the entry was filed.
| Charge on the bill | Who sets it | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Base HTS duty | Government |
Your product's ordinary tariff rate, set by its 10-digit HTS code. It runs from 0% to over 37.5% depending on the product. |
| Section 301 list tariff | Government |
China-specific and checked by HTS code: 25% on List 3 lines, 7.5% on List 4A consumer lines. Some codes currently carry no additional list duty. |
| Section 301 forced-labor duty | Government |
A 12.5% duty on covered China-origin goods entered from 24 July 2026 under HTS 9903.05.31. Product exemptions apply. |
| Section 232 duty | Government |
Product-specific sector duties covering metals, vehicles, wood products, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, drones, and polysilicon. Most consumer parcels sit outside these. |
| Informal entry fee | Government |
Shipments of $2,500 or less. CBP lists three tiers: $2.69 automated, $8.06 manual, and $12.09 when CBP staff prepare the entry. Express courier and mail shipments are carved out of this fee and pay the two below instead. |
| MPF on a formal entry | Government |
0.3464% of product value, with a $33.58 minimum and a $651.50 maximum, plus a $4.03 manual surcharge where it applies. |
| Express consignment or hub facility fee | Government |
$1.34 per individual waybill on shipments cleared at an express courier facility. The carrier remits it to CBP quarterly, so on your bill it usually appears inside a carrier line rather than as its own government charge. |
| Dutiable mail fee | Government |
$7.39 per dutiable package on postal shipments, collected at delivery. Mail is exempt from the fees above; Inbound Express Mail items carry a separate $1.00 fee. |
| Harbor Maintenance Fee | Government |
0.125% of product value, ocean freight only. An air courier parcel does not pay it. |
| Entry preparation or brokerage | Courier |
The carrier's price for preparing and filing the customs entry. It is often bundled into the express rate, and often charged separately once an entry needs more than routine treatment. |
| Duty and tax advancement | Courier |
Carriers pay the government charges up front so the goods can move, then bill you for that money plus a fee for fronting it. Normally a percentage of the amount advanced, with a minimum charge. |
| Collect on delivery | Courier |
A handling charge for collecting the money at the door instead of billing an account. |
| Storage or warehousing | Courier |
Charged when a shipment sits waiting for paperwork, payment, or a partner-agency release. |
| Post-entry amendment | Courier |
The carrier's fee for changing an entry after it was filed, including correcting a classification or a declared value. |
Carrier fee amounts are each company's own published prices and they change. This page names the charge categories rather than reprinting a fee table, because a number copied here would go stale quietly. Check the current schedule on your carrier's own fee page, linked under where to ask below.
Only the government rows are what the landed-cost calculator estimates. It deliberately leaves courier charges out, because they are not the same for two people importing the identical product.
What should the government charges be on a $1,800 China order?
On $1,800 of China-made goods sent by air, the government charges come to about $362, or roughly 20% of product value. That is the number to hold your bill against. It is a planning estimate for a modeled product, computed with this site's current layers, not a reading of your entry.
Take $1,800 of portable Bluetooth speakers under HTS heading 8518, made in China and sent by air. The modeled speaker line has a 0% base duty, sits on Section 301 List 4A at 7.5%, and is covered by the 12.5% forced-labor duty. Product value is under $2,500, so it clears as an informal entry.
| Charge | How it is worked out | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Base HTS duty | 0% of $1,800 | $0.00 |
| Section 301 List 4A tariff | 7.5% of $1,800 | $135.00 |
| Section 301 forced-labor duty | 12.5% of $1,800 | $225.00 |
| Informal entry fee (automated, FY2026) | Flat fee, product value $2,500 or less, automated tier | $2.69 |
| Harbor Maintenance Fee | Ocean freight only, so nothing on an air parcel | $0.00 |
| Government charges | About 20% of product value | $362.69 |
Beside that $362.69, the courier's own invoice can add entry preparation or brokerage, a duty and tax advancement fee, collect-on-delivery handling, and storage if the parcel waited. Those are separate charges for a separate service, so a total noticeably above $362.69 is not by itself evidence of an error.
Which government fee line should I expect on a courier parcel?
The duty layers do not change with the carrier, but that small fee at the bottom does, and this is where courier bills confuse people most. The $2.69 above is the automated informal entry fee, which is the planning figure this site's calculator uses. A parcel actually cleared at an express courier facility is carved out of that fee by 19 CFR 24.23(b)(2) and (b)(4) and carries a $1.34 fee per individual waybill instead, which the carrier remits to CBP quarterly rather than billing you as its own government line. DHL, for example, publishes exactly that $1.34 as a pass-through "Regulatory Charge" on its US fee schedule.
Postal parcels are carved out too. Mail is exempt from these fees under 19 CFR 24.23(c)(1)(v), and a dutiable package carries a $7.39 mail fee instead, with $1.00 on an inbound Express Mail item.
So on the example above the real government total is $361.34 rather than $362.69, and a courier bill showing no $2.69 line is normal. Either way the fee is small, and it is never the explanation for a bill that is hundreds of dollars more than you expected. That gap is nearly always in the duty layers or in the carrier's own charges.
Duty, tariffs, and the customs fee are charged on the product value only. Your freight and insurance are not part of the duty base, even though the courier's invoice may list them on the same page. The customs fee amounts above are the FY2026 values, which run through 30 September 2026, and a different product or HTS code changes the duty layers entirely.
What do the couriers actually charge for handling the entry?
Two of the three publish a number and one does not. Every figure below was read on that carrier's own US fee page on 4 September 2026. Carrier schedules change, so check the current page before you rely on one.
- FedEx lists a Disbursement Fee of 2.5% of duty and tax, minimum $17.50 on its US clearance fee schedule, described as the charge for paying the government on your behalf.
- DHL Express lists Duty Tax Processing at $17.50 or 2.5% of the fiscal charge, whichever is higher, and charges it both to account holders and to receivers without a DHL account. Its US customs services schedule is marked updated 1 December 2025 and effective 1 January 2026.
- UPS names its brokerage fees but does not publish the amounts. Its US import fees page defines the Disbursement Fee (also called the Customs Clearance Fee) in words only, and the single dollar figure on the page is a $12 charge that applies when duties are not paid before delivery. Figures for UPS brokerage circulating in articles elsewhere are not on that page, so ask UPS for your own brokerage fee schedule rather than trusting a number you found online.
Who is billed changes which fee applies
This is where most numbers published online go wrong. The advancement fees above are the case where you, the receiver, pay the duty. When the shipper arranges to pay it at destination instead, a different fee applies: FedEx charges a Duty and Tax Forwarding Fee rather than the Disbursement Fee, and DHL charges Duty Tax Paid at 2% of the fiscal charge with a $17.00 minimum, billed outside the United States. The same shipment can carry a different carrier fee based only on who was set up to pay, which is one more reason to settle that in writing before you order.
What this means at your order size
On the $1,800 example above the government charges came to about $362. A 2.5% advancement fee on that is roughly $9, which is below both published minimums, so you would expect about $17.50 instead. On small parcels the minimum is what bites, and that is why so much consumer advice says the carrier fee dwarfs the duty.
At commercial volumes it inverts. On $8,000 of duty the same 2.5% is $200 and the minimum never comes into it, while the duty itself is the number that decides whether the order works. That is the case the calculator is built for.
Why is the bill higher than the duty I estimated?
Work through the ordinary explanations first. In practice most gaps are one of these, and the last one on the list is the most common of all.
- A different HTS classification. The entry may use a different 10-digit code than the one you had in mind, and a neighbouring code can carry a very different rate and sit on a different Section 301 list. An invoice on its own does not establish the correct classification.
- An exemption or exclusion that did or did not apply. Some product lines are exempt from the forced-labor duty or carry no additional Section 301 list duty. Others that people assume are exempt are not.
- Different valuation inputs. Customs value can include packing, assists, and other additions, and the declared value can differ from what you paid your supplier. Duty is worked out on the declared customs value, not on your purchase order.
- Different entry treatment. A shipment split across entries, filed formally rather than informally, or held for another agency's review is charged differently from the single clean informal entry you may have pictured.
- The courier's own fees. Entry preparation, advancement, collect on delivery, and storage sit on top of every government charge, and on a small parcel they can be a large share of the total.
Only when all five come up short does a billing or classification error become the likely explanation, and even then the useful question is which line was worked out on what basis.
Does it matter that my goods shipped from a third country?
Yes, and usually not in the direction people hope. The China tariff layers follow the country where the goods were made, not the country the parcel was sent from. Goods made in China and forwarded from a warehouse somewhere else are still China-origin, and a China-origin good still carries the China-specific duties.
CBP says this directly in its Section 301 trade remedies FAQ: the duties turn on country of origin, not on country of export. So "it shipped from Canada" or "it came from a European fulfilment centre" does not by itself make a China layer wrong.
Origin is a legal test about where goods were produced or substantially transformed, not about the shipping label. If a supplier tells you production has moved, that is worth confirming in writing before you order, because it changes the duty you should be planning for.
Who is the importer of record on a courier parcel?
Often it is not you. On express courier shipments the carrier's own broker frequently files the entry, and on DDP shipments the seller's forwarder usually does. The importer of record named on the entry is the party CBP deals with, and that matters for two practical things.
First, it shapes who can raise a formal question about the entry with CBP. A protest can be filed by the importer or consignee shown on the entry papers, and also by a person who paid the charge, but the entry record still runs through whoever filed it. Second, it decides who receives a refund if one is ever paid, which is the trap covered on the tariff refund page: refunds follow the importer of record on the entry paperwork, not whoever economically paid the charge.
If you do not know who was named, the entry number on the courier's invoice is the thread to pull, and the carrier can tell you which entity filed. If your supplier quoted DDP and you are holding a customs bill anyway, who actually pays the duty under DDP explains what that quote was and was not covering.
What if the parcel was a gift or a personal item?
Gifts have their own narrow rule, and it is separate from the ordinary de minimis exemption. A bona fide gift sent person to person, with a foreign retail value not over $100, can come in free of duty and tax under 19 CFR 10.152 and 19 CFR 10.153. The June 2026 postal rule that suspended ordinary de minimis treatment for mail shipments preserved this gift exemption.
Whether it applies depends on the facts and on how the parcel was declared: who bought and owned the item, whether the recipient paid anyone for it, its foreign retail value, and whether it was declared as a gift. An order is not a gift because the sender wrote "gift" on the label, and something you bought for yourself and had shipped is not a person-to-person gift either.
The ordinary $800 de minimis exemption is a different thing, and it is suspended. Low-value shipments now need entry treatment and can owe normal duties and fees regardless of value. How the $800 rule works, and where it stands now.
What if my bill is from the period when the IEEPA tariffs were being collected?
Older bills are a special case. The IEEPA tariffs collected in 2025 and into early 2026 were struck down in court, and CBP is refunding those specific layers through the CAPE process. If a courier passed an IEEPA layer through to you then, the refund still goes to the importer of record on the entry, which on a courier parcel is usually the carrier's broker rather than you.
The detail, including the exact entry dates in scope, what is and is not refundable, and how a claim works, lives on the who gets your tariff refund page. Nothing here changes it.
What should I gather before I ask about a bill?
Almost every unproductive conversation about a customs charge is missing one of these. Collect them first and the question you ask gets much more specific:
- The itemized invoice from the courier, with each charge on its own line rather than one bundled total.
- The entry number and entry date shown on that invoice.
- The commercial or pro forma invoice that travelled with the shipment, and the declared customs value.
- The country of manufacture, which is not necessarily the country it shipped from.
- The HTS code used on the entry, and the code you believe applies.
- The service used, and whether the shipment was quoted FOB, DAP, or DDP.
- The consignee and importer of record named on the entry.
- Any gift declaration, if the parcel was sent as a gift.
This site never asks you to upload any of that. Keep those documents with you and take them to the carrier or to a licensed customs broker.
Where do I raise a question about the charges?
Start with the carrier. That is also what CBP tells people to do: its own help article says that where goods arrive by express courier the courier uses its own customs brokers, and if you have concerns about their charges for that service, contact the courier company directly. The carrier prepared the entry, holds the entry record, and set every one of its own fees, so it is the only party that can explain both halves of the bill or correct its own charge.
- UPS: its import fees explainer sets out which charges are government duty and taxes and which are UPS brokerage and service fees.
- FedEx: its clearance fee schedule lists the fees by country, and its duties and taxes dispute FAQ gives the dispute form and where to send it.
- DHL Express: its US customs services fee schedule lists each charge with its amount, and its dispute a charge form handles billing questions.
If the question is about the government charge itself rather than a carrier fee, and it cannot be resolved with the carrier, the formal route is a protest with CBP. In general terms, a protest challenges a CBP decision such as classification, valuation, or the rate of duty, and 19 U.S.C. § 1514 with 19 CFR 174.12 set the window at generally 180 days from liquidation.
On a small parcel that clock starts sooner than most people expect. Under 19 CFR 159.10(a) an informal or mail entry liquidates on the day the duty is paid, not a year later like a formal entry, so the day you settle the courier's bill can be the day the 180 days begins.
Do not treat that as your deadline without checking. The right route and the right window depend on the entry channel, who filed it, and whether it has liquidated, and CBP's own consumer help pages do not all agree with the current regulations on this point. Confirm the current procedure on CBP's protests page, or with a licensed customs broker.
This page is general information about how these bills are built. It is not advice about your entry, it does not tell you whether you were overcharged, and it does not estimate a refund. Deciding what your goods should have been classified as, or what you may be owed, is transaction-specific customs work and belongs with a licensed customs broker or customs counsel.
How do I stop this happening on the next order?
The reliable fix sits upstream of the invoice. Two habits remove most of the surprise:
- Estimate the landed cost before the goods ship. Run the product value, freight, and layers through the calculator and you will know roughly what the government charges should be, which is exactly the number you hold the eventual bill against.
- Agree the Incoterm and who pays which fee, in writing. FOB, DAP, and DDP put the duty and the courier's fees in different places, and "all included" in a chat message is not an Incoterm. What DDP does and does not cover is the detail behind that.
For the layer-by-layer picture of what your product owes, the import duty guide walks the whole calculation, and China tariff rates today tracks what each layer is doing right now.
Official sources used for this page
These are the main official surfaces behind the claims above. This page was checked on 4 September 2026:
- USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule for product-level HTS duty rates.
- USTR China Section 301 tariff actions for the China-specific tariff lists and exclusions.
- Federal Register final action notice (91 FR 47318, 28 July 2026) and CBP CSMS #69326983 for the 12.5% forced-labor duty, HTS 9903.05.31, and its exemptions.
- CBP Section 301 trade remedies FAQ for country of origin versus country of export.
- CBP's user fee table for the current informal entry tiers, the MPF minimum and maximum, the express consignment facility fee, and the dutiable mail fee, with 19 CFR 24.23 for the fee structure behind them and the Federal Register FY2026 CBP user fee notice for the fiscal-year adjustment.
- Federal Register: Harbor Maintenance Fee notice for HMF treatment.
- 19 CFR 10.152 and 19 CFR 10.153 for the bona fide gift exemption, with the June 2026 postal de minimis suspension and the non-postal suspension for current de minimis treatment.
- 19 U.S.C. § 1514, 19 CFR 174.12, 19 CFR 159.10 for when an informal entry liquidates, and CBP's protests page for the current route.
- CBP help article 1169 for CBP's own instruction to raise courier brokerage charges with the courier directly.
- Carrier fee schedules, each read on 4 September 2026: FedEx clearance fees, DHL Express US customs services, and UPS import fees. These are company prices, not official rates, and they are cited only as evidence of what each carrier charges.
- 19 U.S.C. § 1401a for customs value and 19 U.S.C. § 1484 for entry responsibility.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did the courier charge me a brokerage fee when I already paid the duty?
Because they are two different charges. The duty is the government's charge on your goods, and the brokerage or entry preparation fee is the courier's own price for preparing and filing the customs entry. Paying one does not cover the other, and the courier's fee is set by the courier, not by CBP.
Is the duty advancement or disbursement fee a tax?
No. Carriers usually pay the government charges up front so your goods can move, then bill you for that money plus a fee for fronting it. The advanced duty is a government charge, but the fee on top is the carrier's own price and it is normally set as a percentage of the amount advanced with a minimum charge. Check your carrier's current published schedule for the amount.
My parcel shipped from another country but the goods were made in China. Which one counts?
Country of origin counts, which is where the goods were made or substantially transformed. China-made goods forwarded from a third country stay China-origin and still carry the China-specific tariff layers. CBP's Section 301 trade remedies FAQ states that the duties turn on country of origin rather than country of export.
Can I dispute a customs charge on a courier shipment?
Start with the carrier, because it prepared the entry, holds the entry record, and set its own fees. If the question is about the government charge and it cannot be resolved there, the formal route is a protest with CBP, generally within 180 days of liquidation under 19 U.S.C. 1514 and 19 CFR 174.12. Informal entries liquidate quickly, and the right route depends on your entry, so confirm the current procedure with CBP or a licensed customs broker.
Does the $800 de minimis exemption still remove duty on a small parcel?
No. As of this September 2026 check, the $800 de minimis duty-free exemption is suspended for shipments from all countries, including China. Low-value shipments still need entry treatment and can owe normal duties and fees. The separate bona fide gift exemption for person-to-person gifts valued at $100 or less was preserved by the June 2026 postal rule.
Can you tell me whether I was overcharged?
No, and nobody can from an invoice alone. Whether a charge was correct depends on the classification, origin, declared value, entry type, and liquidation status of your specific entry. This page shows what the government charges normally look like so you can ask the carrier a specific question. A determination about your entry is work for a licensed customs broker or customs counsel.
Planning Information Only
This page is general information, not legal, customs, tax, or financial advice. It does not tell you whether a charge on your invoice was correct, and it does not estimate a refund. The worked example uses planning-estimate rates and a sample classification; your actual charges depend on your HS code, country of origin, entry type, declared value, and CBP treatment, and carrier fees depend on your contract with that carrier. Tariff rates and carrier fee schedules in this area change often. Verify current rates with official sources such as the USITC and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or a licensed customs broker, before committing money to an order.