Because the customs situation is rapidly changing, UPS and shippers are tracking more customs information to ensure delivery of some packages. Packages that cannot be cleared may be discarded.
How the US is eating up President Trump’s tariffs
Early signs indicate that U.S. businesses and consumers are bearing the brunt of the country’s new import tariffs.
Amid the recent wave of tariffs, package delivery operations have become increasingly complex, and in some cases, carriers such as UPS are forced to scrap some packages.
As the Trump administration increasingly uses tariffs as an economic and foreign policy tool, international packages arriving in the United States require more information to pass through customs. Tariffs have recently been introduced or increased on certain products such as steel and aluminum, and more recently on wood and wood products such as upholstered furniture and kitchen cabinets.
Additional duties are also being imposed on products from certain countries, including Canada, China, Mexico and India, where tariffs were recently raised to 50%. Also complicating matters, the de minimis exemption, which avoids customs duties on packages valued at $800 or less sent to the United States, ended on August 29th.
Shipments can get stuck as UPS, FedEx, DHL Express and other shipping companies require information needed to comply with new tariffs, such as whether a product contains wood or aluminum or whether some or all of the product is manufactured in a country with increased tariffs. Companies also need to know whether the required duties were levied on the shipment.
While shipping companies deal with customs issues, consumers waiting for their purchases are grumbling about delays or possible arrival of their packages.
“Are my packages actually being destroyed?” Ashley Freberg wondered in an interview with NBC News, which reported on the situation on Oct. 10. Freberg said some boxes that were shipped by UPS from the UK in September are missing. After receiving a notification that her package did not clear customs and was subsequently destroyed, she received an update that the package was on its way.
Other customers posted on Reddit about how they received surprising bills from UPS to pay for the tariff increase. “Am I going to be charged $1,000 in customs duties and brokerage fees, or am I going to lose this package entirely?” posted one person who said he ordered a custom wedding ring from Canada, where many items are subject to a 35% tariff.
Why UPS has to “destroy” some packages shipped to the US
UPS, which delivers millions of packages every day, removes more than 90% of imported packages on the first day of entry, the company told USA TODAY in a statement.
But that can still leave thousands of packages unresolved. “Due to changes in U.S. import regulations, a large number of packages are unable to clear customs due to missing or incomplete information about the package required for customs clearance,” the company said in a statement.
UPS “makes multiple attempts to resolve delays and obtain the information necessary to deliver packages,” the company said. The company says that after making three or more calls per package, UPS may “not be able to obtain the information necessary to remove the package.” In that case, UPS can return the package to the sender at a cost.
UPS may contact the recipient to obtain the necessary information. But if the company is unable to do so, the original shipper does not comply, and “the package is not authorized for delivery, the package will be considered abandoned and we will dispose of it in accordance with U.S. Customs regulations,” UPS said in a statement.
What are other shipping companies doing?
Other shippers are facing the same issue. If more detailed customs information is needed, FedEx will “actively work with the sender to update documentation for resubmission to (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) or return the package to the sender,” the company said in a statement.
FedEx said this is “not a common practice,” but some packages will be thrown away. “In some cases, the shipper can request that the package be destroyed if they do not want to pay for it to be returned to the sender,” the company said. “In rare cases, the recipient may be notified at the direction of the shipper.”
DHL Express is also increasingly receiving “US-bound packages with missing or incomplete customs information” in an increasingly complex shipping environment.
However, the company said in a statement to USA TODAY that it “will not dispose of packages that have not cleared customs.” DHL says if its attempts to obtain the necessary documents are not successful within 15 days, the package will be returned to the sender.
Like UPS and FedEx, DHL also posts customs information and the latest customs information updates on its website.
Customs situation leaves some people “extremely exhausted”
Some companies may decide not to ship to the United States due to the fluid tariff situation. China’s G-Star Electronics Appliances, which once derived more than 60% of its revenue from orders from the United States, “has given up” on entering the U.S. market, its founder and CEO Jackie Ren told Reuters.
The threat of triple-digit tariff hikes on Chinese goods has left Ren “extremely exhausted” and he is seeking new customers outside the United States, he said.
Contributed by: Reuters
Mike Snyder is a national trends news reporter for USA TODAY. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, and X, and email him at: mike snyder & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & msnider@usatoday.com
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