Customs, Duties and Tariffs to the USA

Shopify Discussion
1

Hi, I have a small EU based shop that regularly ships to the USA using FedEx. With the new implementation of tariffs and the removal of the $800 tax free rule, I am starting to get charge backs for these charges when customers refuse to pay.
We use a 3rd party shipper that gets us a good rate by comparing couriers and FedEx always comes back as the least expensive (by far). This 3rd party shipper seems to not really be iinformed on this so I’m reaching out here.

My questions are:

1. Is there a way to have FedEx collect the charges from the customers BEFORE they deliver? My customers are always informed before buying that these fees have to be paid by them. When I ship to Canada via UPS, UPS sends the notification and the package does not get delivered until it’s paid. I’ve never had a package returned as the customer always pays.

2. As we are a small company, if we decided to collect the fees before we ship, how would we calculate the tariffs, etc? And how would we submit to the USA.

  1. Do I have any way to challenge these charges with FedEx. I have a feeling that a lot more US customers will be refusing to pay…

I’m really trying to find the simplest way to manage this as the USA is a substantial market for us. I am open to all suggestions.

Thanks

3

Thanks Stephen, it’s a very clear explanation. After reading, can I ask if there is a way for FedEx to ask for payment from the receiver before they deliver. I’m not sure if I want to be the one collecting monies (DDP). When I ship using UPS or DHL, they ship the goods, and before delivery, they request payment from the receiver. Once paid, they deliver.

For example, when I receive goods in the EU from a non-EU country, DHL sends me a notice prompted when they accept the goods in the non-EU country. This allows me a 2-3 day advance notice of payment so that the delivery can happen in a timely fashion.

I don’t use UPS or DHL for the USA as the pricing is triple what FedEx is (for example €40 vs €120) which really kills the bottom line. I’ve also read that DHL & UPS aren’t handling the tariff situation well.

Thanks again.