Here’s something that should make every American’s blood boil.
If you’ve ordered anything from overseas recently — a rug from Morocco, a shirt from the UK, a $15 phone case from South Korea — and UPS or FedEx showed up asking you to pay fees before they’d hand over your package, that wasn’t a scam. That was Trump’s tariff policy working exactly as designed.
The de minimis exemption is dead.
For decades, there was a simple rule: if your international package was worth $800 or less, it came into the country duty-free. No customs paperwork. No government fees. No carrier surcharges. Congress raised the threshold from $200 to $800 in 2016 specifically to help everyday consumers and small businesses. It worked. Millions of Americans ordered things from abroad without paying a dime in import duties.
Trump killed it.
The Timeline of Destruction
May 2, 2025: Trump signed an executive order ending de minimis for packages from China and Hong Kong. His stated reason? Fentanyl trafficking. The actual effect? A $10 t-shirt from China now faced import duties of up to 120%. Temu and Shein — two of the most popular online shopping apps in America — warned customers prices were about to spike. Temu’s daily active users in the U.S. dropped 52% within weeks.
The duty on low-value packages from China was initially set at 30% or $25 per item. Then Trump raised it to 90% or $75 per item. Then to 120% or $100 per item. Then to 145%. Then a temporary deal brought it to 54%. At one point in April 2025, the per-item fee for postal shipments was $200. A woman who ordered two dog harnesses for $33 reported $46 in import charges — more than the products themselves.
August 29, 2025: Trump expanded the suspension globally. Every country. Every package. A July 30 executive order eliminated duty-free treatment for low-value shipments worldwide. A $500 handmade rug from Morocco? Duties. A $50 book from the UK? Duties. A €30 bottle of olive oil from Italy your aunt sent for your birthday? Duties. No exceptions. No threshold. The de minimis exemption was gone for everyone, everywhere.
July 4, 2025: Congress passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which permanently repeals the statutory basis for the de minimis exemption starting July 1, 2027. They didn’t just suspend it. They killed the law that created it.
What UPS and FedEx Are Charging You Now
Here’s where it gets personal.
UPS introduced a new $12 “International Collect on Delivery” (ICOD) fee effective June 2, 2025. If your international package has duties owed and you don’t prepay them online before the driver shows up, you get slapped with an extra $12 on top of whatever the government is already charging you. Pay in advance through their app or website, or pay a surcharge at the door. That’s on top of:
• Customs brokerage fees — UPS charges these for processing your package through customs
• Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) — set by U.S. Customs and Border Protection
• Duties and taxes — based on what you bought, where it came from, and its value
FedEx increased its international processing fee from $1.50 to $2.50 per package on August 18, 2025. UPS matched it on September 8, 2025. These fees apply to every single international shipment.
And that’s just the carrier surcharges. The actual duties depend on the product and country of origin. For packages from China, tariff rates were — at various points — 120%, then 145%, then 54% under a temporary deal. For packages from everywhere else, standard Most Favored Nation tariff rates apply, plus any Section 301 or Section 232 tariffs that were already in place.
A $200 luggage set from China could cost $300 or more after import duties. Two dog harnesses that cost $33 ended up at $79 after $46 in import charges. A $10 t-shirt from Shein? If passed on exactly to consumers, it could go to $22. These aren’t hypotheticals — these are real costs real Americans reported paying.
The Supreme Court Struck Down Trump’s Tariffs. It Didn’t Matter.
On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Trump’s IEEPA tariffs were illegal. Chief Justice Roberts wrote that the president had no authority under IEEPA to impose tariffs — that IEEPA authorizes regulating importation, not taxing it. Roberts, Gorsuch, Barrett, Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson all agreed. The tariffs were struck down.
“We claim no special competence in matters of economics or foreign affairs. We claim only, as we must, the limited role assigned to us by Article III of the Constitution. Fulfilling that role, we hold that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.” — Chief Justice John Roberts
You’d think that would fix things. It didn’t.
On the same day the Supreme Court issued its ruling, Trump signed a new executive order titled “Continuing the Suspension of Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries.” He invoked IEEPA again — the exact same statute the Court just said doesn’t authorize tariffs — to keep the de minimis suspension alive. He also announced replacement tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 and launched investigations under Section 301.
As of today, April 2026, consumers still pay full duties on every international package under $800. The de minimis exemption is still suspended. UPS and FedEx are still collecting.
As Marketplace reported in March 2026: “As of today, consumers, importers, everyone, still has to pay full tariffs on items that are imported that are worth under $800.”
And Now the Scammers Are Having a Field Day
Because millions of Americans are now getting legitimate fee notices from UPS and FedEx for the first time, scammers have moved in. Fake texts and emails impersonating UPS and FedEx are flooding phones across the country, asking people to “pay a delivery fee” before their package arrives.
The problem? When your carrier is actually charging you new fees you’ve never seen before, how the hell are you supposed to tell the difference between a real fee and a scam?
Trump’s tariff policy didn’t just raise costs. It created the perfect environment for fraud.
The Bottom Line
This is a policy that:
• Eliminated a consumer protection that existed for decades
• Raised prices on every single international package entering the United States
• Hit hardest on low- and middle-income consumers who shop for deals from international sellers
• Created new carrier surcharges that pile on top of government duties
• Was partially struck down by the Supreme Court — and then reimposed on the same day
• Created a perfect breeding ground for scammers who now mimic legitimate fee notices
• Was made permanent by Congress in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”
The next time a UPS driver shows up at your door and asks you to pay $47 before he’ll hand you a $30 package, remember who did this.
Sources
- White House: Executive Order, “Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries.” July 30, 2025.
- White House: Fact Sheet, “President Donald J. Trump Closes De Minimis Exemptions to Combat China’s Role in America’s Synthetic Opioid Crisis.” April 2, 2025.
- UPS: “Tariffs and Their Impact on International Shipping.” Updated February 23, 2026.
- UPS: “Understanding Import Fees.” Accessed April 2026. Documents the $12 International Collect on Delivery fee.
- FedEx: “Stay On Top Of International US Tariffs Impact.” Updated February 20, 2026.
- SCOTUSblog: “Supreme Court strikes down tariffs.” February 20, 2026.
- Skadden: “The Supreme Court Ends IEEPA Tariffs, Bringing Fresh Uncertainty.” February 24, 2026. Notes Trump signed same-day EO continuing de minimis suspension.
- Marketplace/NPR: “Yep, the de minimis tariff exemption is still suspended.” March 3, 2026.
- NPR: “Shein and Temu will cost more, thanks to massive tariffs going into effect.” May 2, 2025. Documents the $33 dog harnesses with $46 in import charges.
- ABC News: “Shein and Temu products impacted by tariffs: What to know.” May 14, 2025.
- Value Added Resource: “UPS & FedEx Increase Fees For US Imports Ahead Of End Of De Minimis.” August 26, 2025.
- White & Case: “United States to suspend customs de minimis entry for most shipments on August 29, 2025.” August 5, 2025.