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Cookie Policy · Personal Data PolicyUS import duties — what you need to know?
If you regularly order goods from abroad to a warehouse in the USA, it is important to understand the new rules for importing goods into the USA.
Until recently, parcels worth up to $800 could be received without duties or a declaration, which made the process simple and convenient. Now clients increasingly find that they have to pay duties, taxes and other fees when orders are delivered to the Easyship warehouse. Below we explain why this happened and what to do about it.
What has changed
Since August 2025, duty-free import has been abolished for all commercial shipments (whether a parcel is commercial or for personal use is determined by the inspector at the time of customs processing). For goods from China and Hong Kong the rule was cancelled even earlier — in May 2025.
As a result, goods may fall under the «basic» tariff even if they cost less than $800. This means that any parcel, even one worth $10, may be subject to duty or tax.
New tariffs and duties
- Since April 2025, the USA has introduced a single basic import tariff of 10% on most goods.
- For some countries and product categories (especially from China), higher rates apply — up to 25%.
- Courier services (UPS, FedEx) have added extra fees for customs clearance.
Even inexpensive goods now almost always require payment of import duty and tax (Duty + Tax) when imported into the USA.
How to pay duty in the USA (UPS, FedEx, USPS)
If fees and taxes do have to be paid on your order, the different carriers offer several ways to pay them:
UPS
- If a parcel requires customs clearance, a «Pay Now» button may appear in the tracking status of your parcel on the UPS website — you can use it to pay the duty and fees online.
- If UPS has already paid the duty on your behalf (to speed up delivery), you will receive an invoice with the details: the duty, the brokerage fee and other charges. As a rule, we receive such letters and forward them to the client in the chat. The invoice lists all the available methods of paying duties and fees.
- You can pay via the UPS Billing Center
FedEx
- If FedEx has already paid the duty on your behalf (to speed up delivery), you will receive an invoice with the details: the duty, the brokerage fee and other charges.
- You can pay via FedEx Billing Online .
Tip: to speed up delivery, pay the duty online without waiting for the courier's visit. If the duty is not paid before the courier arrives at the warehouse, the parcel will not be accepted.
Tip: always pay only through the company's official website. Couriers do not accept payment via messengers or to personal cards.
USPS- The US Postal Service sends a written notification if duty has been assessed.
- Payment is made at the post office when the parcel is collected (unfortunately, Easyship does not provide a service for paying such charges).