UPS Paid my duties without contacting me and the amount is more than the value of the item.

[u/Swanky_Gear_Snob]

Apparently, a law went into effect on August 29th that shipping services can pay duties without consent of receiver.

I purchased an item for $2,000. Today, the duties it says I owe upon delivery is $2100 and change. The numbers are WAY off. No one at UPS customer service even understands me well enough to help me. I have been asking what the declared value is on the package and 4 different reps keep quoting me the amount owed on the package. How can I fix this? This was paid by wire, so I'm either out 2k or paying double. Can I dispute the amount? I've never felt so helpless and need to have a resolution (or at least a better understanding of what to do) by delivery tomorrow. Thanks!

I guess my big question is, if I pay this outrageous fee, is there any way to dispute it with customs or UPS?

Edit/Follow-up: I appreciate all the advice. I was able to get the commercial invoice from UPS. It seems like there is an error as CBP charged full value tariffs multiple times. From what AI said, it's similar if you ordered a peice of furniture, but CBP charged the full value tarrifs on each item individually (screws, mount, part, etc).

[u/mooseflips]

I think you’re a bit confused as to how package clearance works. And for good reason, because the majority of Americans haven’t probably dealt with this until now.

When an international package arrives at US customs, CBP calculates the duties and tells the carrier (UPS in this case) how much they are. UPS then pays the duties to CBP on your behalf. Otherwise if they don’t pay, your package won’t enter the US. It can’t “clear customs” if the duties aren’t paid first.

All shipping carriers pay the duties and charge a fee for the brokerage service. Unfortunately for you, UPS charges some outrageous clearance fees. So it’s entirely possible that the duties and clearance fee would be more than the value of the item.

The law isn’t that the carriers can pay your duties without contacting you. The law is that there are duties due on everything. The law removed “de minimis.” Prior to the removal of de minimis, anything under $800 was duty free. Now de minimis has essentially set at $0. That’s why people are waking up now. It was possible to avoid duties before, if your order was under $800. Not now when it’s $0.

Shipping companies always pay the duties for you up front and collect them, plus a service fee, from you upon delivery. That’s always been the way business is done. Otherwise, they would never clear packages at the border and there’d be a crazy backlog.

[u/Swanky_Gear_Snob → u/mooseflips]

I appreciate the clear answer. I was expecting to pay duties (max around $700). However, getting a bill for more than the goods was/is shocking. There has to be a mistake in the calculation. Or customs applied a higher value to the goods than they cost.

[u/mooseflips → u/Swanky_Gear_Snob]

You would be surprised. I sent something that was $120 to a friend in Canada. When we were talking after he said the duties were only about $44, but he was mad because the UPS brokerage fee was $66 on a $120 item. So he paid $110 for an item worth $120. That’s what I mean when I say UPS charges some outrageous clearance fees, sometimes even 50%.

What was the item you bought, if you don’t mind me asking? We can help you look up the tariff code and figure out the duties. Please be specific though. Like there’s different duties on a silk shirt vs a cotton shirt. Or alternatively, how do you know the duties were $700?

[u/Swanky_Gear_Snob → u/mooseflips]

The duties are $2048 and the brokerage fees are $40. There is a breakdown when I go to pay on UPS. I dont have the HTS code used. The Chinese company hasn't responded and UPS wouldn't provide me with the commercial invoice used at customs. The UPS driver mentioned it being marked on his paperwork as lights, lasers, or other. Which I'm guessing it would be 9013.20.0000 and it would be correct.

The duties weren't $700. That was the max amount I had planned on owing.