FedEx and the Flagrantly False Fees - A Tariff Tale
Nonsensical tariffs, gross incompetence, and cowardly scare tactics...all over some comic books.
I awoke one morning in August to find a text message from FedEx:
This was confusing for several reasons. First and most obvious was the
fact that I had already received the package in question over a week
prior. If I actually owed FedEx money, shouldn't they have notified me
about this before the package was delivered?
But what mystified me even more was the fact that there was no explanation of what these charges entailed. There was a link to pay the amount online, but this seemed more than a little sketchy. It was only because FedEx had previously contacted me from that particular number that I even bothered to read the message, but who's to say that it still couldn't be a bogus text from a malicious hacker? Most would assume that the text was spam and then delete it entirely.
I called FedEx's customer support number to get to the bottom of this. I was greeted by a machine that, regardless of the options I selected, would not let me progress past a certain point unless I had an account number with FedEx—which I don't have. I had (and have) never shipped anything with FedEx, so I did not have the correct type of profile.
My next step was to go to a nearby FedEx location to ask an employee about the text message. The staff couldn't help me directly, but one absolute mensch was able to call the internal number for FedEx's Duty and Tax Department and have them call my phone. The call came a few minutes later, and as I paced back and forth in the lobby of that FedEx shipping center, I calmly explained what had happened: I received a text message that morning asking me to pay a $24.60 charge for a shipment of books, but I had not been provided with any details about the charge in question. The woman on the other end gave me an email address to contact: dutytaxdisputes@fedex.com.
I drove home slightly more hopeful than when I left, though this whole ordeal still felt wrong. That afternoon, I sent a message to the aforementioned address requesting more information. What made up that $24.60, which was over 30% of the shipment's cost? Also (as I learned after some quick Googling), shouldn't books be exempt from the ongoing tariffs? I received a vague, noncommittal response back. FedEx would investigate my claim and respond within 3-5 business days.
Those days passed, and sure enough, FedEx was kind enough to mail me a detailed bill which now claimed that my charges were "past due". But at least they broke down the charges in enough detail to prove that I was essentially being robbed:
The document clearly showed that I was being charged a 10% duty under Section 122, subsection 9903.03.01. But the lines below include the word "textbooks", the code 4901.99.0010 (which is the more specific classification), and the word FREE in column 33 indicated that this shipment, which contained books and only books, should be duty free. Hell, even if I scrolled down on the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (an ironic name if I've ever seen one) to view subsection 9903.03.11, printed and recorded media were clearly listed as exempt.
Nonetheless, according to FedEx, this package was both subject to a 10% duty...and not. It was Schrödinger's tariff.
The NY Times published an article about this very topic just before my ordeal began. The author of that piece had even made a purchase from the same store, the venerable Hollow Press. However, some things had changed in the month since the article went up, and others had sadly remained the same despite the expiration of aforementioned tariff.
At the most fundamental level, FedEx and US Customs and Border Protection were deliberately—or, at the very least, negligently—continuing to charge the 10% tariff on books despite the facts that books were always exempt from that tariff, even before the expiration date of July 24. Someone along the way recognized the shipment as exempt but just chose to charge the fee anyway. Then, on top of that 10% charge, which comes out to about $7 and change, FedEx applied a separate $17 "disbursement fee" for lending a helping hand. This more than doubled the total that I supposedly owed. Regardless of who was to blame, both the US Customs and FedEx were trying to exploit the uncertainty of the situation.
So I went about emailing the Duty and Tax department again, explaining what I detailed above. I received a response similar to what the NY Times writer shared in their article:
There were a few things wrong with this email. First, I never paid anything to US Customs and Border Protection, so there was nothing to be refunded. Even if there was a legitimate duty to be paid, FedEx had theoretically paid it on my behalf, and if FedEx paid Customs a fee that didn't apply, that was not my problem!
Then there was the bolded section, which suggested that if my assessment of the whole situation was incorrect, I would potentially have to pay an additional $90-150 just for putting FedEx through the trouble of reviewing the case. Again, if FedEx or Customs filled out the paperwork wrong, that wasn't on me, but I thought about that bolded section for a good 10 minutes. Was it worth my time and/or money to pursue this further?
In that aforementioned NY Times article, the author, Kimber Streams, eventually received an official-looking collection notice in the mail bearing the word "delinquent" in the header. This was a clear attempt to scare Streams with what appeared to be a legal threat, so they eventually caved and paid. If Streams really wanted to take FedEx to small claims court over this issue, then FedEx would not have a leg to stand on. I was morbidly curious to see if my case would get to that point if I refused to pay up.
Screw it, I thought. I'm down to clown. Let's do this.
In hindsight, I was laying it on a bit thick. I really shouldn't have editorialized, but the point was made, I suppose, and FedEx responded a week later with the following:
The ??????? really made me laugh - not sure what happened there. Nonetheless, I was not expecting FedEx's retreat to be this quick or this absolute. I figured they'd still try to nail me for the $7 that Customs allegedly charged them, but this message confirmed that yes, someone at Customs or FedEx made the mistake and that I could (hopefully) go about my day as usual. This just reinforced the sad fact that FedEx spent the better part of a year shaking customers down for 30% or more of their shipments' total costs even when the contents were exempt from tariffs
There is still the larger question: now that the section 122 tariffs expired months ago, what will future shipments look like? Let's say that my package's entry on July 23rd gave Customs enough of an excuse to charge me that 10% duty, even if books themselves were exempt. The sweeping tariffs (illegally) enacted in 2025 expired on July 24th, so if I make a purchase from the same vendor now, will I be charged a duty? Only time will tell.
This whole exchange had demonstrated that FedEx will attempt to nickel and dime their customers wherever possible, using every excuse and scare tactic at their disposal to gaslight customers into believing these bogus charges are just the cost of doing business. They have no qualms about exploiting their customers' confusion and fear as long as they can profit from the exchange. I wish I didn't have to use FedEx, but it's not up to me. I'm faced with a choice: keep dealing with this corrupt, untrustworthy company or stop supporting sellers that I respect. The piece of mind that the former option provides will not replace the joy afforded by the latter: small businesses for whom FedEx may be the most affordable or expedient option. I suppose I'll just have to live with that lopsided "compromise". The one silver lining is that FedEx has shown its true colors: they may be greedy and conniving, but like the most craven and opportunistic bullies, they will back down the second the tables are turned on them.