Lucie / minuteon our very recent shipments of MNT laptops to the US, i can see that a number of people had to pay "government charges" via UPS before delivery. there is no transparency on these charges, we can only see the dollar amount. the amount is never the expected 15% (EU->US agreement), but usually around 25%, in some cases more. even taking sales taxes into account it doesn't add up. so far no one can explain to us how the charges are calculated or how to appeal. this is beyond frustrating. any ideas?
(my key accounter at UPS in germany can also not explain it nor access the invoices)
João Tiago Rebelo (NAFO J-121)@mntmn well, many EU postal services have stopped sending parcels to the US for that reason. The US are trying to rake in money through tariffs, either legally or not, as long as "the EU" (your USA clients) pays they don't care.
ikuturso 🇪🇺@jt_rebelo @mntmn I think the reason for that was that the US government demands collecting the tariff in advance. But then even just letters have stopped moving, they should not be subject to tariffs but...
we'll look into UPS global checkout API to see if we can pre "land" the costs, it will take a little while to implement though https://docs.globalcheckout.ups.com/ups-global-checkout/landed-cost/calculate-landed-cost
bovaz@mntmn I don't know the English word. I'd call it "physical ransomware": the mob has something of yours, and you pay for the privilege of having it back.
GrandTheftUrkel
Russian warship go **** yourself 
[HANDMAIDEN] xan@mntmn possibly related to the Certificate of Analysis requirement bullshit regarding Cu/Al/steel content in PCBs defaulting to assuming the entire PCB is copper?
Jernej Simončič �@mntmn UPS usually charges quite a lot for the privilege of paying customs charges (I know it used to be 80€ years ago, and while it's somewhat less now, it's still very high).
@jernej__s on most of the invoices that i've seen now it's 15$, sometimes around 20$
Ryne Hager@mntmn Some clients of ours have been using third-party fulfillment services to try to work around this. Could be worth calling a logistics service in Germany to see if they have any systems in place. I have heard that a lot of EU shipments are going through Hungary warehouses, for example.
Jonathan Frederickson@mntmn From what I've heard the US government isn't providing key information like "where do we send payment to?" and the exact amounts they need to charge for different products. My gut feeling is that UPS is charging extra to cover the risk of getting it wrong on some packages + the cost of figuring out how to deal with the new system
That's my feeling because other postal carriers have halted shipments altogether, which makes me think they decided the risk is too great to continue shipping
@jfred i don't think that is the case. UPS is not a postal service, but a courier. only traditional postal services have halted small parcel stuff because normally the bulk of them didn't need customs processing because of de minimis <$800 rule, which suddenly went away, and they don't have the infra to handle all the new declarations.
AL@mntmn
There are two cost components:
1) the added tax that the conservatives are collecting from the citizens of the USA.
2) the extra profit the bigCorps are adding on because it can hide under the umbrella of the tax the conservatives have imposed on the people.
The benefit of having the #bigCorps collect the #tax is that the corps can add on a little something for themselves. Every gangster knows that the bag-man gets a cut. Its criminality 101.
There is more to #democracy than voting.
@mral UPS displays what they charge for the brokerage. it is $15-$30. the bulk is in "government charges", 100s of dollars.
Jim P.@mntmn Earlier this year I found out the hard way that FedEx charges the receiver the import duties as well as a $14 "disbursement fee" for paying the duties on their behalf which made the totals appear to not match the stated percentages at first.
At least with FedEx, recipients can avoid that extra charge by having an account with them with a payment method on file.
🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑@mntmn The carriers (including the US Postal Service) charge additional "brokerage fees" for collecting the tariff. I don't think there is any way to appeal.
I recommend not selling anything into the USA, nor buying anything from the USA.
I'm speaking as a US citizen. The only way to fight this stupidity is to make US citizens so angry that we demand an end to these tariffs, and reinstatement of the de minimis exemption, and then vote Cheeto Benito out of office
I recommend not selling anything into the USA, nor buying anything from the USA.
I'm speaking as a US citizen. The only way to fight this stupidity is to make US citizens so angry that we demand an end to these tariffs, and reinstatement of the de minimis exemption, and then vote Cheeto Benito out of office
@brouhaha the brokerage fee is displayed separately as $15-$30. that's not it
@brouhaha also, almost 50% of our revenue is from US customers. not an option to lose them
gunstick@mntmn @brouhaha Trump wants this to be over so you better count on it that it will be over. Trump does not want your awesome stuff.
Mouser can sell on their non US platforms. I think they y have that. And the make it Mouser's problem to get the items into the US.
But in short: your business is over. Don't try to still sell to the fascists. They can and will screw you over.
Mouser can sell on their non US platforms. I think they y have that. And the make it Mouser's problem to get the items into the US.
But in short: your business is over. Don't try to still sell to the fascists. They can and will screw you over.
Joe Steinbring 
@mntmn I was listening to a podcast episode yesterday about legal ways to minimize tariffs and it sounded like it's based upon the country of origin of the most important component. They gave the example of a blender and said that if the blades are made in Japan but it's assembled in Mexico, the tariff charged would be the rate set for Japan.
I'm not sure what they would consider the most important component for a laptop but I'm guessing that is the reason.
Niels Moseley@mntmn idea: don't ship to the US
Mastodon MigrationLast week bought a circuit board from China. The tariff was about 50%. So a $500 purchase was $750 after the tarriff.
@mastodonmigration i'm sorry to hear
Yeah, it sucked. But looked for an alternative US made product and the level of technology was a joke by comparison. Had some pre-sales tech support questions and they got right back to me. The US company still has not replied 3 weeks later. Received it yesterday and completely blown away by what gorgeous product it is. We are way behind in every respect.
TJC-@mntmn It's called "stealing".
Kevin Karhan 
John Robinson@mntmn You’re being conned?
Germán Enríquez@mntmn
Don't use UPS, they're crooks
Don't use UPS, they're crooks
@mntmn last year i forgot my government issued ID in the US when i was visiting family in europe. i urgently needed it so i had it fast shipped with UPS to my family. after paying over 200EUR to send it took over 2 weeks to arrive (ok, it was around xmas) but the UPS refused to give it to me until i paid 25EUR customs "based on the value of the goods being shipped". i would say don't use them but the sad reality is there are onlt 3 companies able to deliver parcels worldwide and they all suck...
Mitch Effendi (ميتش أفندي)@mntmn might be an obvious thing to suggest, but, is it possible to build a relationship with a Canadian or Mexican reshipper willing to receive parcels via UPS and then forward them via the post? They are still shipping parcels across the border to the US via land freight.
Deepak@mntmn It has gotten really confusing and there is a big information vacuum. The first 30 mins of this webinar has details that you might find useful: https://www.flexport.com/webinars/tariff-trends-2025-navigating-the-end-of-de-minimis/
SamuelThe closest example I have: In Sweden what usually happened when importing from, e.g., the US or China is that the postal service charged the import tariff plus a fee to make the declaration on your behalf (which you could not avoid paying, weird).
This may be something similar and they're simply charging abusive prices on this fee + the nominal 15%.
From my experience living in four different countries across two continents, this is something a foreign seller normally can't help with and also doesn't as it is between the goverment and the customer, with the postal service acting as a "middle man" (pardon the gendering for the sake of conciseness).
This may be something similar and they're simply charging abusive prices on this fee + the nominal 15%.
From my experience living in four different countries across two continents, this is something a foreign seller normally can't help with and also doesn't as it is between the goverment and the customer, with the postal service acting as a "middle man" (pardon the gendering for the sake of conciseness).
@samuel no, as i wrote in other replies, the UPS brokerage fee is transparent and listed next to the government charges, it varies between $15 -$30
Sorry for the noise, my instance somehow didn’t fetch that.
./chrodo@mntmn As far as i was able to figure out, 25% is "supposed" to be the new default now, especially on electronics like laptops. I have double checked some UPS mails, that US customers received (i work at an online shop that also sells laptops) and aside from a few exceptions from mostly previous months, 25% plus sometimes various handling fees, is the norm.
Before, depending on the state, it was even delivered directly to the door without any import vat at all involved.
Before, depending on the state, it was even delivered directly to the door without any import vat at all involved.
@chrodo ok very interesting, thanks! but do you have any insight into which tariff was used and why? because it contradicts the 15% us/eu deal. so i want to know what's the rest
@mntmn Unfortunately not, as i am not responsible for managing the UPS and DHL accounts at my work place. I do receive copies of some of the standard mails, but these don't go in detail. Even then, from what i've heard from colleagues, it feels random. "Power of attorney", also den Wisch den Kunden für RMA Einsendungen ausfüllen müssen, wird auch nicht zuverlässig beachtet. So fallen beim Hin- und Rückversand dennoch ERNEUT die Einfuhrgebühren an, nachdem es bereits einen Import gab.
Brie (
)@mntmn as someone who originally ordered the MNT reform next with a US shipping address, would there be issues with getting my order shipped to a friend in the EU instead? would that make it easier for MNT?
I am/was really excited for the laptop, but I'd really rather not pay an extra $400 or so in tariffs for a bunch of reasons
(for the record, I'm explicitly not illegally dodging tariffs here, I'll have the friend use the laptop as long as I'm living in the US)
I am/was really excited for the laptop, but I'd really rather not pay an extra $400 or so in tariffs for a bunch of reasons
(for the record, I'm explicitly not illegally dodging tariffs here, I'll have the friend use the laptop as long as I'm living in the US)
@brie no worries, we are bulk shipping the nexts to mouser, they'll import them to the US
David Fleetwood - RG Admin@mntmn It is my understanding that the agreements are on top of the 10% global tariff Trump imposed, which would add up to 25% overall.