UPS fees for US and how to reduce them...

We've just received the following update from UPS in respect of shipments to the USA. This is for shipments where you as the received are liable to pay for any taxes and import duties, a so called 'ICOD' shipment.

As you can read, it is important that we have your contact details (name, phone, email) so that they can make sure you receive prior notification to pay before the delivery is attempted.

I suspect UPS will roll this out to other countries too in due course;

Statement from UPS

Effective June 2, 2025, UPS will introduce the below described fee change for international shipments sent to the U.S.

New International Collect on Delivery (“ICOD”) Fee

Parcels requiring the payment of duties, taxes and other government-related charges (“Duties”) will be assessed an additional fee of $12 USD if those Duties are not paid prior to delivery. The ICOD Fee will be charged to the U.S. recipient upon delivery and does not apply if Duties are billed to a UPS account number prior to delivery.

Recipients can avoid these charges if they pay the applicable Duties electronically through the UPS Import Payment Processing Application (IPPA) using Apple Pay, Google Pay, or with a credit card (Visa, Mastercard or Discover). Shippers can help ensure that their U.S. customers (recipients) receive the prepayment notification to pay Duties in advance by providing recipient contact details on all export shipments (recipient name, phone number, and email address). In addition to the notification, a link to pay the Duties will also be provided with the UPS.com tracking results for the shipment. This will enable the customer to submit payments in advance and avoid the ICOD Fee.

Please refer to the UPS Rate and Service Guide for more details.

We thank you for your understanding and support.

Sincerely,

UPS