China just raised import duties in response to US.
I’m afraid, if all countries will do the same, that international deals will be only a good old memory.
But it’s still early.
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I have a NON-theory question:
Has anyone paid an import fee, and what/how is it done? Because things are changing so much , and it’s new, information I’ve found is not reliable or consistent.
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In Europe, when you receive something from abroad, you just receive a link by email or text message to pay the import fee. Then the post office is allowed to deliver what you ordered.
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That has “scam friendly” written all over it.
I’ve had 2 scam attempts lately:
“You have unpaid tolls, click here to pay”
“UPS” left a note on the door to pay an import tax to have the package delivered. The slip looks legit but the website is bogus
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I get these too. They always spell things wrong or use “ur” instead of “your” lol
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Customs calculate my VAT without my intervention as long as they have the necessary information. If they don’t have that information, I get a paper letter instructing me to provide it by email or mail, which will incur a second processing fee (and a third if I provide the information by mail.) I then have to pay the VAT and processing fees at the post office when I pick up the package. Both the VAT and the processing fees are liable to overcharging, double charging and every other surprise and mishap in their favor, so vigilance is required.
If the package is sent by private courier (DHL, UPS, FEDEX etc) I get a paper invoice by mail and/or email instructing me to pay the VAT online after the package is delivered. Unless the driver is equipped to take payment on delivery, every now and then you get a driver who will insist on payment on delivery. If it’s just the paper invoice, there will usually be a long delay, to the point where I often get the invoice the day before or even on the same day as the payment is due.
YMMV 
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Except if you’re in Germany and your package gets delivered by Deutsche Post or DHL who are stuck in the 20th century. Then you of course have to pay the delivery driver with cash the exact amount which you don’t know beforehand. No change, no card payment possible and no online payment in advance. I cannot understand how you can still operate like that in 2025 when other companies (including DHL themselves with DHL Express parcels lol) just offer convenient online payment in advance, but whatever.
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If the shipment has properly made paperwork you will get an email with the detailed invoice and a link to pay. Very straight forward with couriers, I never use regular post because this already sucks as is I wouldn’t want the extra headache.
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Ship to every single high tariffed county before your own lol
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It was interesting to read experiences from other European users above, especially the cash payment during delivery @Ratequaza mentioned sounds pretty wild. 
In Finland most of the parcels are handled by Posti, once it’s ready for customs processing the customs sends request via text message. Their website is really easy to use, once you enter tracking number most of the other information appears there automatically. After this you select the type of item you want to declare, input total value and the website calculates amount. Once the import charges are paid via online bank we also have to pay 3,10 euro handling fee to Posti, this used to be 2,90 euros when import charge policies had major change back in summer 2021.
With courier companies things can be slightly different. As an example I recently used DHL Express first time and they sent request via email ( however the import charges were paid normally at customs website ), also while the package was in transit I had to choose upfront do I want to declare it by myself or use their service which was over 20 euros. One positive side with this method ( besides insane delivery speed ) was the lack of handling fees. 
I wish best of luck to all US users assuming these tariff changes happen as planned, your customs/postal services have almost no time to adjust for them so there will be troubles ahead.
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Not always type-Os. Hackers/scammers are getting pretty good at crafting those messages, especially with AI. Regardless, any link should be verified and will likely give it away.
But, social engineering aside, Thank you very much for all the input. It seems I can expect a bill of some sort, and barring phishing, SMishing, Vishing, and various type-o and URL squatting attempts (yes those are all things) I’ll be able to use that info to pay anything. 
Amazing that in 6 months of searching for a process, the simple question to [google], “How do I actually pay US import fees?” could not result in these answers. 
I was looking to make a small upgrade to my car E4 knows, the lego one. 
and I ordered the parts from a US seller… then the shipment notification comes from a chinese location… 
If the fees are too high, I may deny it… IDK if I can do that. 
But who knows what they’ll put on the paperwork.
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Oh hey bud, didn’t know you were on E4. I’ll prob see ya in Orlando this upcoming CaC :]
Hope all is going well
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Lol.. I’m glad the DHL in The Netherlands isn’t doing this. Right now I don’t even have any cash in house (unless I count my old euro coin collection ), since I recently put my last few euros in an at-door donation bin. 
@xileets To also answer the question from my experience in The Netherlands: it’s fairly similar to @Taigataipan’s answer. Most parcels are handled by PostNL. When I have to pay import fees, I get an email or mobile app notification. I usually ignore the links in those email/notification and just go to the PostNL website, fill in the tracking number and my postal code, and click on the Pay-link to pay through iDeal (global paying service in my country that supports a.f.a.i.k. all Dutch banks). After I’ve paid, PostNL’s process continues, and it’s usually being delivered 1-2 workdays later depending on the time I paid.
In some cases, the package gets delivered to a pick-up PostNL point, and I can pay the amount by bank/credit card there when picking it up.
As for DHL and DPD: I usually get a text message. It’s always from the same phone number, so I saved it to know it’s theirs. The links in the SMS’s are also always from a similar host. But since I usually pay through my PC’s browser instead of on mobile, I type the URL manually instead of clicking the link in the SMS, just in case. 
As a software developer working for a web security company, I recognize scams pretty easily, but even then it’s better to be safe than sorry.. Especially since they’ve become a lot more convincing since AI, unfortunately.
As for FedEx: they usually just deliver the package, and I get an SMS and email later on to pay on their website. If I forget to pay, I usually also get a physical letter for the invoice and amount to be paid, in which case I usually transfer it directly to their (Dutch) bank account.
90%+ of all packages I receive will be done by PostNL, though. Then again, most of those are from within the EU for which I won’t have to pay import fees anyway. This will likely change soon, since I won’t be sending everything from outside of the EU to my US middleman anymore with these US tariffs.. 
Greetz,
Quuador
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hmm… Thanks, Q… SO If and only if (IFF) it’s both delivered and I have to pay a fee afterward, I’ll have an additional hurdle when I have to complain, dispute, or get the import fee back, since they inferred it was a domestic seller.
…Maybe they use a middle man here, to get around the import fees to the buyer, and it’s already been handled. 
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Orange man just paused Tariffs for 90 days and then seems to be reducing it for everyone but China to 10%.
I am happy he has done this, but man this is such a mess for businesses to try navigating.
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Trump - “lol nvm”
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Pretty much just made many companies, such as PSA, likely lose millions in changing/pausing their operations. Hopefully that is the last change. Markets need stability.
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Trumps tariffs are like when people buy a card, post on ig how its a grail they wanted forever, and then sell it the next day!
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Couldnt have phrased it any better.
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More like when someone bids on your item on eBay then sends you the “my baby bid on this, please cancel” message.
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