What Is the UPS UIS US Charge on Your Statement?

A line item reading “UPS UIS US” on your bank or credit card statement is a customs charge from United Parcel Service. It covers the duties, taxes, and brokerage fees UPS paid to U.S. Customs and Border Protection to clear an international package addressed to you, plus the company’s own processing fees. These bills used to be rare for ordinary shoppers. They are now routine, because the federal government ended the $800 duty-free “de minimis” exemption in 2025 and nearly every inbound international shipment is now dutiable.

What the Charge Actually Pays For

When a package crosses the border, someone has to pay whatever the government assesses on its contents. UPS, acting as a licensed customs broker, advances those government fees to release the shipment through CBP, then bills the recipient to recover what it paid plus its own charges. If the shipper used “Delivery Duty Unpaid” terms — the default when a shipper pays by credit card without a UPS payment account — you as the recipient owe the full bill.1UPS. Understanding Customs

A UPS customs invoice can bundle several pieces:

Why the Charge Is Suddenly Common

For years, low-value shipments slipped in duty-free. U.S. law let goods valued under $800 enter without duties under the de minimis rule, so individual consumers rarely saw a brokerage bill. That changed in stages. On April 2, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order ending de minimis treatment for products from China and Hong Kong.4Federal Register. Notice of Implementation of Executive Order 14324 On July 30, 2025, Executive Order 14324 extended the suspension globally, effective August 29, 2025.5The White House. Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries A February 2026 executive action continued the suspension indefinitely.6The White House. Continuing the Suspension of Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries

A separate 10% temporary import surcharge took effect February 24, 2026, under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, and runs through at least July 24, 2026.7Federal Register. Imposing a Temporary Import Surcharge So a $50 item ordered from a seller abroad — including through platforms like eBay, whose help pages note that buyers who “defer import charges until delivery” will owe those fees on arrival — now generates a customs entry, duties, and brokerage fees that simply did not exist before mid-2025.8eBay. International Purchases and Shipping

How To Confirm the Charge Is Legitimate

Before paying anything, verify. Log in to UPS.com and enter the tracking number for any recent international shipment. If duties or fees are owed, a “Pay Now” link appears on the tracking page.9UPS. UPS Billing Paying online before delivery also avoids the $12 collect-on-delivery surcharge.

Scammers have been impersonating UPS with fake delivery-fee requests. UPS says legitimate billing communications come only from verified addresses such as invoice-notification@ups.com and no.reply@upsbilling.ups.com, and that the company will never ask for payment by wire transfer, gift cards, or cash.10UPS. Fight Fraud The Better Business Bureau has flagged a rise in fraudulent “customs fee” texts and emails piggybacking on consumer confusion about the new tariff rules.11WMTV. Online Shoppers Hit With Surprise Fees to Accept Packages If you aren’t expecting an international package, don’t act on the request. Go to UPS.com directly and check.

Disputing the Amount

If the bill looks wrong — for example, if the duty rate seems far too high for the type of product shipped — UPS accepts disputes by phone at the number printed on the invoice or by email to the Post Entry Department at usspdutydiscrepancyreview@ups.com. Corrections that require reclassifying goods under a different tariff code may trigger a separate Post Entry Services fee. UPS has acknowledged an “extensive backlog” of brokerage inquiries tied to recent tariff changes, and directs follow-up calls to 1-866-493-7140, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST.2UPS. Import Fees, Tariffs, and Duties

One thing UPS cannot do is waive the government-set portion. Duties and the Merchandise Processing Fee are CBP charges, and UPS says only case-by-case disbursement fee waivers are considered for tariff-related delays.12UPS. Trade Policy and Tariff Changes

What Happens If You Don’t Pay

Ignoring the invoice doesn’t cancel it. UPS applies a late fee reported at roughly 9.9% of the billed amount to overdue invoices.13NBC DFW. Received a Surprise Tariff Bill? Heres What You Should Know After 42 days unpaid, UPS reverses the charges to the original shipper for collection. In some cases, UPS has referred individual consumer accounts to Receivable Management Services, a third-party collection agency based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.14Business Insider. UPS Late Fees and Collection Threats on Tariff Bills

If a UPS customs debt reaches a third-party collector, you have rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, including the right to request written validation of the debt within 30 days of the initial collection notice.

Refunds After the Supreme Court Ruling

On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6–3 in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize the president to impose tariffs.15SCOTUSblog. Supreme Court Strikes Down Tariffs The decision invalidated tariffs already collected under IEEPA but did not itself set up a refund mechanism.16SCOTUSblog. A Breakdown of the Courts Tariff Decision

In April 2026, CBP opened a refund portal called the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) platform. UPS and FedEx have both begun filing refund claims through it. UPS has said customers do not need to contact the company and that refunds will be passed along once Treasury remits funds, a process the company estimates could take up to three months.17CNBC. UPS, FedEx Tariff Refunds Roughly $5 billion in potential refunds has been identified across the shipping industry.18Fortune. FedEx, UPS Pledging Tariff Refunds Back to Customers

The refund path covers the tariff itself, not necessarily UPS’s brokerage fees. On the day of the ruling, a proposed class action, Anastopoulo v. United Parcel Service Inc. (Case No. 1:26-cv-01005), was filed in the Northern District of Georgia, with a parallel complaint in the District of South Carolina. The suit alleges breach of contract and unjust enrichment over UPS’s collection and retention of fees derived from tariffs the Court declared illegal, and proposes a class of all U.S. residents who paid IEEPA-related tariff charges to UPS. As of early 2026, briefing and motions were pending.19Sullivan and Cromwell. Tariff Refund Claims Spur Litigation At least six additional class actions have been filed against UPS and FedEx over the brokerage and duty-advancement fees that accompanied the voided tariffs, with plaintiffs arguing those fees lacked legal justification regardless of whether the underlying duties are refunded.20Business Insider. FedEx, UPS Face Lawsuits Over Tariff Brokerage Fees

Handling the Clearance Yourself

You are not required to use UPS as your customs broker. CBP allows recipients to self-clear shipments by contacting a local port of entry, providing documentation, and paying any duties directly, though the agency says this is generally advisable only for shipments valued under $2,000.21U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Internet Purchases For a shipment already in UPS’s system, requesting release to another broker triggers a “brokerage transfer” fee of $87.50.3UPS. UPS International Additional Charges Rate Sheet For most small shipments the transfer fee will exceed anything you’d save.