Both carriers repriced imports in the same week, and they landed on the same number.
FedEx adjusts its demand surcharge for US international services on Monday, September 21. (FedEx, demand surcharges) UPS updated its Surge Emergency Fee schedule on Friday, September 18, with new import rates starting September 27. (UPS Surge Emergency Fee, updated September 18, 2026) A pound of express air freight moving from China into the US now carries a 91 cent surcharge on either carrier. Supply Chain Dive reported the FedEx side on September 18. (Supply Chain Dive, September 18, 2026)
Most coverage framed this as a peak season story. Read the effective dates and it is not.
What FedEx is charging on imports
Per pound, effective September 21 and running until further notice (FedEx US import demand surcharges):
- China, Hong Kong, and Macau: $0.91 on express services, $0.54 on economy services
- Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and other Asia-Pacific origins: $0.73 express, $0.54 economy
- India: $0.89
- Europe: $0.25
- Israel: $0.25
- Canada: $0.14
- Latin America and the Caribbean: $0.12
- Sub-Saharan Africa: $0.60
The China express rate was $0.35 per pound through September 20. It nearly tripled. Asia-Pacific express went from $0.20 to $0.73.
Canada, Europe, Latin America, and Israel are new lanes. FedEx's own rate sheet lists no earlier import demand surcharge for any of them.
Not every line went up. Sub-Saharan Africa used to sit inside the broader Middle East and Indian subcontinent region at $0.70 per pound. It now has its own line at $0.60.
Exports moved too. US outbound to Canada, Latin America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand goes from $0.20 to $0.30 per pound. (FedEx US export demand surcharges) FedEx is also extending its non-standard package demand charges to international shipments for the first time. Those cover additional handling and oversize packages, plus an unauthorized package charge.
What UPS is charging on imports
UPS rates start September 27 and also run until further notice:
- China, Hong Kong, and Macau to the US: $0.91 per pound
- Australia, New Zealand, India, and the rest of Asia to the US: $0.77 per pound
- Europe and ISMEA to the US: $0.29 per pound
- Canada and Latin America to the US: $0.23 per pound
UPS states plainly that these fees are subject to the fuel surcharge and apply against billable weight. The posted number is not the number on your invoice. It is the number before fuel is applied to it.
The detail worth circling
Every peak surcharge you have read about this fall carries an end date in January. The UPS demand surcharge schedule runs its final period from December 27 to January 16, 2027, and the FedEx peak calendar we covered in August closes out the same month.
These import fees say something different. FedEx wrote "until further notice." UPS wrote "until further notice." Neither sheet contains an expiration.
That is a rate increase wearing a peak season costume. Budget it as a Q4 line item and your February landed cost will be wrong.
What this means for your brand
The outbound parcel is not where this lands. The container of inventory is.
If you replenish from Asia by express courier, run the number before your next purchase order. A 400 pound express air shipment from China now carries $364 in demand surcharge alone, up from $140 in early September. Fuel applies on top of that. For a brand shipping 1,000 to 25,000 orders a month, that is a real line that never appeared in last year's cost per unit.
Your outbound international orders move less than the headlines suggest. FedEx holds a $1 per shipment parcel minimum, so a 2 pound order to Toronto pays the same $1 it paid last week. The new $0.30 export rate only clears that minimum above roughly 3.3 pounds. Heavy parcels feel it. Light ones do not.
The useful response this quarter is to stop paying the fee twice. Every time inventory moves, it gets weighed and charged. Brands that split a restock into four urgent air shipments because the warehouse could not hold the volume are now paying the new per-pound rate four times.
Landing inventory once and holding it is cheaper than it was a week ago. That is what warehouse storage is for, and it is why we would rather receive one large replenishment than four small emergencies. Our international shipping team also handles DDP through FlavorCloud, so the duty and surcharge math lands on a quote instead of showing up as a chargeback six weeks later.
If your current provider blends inbound freight into a single handling rate, you will not see any of this happen. Ask them to itemize it.
FAQ
Do these fees apply to ocean freight?
No. Both schedules cover parcel and express air services, and ocean freight is priced separately. That gap matters, because express air is the expensive fallback when an ocean booking slips.
Will the surcharges come off after the holidays?
Nothing in either document says they will. Both carriers used the phrase "until further notice" rather than a date range, which is the same language they used for earlier surcharges that are still in effect. Plan for them to stay and treat removal as a bonus.
We only ship domestic orders. Does any of this touch us?
Only through your inbound freight. If your supplier is overseas and anything arrives by air courier, the fee is in your landed cost whether or not you ever ship a package outside the US.
How do we tell what we are actually paying?
Pull one recent import invoice and look for a demand or surge line item separate from base rate and fuel. If you cannot find it broken out, that is the problem to fix first. Send us the invoice and we will mark up where the new rates will hit it.