PSA: How DHL overcharges on imports

Posted by J. Eggers on 18th Sep 2025

Quick public service announcement: When receiving goods from China via DHL, CAREFULLY EXAMINE the customs invoice. 

If you're not familiar with the process: When you import goods from China, the sender will include an invoice that shows the (primary) tariff code of the product(s) and their value.  DHL then uses that code to determine which other tariff codes apply to that product (and those would be the "reciprocal tariffs", aka "China Tariffs"). So, on the invoice you should see the primary code and maybe 3 or 4 other tariff codes (those start with a 9).

DHL does not provide this breakdown, therefore concealing from you the breakdown and making it impossible for you to verify that they applied the correct China tariffs.  

After threat of legal action, DHL will provide the breakdown.  If you notice in that breakdown a line-item with a 50% duty rate, you can look up the HTS code and might find that this relates to products with aluminum or steel content.  DHL wrongly assumes that a number of products are made of steel or aluminum (even when those products are traditionally NOT made of aluminum or steel).

The best way to avoid getting ripped off by DHL is to simply not use DHL.  Ask the shipper to NOT use DHL, and/or to use a DDP shipping method (in DDP, you prepay the duties to the shipper, and the shipper pays that to the carrier).