'Maximum chaos': Shoppers furious over 'extortion' due to this controversial Trump policy
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President Donald Trump in the White House Rose Garden on April 2, 2025 (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok/Flickr)
In an article for NBC News published Monday, journalist Rob Wile argued that sudden changes to U.S. import policy are hitting unsuspecting shoppers with steep surprise charges, upending expectations around the cost of small international orders.
He highlighted unexpected bills — such as $1,400 for a $750 computer part from Germany, $620 for an aluminum case from Sweden, and $1,041 for handbags from Spain — as emblematic of the fallout from ending the longstanding “de minimis” exemption, which had allowed goods valued under $800 to enter duty‑free.
Wile detailed how American shopper Thomas Andrews, who restores vintage computers in upstate New York, received a tariff bill of about $1,400 for a shipment worth $750, a charge he described as “extortion.”
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Shipping company DHL later acknowledged the error and confirmed the correct duty should have been roughly $110. But by then, Andrews had already refused delivery, and is now also being charged nearly $50 for the return shipping.
Similarly, a software engineer based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Robert Wang, told the outlet that he placed his order with Louqe, a high-end merchant in Sweden, on August 22. More than a week later, he was informed by UPS of an unexpected bill.
“Confusion transitioned into a late-night panic,” Wang said.
Eventually UPS confirmed he’d been charged the 200 percent tariff Trump has slapped on certain aluminum goods.Wile explains that as of August 29, for the first time in nearly 100 years, even small-dollar “de minimis” goods are subject to import duties, meaning every personal or low-value international order now incurs significant tariffs.
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Nick Baker, co-lead of the trade and customs practice at Kroll, a firm that advises freight carriers, told NBC: “It’s maximum chaos."
Meanwhile, countries around the globe are halting shipments to the U.S. This has resulted in approximately an 80 percent drop in postal traffic, per the article.