Peak Surcharges Are Here. Plan the Shipment Before the Invoice.

On September 21, FedEx raised its demand surcharge on U.S. imports from China, Hong Kong, and Macau on priority services from $0.35 to $0.91 per pound. Several other Asian origins, including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Malaysia, went from $0.20 to $0.73. Imports from India now carry $0.89 per pound. The surcharge applies to parcel and freight shipments and runs until further notice.

UPS began its 2026 holiday fees on September 27, with demand surcharges on Ground Residential, Air, and Ground Saver packages starting October 25 and peaking between November 22 and December 26. UPS expects U.S. volume to rise about 24 percent from the third quarter to the fourth. FedEx has also announced an average 5.9 percent general rate increase effective January 4, 2027, with several services rising more than the headline figure.

These charges will appear on invoices in October and November. The decisions that determine how much of them you pay are being made now.

What has changed ahead of peak

FedEx U.S. import demand surcharges, effective September 21: $0.91 per pound from China, Hong Kong, and Macau on International First, Priority Express, and Priority services, and $0.54 on Economy services. $0.73 per pound from several Asia-Pacific origins on priority services. $0.89 from India, $0.25 from Europe, and $0.14 from Canada. Minimum charges are $1 per parcel shipment and $50 per freight shipment.
FedEx changes during 2026: the import demand surcharge table has changed at least four times this year, with new rates taking effect in March, May, June, and September.
UPS 2026 holiday fees: demand surcharges of $0.50 to $2.50 per package on Ground Residential, Air, and Ground Saver during the peak window, and up to $9.35 per package for the largest shippers. Industry analysis cited by Supply Chain Dive puts the increase in flat service-level charges at about 22 to 25 percent over 2025.
Duty-free de minimis: still suspended for every country, so every low-value import requires a formal or informal customs entry.

Why the surcharge matters beyond the line item

A per-pound surcharge hits heavy, low-value items hardest, because the charge grows with weight while the product's price does not. A replacement part that weighs 30 pounds and sells for $120 absorbs a very different percentage than a 2-pound electronic component worth $400.

It also compresses margins that were set months ago. Customer prices, free-shipping thresholds, and service-level agreements were mostly agreed before these rates were known. Every surcharge that cannot be passed through comes out of margin.

Most usefully, a demand surcharge is a signal. Carriers raise these charges where they expect demand to exceed the capacity they want to commit at normal prices. That tells you which lanes will be tight, and it tells you early enough to plan around them.

Who is most exposed

E-commerce and direct-to-consumer importers shipping individual parcels from Asian fulfillment points.
High-frequency importers that replenish in small, frequent shipments rather than consolidated loads.
Spare-parts and aftermarket networks where service commitments drive express shipments of heavy items.
Expedited replenishment programs that routinely use air to cover forecast misses or late production.

How surcharges change the math on mode and inventory placement

Consider an illustrative example. An importer sends 400 shipments a week from Shenzhen to the U.S. by FedEx International Priority, averaging 25 pounds each.

Before September 21, the demand surcharge on each shipment was $8.75. It is now $22.75.
Weekly surcharge cost rises from $3,500 to $9,100.
Over the 16 weeks from late September to mid-January, that is about $145,600 in surcharges, compared with $56,000 at the earlier rate. The difference is roughly $90,000, before base rates, peak fees, or the 2027 increase.

With numbers like that, several alternatives deserve a fresh look:

Deferred service levels. The Economy rate of $0.54 per pound would cut the surcharge on the same volume by about $3,700 a week, for SKUs that can tolerate a few extra days.
Consolidation. Combining many parcels into consolidated air or ocean shipments, then distributing domestically, can reduce per-shipment charges. With de minimis suspended, it can also reduce the number of customs entries to prepare and pay for.
Ocean for predictable demand. Items with steady, forecastable demand rarely need to travel by air if they are ordered early enough.
Forward inventory placement. Holding a few weeks of fast-moving parts in a U.S. warehouse can replace a large share of emergency shipments.

The right answer differs by SKU. The point is to compare the options before booking, while all of them are still available.

A pre-peak review checklist

Forecast parcel and express volume by origin, destination, and service level for the next 16 weeks.
Identify SKUs that are routinely expedited, and find out why. Late production, forecast error, and customer promises each call for a different fix.
Compare parcel costs with alternatives, including deferred service, consolidated air, ocean, and forward inventory, at the new surcharge levels.
Update budgets and customer-pricing assumptions for the surcharges already announced and the 2027 rate increase.
Set approval thresholds for premium services, so that anyone booking express sees the total cost, surcharges included, before the shipment moves.
Monitor service performance as well as price. A surcharge should buy the service level you are paying for. Track whether it does.
Audit invoices against the published tables. With surcharges changing several times a year, billing errors are more likely.

Where Freightgate fits

The expensive surcharge is the one nobody saw before the shipment was booked. Freightgate's Rate Management holds contract rates, surcharges, and accessorials as rules and applies them before booking, so the total cost of each option is visible when the decision is made. Because the rate engine covers ocean, air, and land, teams can compare parcel, consolidated, and deferred options side by side. Audit & Payment checks every invoice against the agreed rates before payment, and the Supply-Chain Dashboard shows where expedite spend is concentrated by lane, SKU, and customer.

CEO perspective: the most expensive shipment is the one you did not plan to make

Martin Hubert, Founder and CEO, Freightgate

Every peak season, companies treat surcharges as a cost of doing business and emergency shipments as a fact of life. I think both habits deserve a harder look.

When I review a company's expedited freight, most of it traces back to something that happened weeks earlier: a forecast that nobody updated, a supplier that shipped late, or a delivery promise that sales made without checking with operations. The air shipment is the symptom. The surcharge is the fee for discovering the problem late.

The implication that gets overlooked is that surcharges make the underlying planning problem more expensive, and this season they have risen sharply. The fix is usually upstream: better inventory placement, earlier orders, and delivery promises that logistics has agreed to. The questions I would ask my team this week:

Which SKUs did we expedite more than twice last quarter, and what caused each one?
Who approves a premium service, and do they see the full surcharge before they book?
Which customer promises force us into express shipping, and are those promises priced to cover it?
Where would a few weeks of forward inventory remove the need for air entirely?

What to watch next

UPS's 2027 general rate increase, and how it compares with FedEx's 5.9 percent average.
Further revisions to FedEx import demand surcharges, which have changed several times this year.
Air cargo capacity and rates on transpacific lanes as peak demand builds.
CBP's proposed rules to make the de minimis suspension permanent.
Your own expedite rate by lane, measured weekly through the peak.

A practical next step

Run a pre-peak exception analysis on your expedited and parcel-heavy flows. Identify which costs could be avoided through earlier planning, consolidation, or a different mode, and act on the largest ones before November.

If you would like help comparing options for a specific lane, our team is glad to work through the numbers with you.