I was wondering if DHL ever hit you up for the duty fees?
I really appreciate any info you might have!
I never claimed to not pay duty fees. They only charged the 2.6% and no additional fees. They were under the amount to meet informal entries, while also being above de minimis. If you have to go through formal entry, then you will definitely pay the higher fee unless you falsify the paperwork. If you go through customs as an informal entry, then it's up to the customs officer filling out the paperwork for how the fee is determined and their responsibility. Informal entries are liquidated at time of release from customs meaning that they can't come back or charge any additional fees. As soon as you pay the fee, it's liquidated and that's final. Customs determines the fee for informal entries and fills out all the paperwork. If they classify an informal entry wrong, then you luck out and pay a lower fee.
Formal entries are different. You, shipper, agent/broker, etc. fill out the paperwork for formal entries and attest to accuracy of classification and fees. Customs has over a year to review formal entries before liquidating. If they find errors with your classification prior to liquidation, they will come back and charge you the additional fees.
The only people I've seen getting hit with additional fees later are from formal entries that haven't been liquidated that were classified incorrectly by themselves, shipper, broker, etc., not already liquidated informal entries classified by customs. In all of my shipments since the Section 301 tariffs went into effect, it would appear that CBP's policy (at least in New York) is to not apply the tariffs on any informal entries, not just de minimis informal entries. FedEx's regulatory update on it interprets the CBP FAQ differently and says only de minimis informal entries are excluded. I would avoid using FedEx since their own brokers are the ones that got them in trouble for misclassification.
I've had multiple orders, all single miners that were informal entries above de minimis, and have yet to pay anything above 2.6%. They were all shipped by DHL. I recently ordered a T17 with coupon that meets de minimis and waiting to see how they interpret that.