DutyGlobal

Shipping & customs guides

13 sourced, dated guides on the parts of cross-border shipping that actually matter — import duty, landed cost, dimensional weight, DDP shipping, and which platforms deserve a slot in your stack.

Cross-border shipping & duty

Decision-support guides for sellers shipping into the US, UK and Australia.

Section 122 Tariff Expired July 24

New

What importers pay now the 10% surcharge has sunset — before/after rates on 10 common imports.

Last reviewed: 2026-07-24

How to avoid surprise import fees

New

Verified 2026 thresholds for the US, UK and Australia, plus the one checkout setting that stops surprise fees.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-06

Shippo vs Easyship

New

Honest, multi-locale comparison: pricing, carrier coverage, duty-at-checkout and locale support.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-06

Best shipping software for importers

New

Seven-platform shortlist by use case — free labels, multi-carrier, DDP at checkout and 3PL fulfillment.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-06

Best 3PL for cross-border ecommerce

New

Nine fulfillment providers compared on warehouse footprint, DDP support and cross-border capability.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-06

Customs fundamentals

How duty, tax and customs valuation work — concepts every importer needs.

CIF vs FOB explained

How customs valuation method changes your duty bill — and which countries use each.

Last reviewed: 2026-03-15

Duty vs VAT vs GST

What each charge is, how it stacks at the border, and who pays.

Last reviewed: 2026-03-15

How to reduce import costs

Legal strategies — trade agreements, HS code optimisation, free trade zones, consolidation.

Last reviewed: 2026-03-20

Landed cost calculation

How to estimate the true total cost of an imported shipment.

How to calculate landed cost

Step-by-step worked examples for the full goods + freight + duty + tax build-up.

Last reviewed: 2026-03-15

The landed cost formula explained

The math behind every line item, with country-specific worked examples.

Last reviewed: 2026-03-15

Freight & shipping weight

Volumetric weight, CBM and chargeable weight — the calculations carriers actually bill on.

How to calculate CBM

Cubic meters for sea freight (LCL/FCL) — formulas plus container references.

Last reviewed: 2026-03-10

How to calculate dimensional weight

Volumetric weight with carrier-specific divisors for DHL, FedEx, UPS and USPS.

Last reviewed: 2026-03-10

How to reduce chargeable weight

Practical tactics — packaging, density, carrier presets — to lower the billed weight.

Last reviewed: 2026-03-10

Pair the guides with the calculators

Most of these guides reference the same free tools: landed cost, dimensional weight, CBM, chargeable weight, HS code lookup, and the 2026 tariff impact calculator.

Monthly tariff & freight cost update

One short email a month: the duty, tariff, and freight changes that actually affect cross-border shippers. No spam, unsubscribe in one click.

We email at most once a month. By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy.