Donald Trump’s new taxes on goods being sent into the U.S. are hitting sports fans with unexpected bills—if they can even get gear ordered abroad delivered.

“WTF. Just found out I have to pay a SEVENTY FIVE DOLLAR TARIFF to get my Inter gear from Italy,” wrote Jenna Tonelli, a writer for SI.com, on X last week. “Literally the UPS guy was at my door asking for a check.”

Tonelli isn’t the only fan seeing orders from clubs in Europe and elsewhere get slapped with an unexpected bill. Trump ordered the end to de minimus exemption for packages entering the U.S. The de minimus policy had meant packages of a declared value under $800 were exempt from taxes. The exemption has been around since 1938 as a reflection of the fact collecting duties on small value packages is often a money loser.

However, the exemption has been criticized in recent years as a loophole Chinese fast fashion brand Shien and online retailer Temu have used in excess, sending thousands of small packages to get under the tax floor. The number of de minimus packages into the U.S. hit 1.36 billion in 2024, compared to 134 million a decade ago, according to a White House statement.

Fans like Tonelli may be lucky to get their stuff at all. A Saturday statement from the Universal Postal Union, a United Nations group that works on global postal service policies, says that mail delivery into the U.S. dropped 81% the week after Trump eliminated the exemption at the end of August. “While these percentages cover all categories of mail, the majority of these figures was likely to be small packets—the international mail product most often used for e-commerce goods,” the UPU said in a statement.

The agency says 90 countries have suspended mail delivery to the U.S. because of uncertainty over how to handle the tariffs. The UPU says it expects to slowly roll out a platform for its 176 member nations to electronically collect and report collected tariffs on packages.

The complex situation also leaves some confusion as to who may be required to end up paying for goods. UPS says on its website that if tariffs haven’t been collected by the seller, the delivery company will attempt to collect them from the recipient. But if they can’t get it from the customer, they could attempt to recoup the taxes from the seller, the UPS website says. The company didn’t return a call for comment.

Perhaps for that reason, some organizations aren’t shipping to the U.S. The Australian Football League, for instance, no longer offers shipping to the U.S. from its list of countries. The same with Wolverhampton Wanderers of the Premier League, which last week posted it suspended shipping to the U.S.

At least one club has decided to absorb the Trump tax itself, with Arsenal saying it will pay the tariffs on fan gear shipped to the United States. That means the Arsenal Adidas NTS shirt with a base price of $110 is $120 after a $10 shipping charge. A spokesperson for the club didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the policy.

Other clubs have adjusted and are collecting fees at checkout. That simplifies the process for fans, but probably doesn’t alleviate the sticker shock. A 2025-26 home jersey from the Manchester United store has a base price of $103.50 after a club promotion. But add on $10 for shipping and prepaying $48.21 for tariff brings the total to $163. In France, where La Poste continues to have suspended service to the U.S., Paris Saint-Germain says it can ship goods to the States (presumably by private carrier DHL), but it collects duties at checkout. A $125 PSG jersey costs $187 after tariffs and shipping.

Still other clubs, like Tonelli’s Inter Milan, just warn that tariffs may be due on receipt, while other retailers, including Irish sports gear maker O’Neills, don’t acknowledge a potential tariff bill at all. Taxes, it seems, are now the one certainty for sports fans of international clubs.

“One of my hobbies is collecting football jerseys from around the world,” said one Reddit user with the handle Praline Correct. “I ordered a jersey from Versaille FC … when I received an email from the courier service telling me that I have to pay a fee of 69.13 USD. I called them to see if this was correct, and it is :(. I’m paying 96% of the product’s value because of the tariffs. That is insane.”

With assistance from Eben Novy-Williams