New FedEx tool calculates costs of global shipping

[June 12th 2002]

International shippers now have an easier and more affordable way to estimate the multitude of governmental charges, duties and other fees associated with many of their inbound and outbound overseas shipments. FedEx Corp. has unveiled the first carrier-provided, online duty and tax estimator on its Internet-based FedEx Global Trade Manager application.

FedEx designed the business-planning tool to help customers obtain information before they ship about charges and fees they can expect in the overseas shipping process. This includes duty, excise, value-added tax (VAT), Most Favored Nation (MFN) rates and other governmental fees that are levied on international shipments to and from 42 countries.

For $5 per transaction, regardless of the number of commodities in a single shipment, customers can find out in advance an estimate of the duties and taxes to ship or receive goods to or from 42 countries in North America, South America, Europe and Asia.

Another feature of the FedEx duty and tax estimator is integrated Harmonized System (HS) Code identification. The HS Code is an internationally accepted uniform-description system for classifying goods for customs, statistical reporting and other purposes.

Regulatory policies for many countries fluctuate, according to Forrester Research, and global shippers must adhere to those product allotment and selling restriction policies. "Countries like Japan have more than 200 trade laws for each Harmonized Code, which create more than 17,000 different regulations on imports," Forrester said.

"International shippers now have an innovative, online shipping solution that makes it even easier for them to seamlessly get their products to market, with the confidence of knowing what the estimated inbound and outbound costs in many locations will be," said Michael L. Ducker, executive vice president, international, FedEx Express. "The duty and tax estimator enhancement to FedEx Global Trade Manager takes the guesswork out of figuring complicated customs duties and other charges and fees. It is fast, convenient, accurate and affordable."

Links
FedEx Global Trade Manager		http://www.fedex.com/us/international