What I dont understand is; why are you so surprised???
These things change continously lately, so what the vendor thought was fine, probably changed since he checked the last time.
I think I´m with the vendor on this one... -But dont let model railroading hobby come inbetween global and domestic US politics...

Right, and the buyer has to make that up to the seller.

As promised, I'm reporting on DHL shipping.
I just received a parcel from Germany worth EUR 1,750. No tariffs.
The goods were shipped Nov 28 and arrived today, so around three weeks in transit.

I'm sorry that many of you are having problems.

Bonn - The Post & Parcel Germany division of DHL Group is one of the first postal and parcel service providers worldwide to resume postal goods shipping from Germany to the USA for business customers. After just four weeks during which Deutsche Post/DHL and many other postal service providers had to suspend this type of shipping to the USA due to new legal regulations, Germany's largest postal and parcel service will again provide companies with the option to use DHL Parcel International for shipping to the USA, in addition to DHL Express, starting September 25.

This is made possible by the 'Postal Delivered Duty Paid' (PDDP) service, which DHL previously offered only for goods shipping to Norway, the UK, and Switzerland, and will now be extended to the USA. Furthermore, DHL completely overhauled the entire process of data collection, customs reporting, and payment of applicable customs fees in a very short time to comply with the new customs regulations outlined in the U.S. government's Executive Order 'Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for all Countries.

What changes for business customers

Business customers who wish to send goods valued up to and including $800 via postal service to the USA must now pay attention to three things: 1) Goods valued up to and including $800 have been subject to customs duties since August 29. The duty-free threshold of $100 applies only to private gifts - not to commercial shippers. 2) The booking of the PDDP service is mandatory for postal goods shipping via DHL, where the sender covers all import duties for their recipient customers in advance. 3) They must provide complete and accurate customs data, particularly the customs tariff number and country of origin for each individual item.

The price for the PDDP service to the USA is EUR2 per shipment. Additionally, the fees from the service provider - referred to as the "Qualified Party" - and the customs duties themselves will be passed on to the business customers without any markup. The so-called "ad valorem" method will be used for calculating customs duties. DHL emphasizes that the actual parcel prices to the USA will remain stable. The additional costs incurred by business customers for postal shipping to the USA will be based solely on external factors for which DHL is not responsible and over which it has no control.

The new shipping process does not apply to private customers. Packages from individuals to individuals with a goods value up to $100, declared as "gift," are not affected by the new regulations in the USA. However, these shipments will be monitored even more closely than before to prevent the misuse of private gift shipments for shipping commercial goods. There are also no changes for shipping documents in letters. Shipping goods via DHL Express and the commercial import of goods into the USA under the currently applicable customs rates remains possible.

The new shipping modalities for postal goods shipping from Germany to the USA only affect products under the DHL Parcel brand. Products from other DHL divisions, such as DHL Express or DHL eCommerce, are not impacted.

As of August 29, 2025, new customs regulations in accordance with the Executive Order "Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for all Countries" have come into effect. These regulations include the removal of the previous duty-free threshold for goods valued up to $800. Additionally, new processes required by U.S. authorities for postal shipping are being introduced, which differ from the previously applicable regulations. Due to some unresolved questions, all major postal companies worldwide, including Deutsche Post/DHL, were forced to temporarily suspend postal goods shipping to the USA.

When shipping internationally, nothing is worse than your customers getting hit with unexpected customs fees upon delivery. That’s where DDP shipping — short for Delivered Duty Paid — comes in. With Delivered Duty Paid shipping, all duties, taxes, and import fees are covered upfront by the seller, so your customers know exactly what they will pay at checkout. This means full-cost transparency, no surprise bills from the courier, and faster, smoother delivery.

There were no tariffs on the invoice. No processing fees, either. Just normal prices and EUR 55 shipping. Of course, VAT was deducted from the German price. I’ve used this dealer since 1993. Never a problem.

I do not want to offence anyone, but having read this topic I have to say…

The recent VAT rules are introduced by the US government
The VAT is paid by the receiver, and not the seller!
If US
citizens can receive items from EU, without paying US VAT I can only approve this, as long as the VAT is not applied to other customers, due to increased sales prices.

US customers are not charged VAT by EU sellers.
We are discussing tariffs, which are imposed by the US government. I’m personally vague on how this is supposed to be paid, as I’ve never paid a tariff for model train goods. Historically, there has been an exemption for model trains shipped to the US. Whether this exemption still applies under the Trump regime, is unknown to me.

Sales tax, imposed by US State government agencies, is similar to VAT, and is theoretically paid by the consumer. This is honored largely in the breach, unless the tax is collected from the customer by the seller, which is common for interstate transactions in the US.

I am not entirely clear on the 69% (shipping and packaging). 69% of the total cost?
Was there a shipping cost on the packaging/FedEx papers?
15% applies to toys with Germany as country of origin.

Yes, tariff paid by seller and included in the total price. So ultimately the buyer pays the tariff.

Here the seller I buy from does not pay a tariff. That is paid by the buyer in the buyers country. If I was a seller I would not collect another countrys tariff.

I guess I’m lucky. I received a shipment from a German dealer, 10 days ago, duty free. Value was around EUR 1,000. I have another on the way with a value of around EUR 1,800. I expect it in less than a week. I’ll report here on whether or not I pay any tariffs.