FedEx will raise its international fuel surcharge rates effective May 11, 2026, applying a flat 2.00 percentage point increase on export shipments and a 2.50 percentage point increase on import shipments across every jet fuel price tier. The fuel price brackets and tier structure remain unchanged. The net effect for shippers: a guaranteed cost increase on every FedEx international shipment, with import lanes absorbing the steeper hit.
The May 11 update applies two uniform increases: export surcharges rise by exactly 2.00 percentage points and import surcharges rise by exactly 2.50 percentage points at every fuel price tier. Export rates move from a range of 35.00%–36.50% to 37.00%–38.50%; import rates move from 38.75%–40.25% to 41.25%–42.75%. The seven fuel price tiers ($3.75–$4.03/gal in $0.04 increments) and the 0.25% step between tiers are carried over unchanged. The gap between export and import surcharge rates widens from 3.75 percentage points to 4.25 percentage points, meaning the cost disparity between inbound and outbound international shipments grows under the new schedule.
This change affects every shipper using FedEx international air services (excluding FedEx International Ground and International Ground Consolidation to Canada). For shippers with heavy inbound international volumes, the 2.50 point import increase will have a proportionally larger financial impact than the export change. Finance and logistics teams should update cost models and landed-cost calculations before May 11 — any assumptions built on the prior surcharge schedule will understate fuel surcharge exposure on both export and import lanes.
💡 Export surcharges increase by a flat 2.00 percentage points and import surcharges increase by 2.50 percentage points effective May 11, 2026 — no tier is left unchanged and no fuel price scenario exists under which surcharges remain flat or decline.
💡 The import/export surcharge gap widens from 3.75 to 4.25 percentage points, making inbound international shipments comparatively more expensive than outbound.
💡 The fuel price tier structure ($3.75–$4.03/gal in $0.04 increments) and the 0.25% step between tiers are unchanged — this is purely a rate increase, not a structural overhaul.
💡 Shippers should audit any contracts, rate cards, or landed-cost models benchmarked to the prior surcharge schedule before May 11, with particular attention to import-heavy lanes where the larger increase will compound against higher base surcharge rates.
