The conflict in the Middle East has continued to this day, showing no sign of "dying down".

On April 2nd local time, Trump issued a warning in his latest statement, saying that the United States will launch a fierce strike against Iran within the next two to three weeks, and international oil prices soared accordingly. By the close of that day, the price of U.S. WTI crude oil for May delivery closed at $111.54 per barrel, up 11.41%; the price of international benchmark Brent crude oil for June delivery closed at $109.03 per barrel, a sharp increase of 7.78%.

Against this backdrop, a series of "price increase notices" are like dominoes, gradually being transmitted to the profit statements of cross-border sellers.

AMZ123 has learned that on April 2nd local time, Amazon's U.S. site issued a notice of additional logistics-related fees.

According to the notice, in order to cope with the continuously rising transportation costs, starting from April 17, 2026, Amazon will charge sellers using its logistics service (FBA) an "fuel and logistics-related surcharge", and expand this surcharge to multi-channel delivery (MCF) and Buy with Prime services from May 2nd.

As of the time of issue, sellers from North American sites such as the United States and Canada, as well as European sites such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain have received this notice, but the surcharge rates for North American and European sites are different:

• North American sites such as the United States and Canada are 3.5%, with an average increase of $0.17 per item expected;

• European sites such as the United Kingdom and Italy are 1.5%, with an average increase of 0.05 euros per item expected.

It is worth mentioning that the specific cost of this surcharge will vary depending on the size of the product and is calculated based on logistics costs rather than product selling prices, which means that for sellers of large and heavy goods, the actual increase in logistics costs may be much higher than that of small and medium-sized sellers.

Therefore, this news has caused a sensation in the industry. Some sellers believe that Amazon's surcharge for logistics is expected, but there are also many sellers who sell large items are dissatisfied with this adjustment, saying that it "adds insult to injury" to their already meager profit margins.

However, AMZ123 understands that Amazon's adjustment of FBA fees is not an isolated case. On March 30th, following the increase in freight rates in January, AliExpress also adjusted the freight rates for some routes again due to rising logistics costs. According to the announcement, from April 3rd Western Time, freight rates for routes involving most countries in Europe and the Middle East have risen, with Saudi Arabia and Israel seeing the largest increases.

It is not difficult to see that the "fire" has really spread to the logistics costs of cross-border sellers.

AMZ123 has mentioned in previous articles that Iran has the world's most critical maritime shipping artery - the Strait of Hormuz, known as the "Gulf Throat", which is not only the only passage from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, but also the world's most important energy transportation channel. Since the outbreak of the US-Iran conflict at the end of February, this "major artery" has almost fallen into paralysis.

According to the assessment report released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on April 1st, the Strait of Hormuz is actually still in a blocked state, with the average daily ship traffic dropping from about 130 in February to only 6 in March, a plunge of more than 90%.

In the face of this situation, global shipping giants such as Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, and CMA CGM have been forced to collectively reroute and bypass the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. According to data from South Africa's Transnet National Ports Authority, as of early March 2026, the number of ships bypassing the Cape of Good Hope has surged by 112% compared to the past. What was once an "expensive alternative" has now become an "inevitable choice for risk aversion".

The obstruction of the energy transportation channel and the direct consequence of rerouting have led to a surge in logistics costs for multiple routes such as Europe, West Coast America, East Coast America, and the Middle East. The latest data released by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange shows that as of March 27th, the Shanghai Export Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) reported 1826.77 points, up 119.82 points from the previous period, an increase of 7.0%.

At the same time, due to the rapid rise in fuel prices, shipping giants such as Maersk, CMA CGM, and Hapag-Lloyd have also disclosed their April price increase letters one after another, announcing increases in FAK freight rates for multiple routes, and imposing emergency fuel surcharges, peak season surcharges, and other fees.

Specifically, Maersk has imposed peak season surcharges (PSS) and overweight surcharges (HWS) on routes from China to Kenya, and from Far East Asia to Mexico; CMA CGM has imposed peak season surcharges on routes from China to Central West Africa, and raised the FAK freight rate for routes from Asia to Northern Europe; Hapag-Lloyd has adjusted the peak season surcharge for routes from Far East to Southwest Africa and West Africa PSS.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that in this wave of price increases, not only have shipping companies raised fuel surcharges, but the United States Postal Service (USPS) has also added a surcharge for the first time due to this. The announcement shows that it may impose an 8% temporary fuel surcharge from April 26th local time.

Looking at the current situation, the situation in the Middle East is not yet clear. Here we can only remind all sellers to connect with freight forwarders in a timely manner, clarify the status of goods and adjustments to freight rates, and suspend large-scale stockpiling and advertising investment, shrink the front, and wait for the situation to clarify.