Some US carriers have SIM cards. Mainly AT&T and T-Mobile, though Verizon is switching over to the GSM network which needs a SIM. But yeah, they all charge to receive calls and texts, though the minutely rate might be cheaper (I'm comparing this to Spain, there could be plenty of other factors that tip the balance). Charging for receiving texts pisses me off, though... I don't have a texting plan, but all of my friends do. I always get a dollar or two added to my bill from those that forget it and text me anyway, at $.20 each. If I knew someone without a texting plan, had one myself, and really wanted to piss them off, I'd send constant needless texts... $.20 x texts per minute x 1 hour = $60/hour of extra phone bill charges. Granted, the companies will usually negotiate if something happens up to a point, but still, getting charged for something beyond your control is ridiculous. At least with a phone call, you can ignore it.