Who pays the tariffs?

The company who orders the goods.

The American company (say 'WalMart' ) who bought the goods pays the tarriffs as soon as the hit land in America. Then Walmart ships the good to their stores and each store raises the price proportionately to earn back what they paid in tarriffs - so we, the consumer, end up paying for it.

Why MAGA doesn't understand this is beyond me.

China doesn't pay anything, the importer pays it, i.e. the one who comes to pick it up at the customs. So, an American company that ordered those goods abroad.

[quote]Why MAGA doesn't understand this is beyond me.

They don't even understand their welfare checks are coming from the blue states, and you want them to grasp international trade?

Think of a tariff as a duty. An importer isn’t going to pay the duty on something you buy from China just so you can have it.

The company pays, then it's up to the company to either absorb all, none, or some of the tariff before pricing it for the consumer.

The shit hits the fan at the consumer.

It's supposed to encourage retailers to buy from American sources. If those sources existed.

Tariffs are import taxes.

If an importer imports a $50 from China and there is a 50% tariff, the importer will pay the tariff for the item(s) to enter the US.

If a business imports widgets from China, in order to receive the goods, the importer pays the tariffs.

If you are on Amazon, and you order directly from Guangzhou, either the seller will add the tariffs to your order and the overpriced (factually) items will sail through customs with the import duties pre-paid, or you will get the rude awakening that your item cannot be delivered until you cough up the tariffs. IMPORT TAXES.

Got that OP?

Now, will someone explain Export Tax and Trade Embargo to OP.

Amazing that Americans were stupid enough to believe Trump’s lie that the producing country pays the tariffs

I think the Embargo was a car made by Gerfunktaflugen Motors in Minnesota.

I was molested by Trump's tariffs

Here's a story of a MAGA business owner who doesn't understand Trump tariffs...

When I opened my retail store in the late 80s, I opened next door to a high-end women's boutique, which opened five years earlier by a woman named 'Vee' who was the twin of Susan Lucci / Erika Kane. She was very welcoming and polite, we had a cordial business relationship, but not overfriendly. She was about 12 years older than me. We shared the same wealthy clientele (as did all the high-end stores /restaurants / salons on our street). She was a very outspoken republican - big Reagan republican and later a big supporter for both Bush Presidents - and was rather critical of how are 'blue' state and cities were governed (especially for small businesses, according to her). I never engaged in her political rants, but I always admired her as a business woman - always kept up with the latest trends and she knew how to cater to the high-end clientele (which benefited me, her retail neighbor). When I decided to close 14 years ago after 25 years, she was very supportive and kind. She ended up breaking down the wall that separated our two spaces and expanded into my old space and it looks beautiful. (At nearly 75, she still looks beautiful with the help of some cosmetic surgery). For the past 14 years, I'd still bump into her at restaurants, and we'd briefly catch up with friendly small talk.

Last Labor Day weekend, as our local news station was getting feedback from small business owners about the Presidential election, there's Vee on TV tooting the horn for Trump, and saying 'he's the only candidate' for small businesses. She didn't care about his lack of character or criminal history - he was the one who was going to stand by her and small businesses, and 'weed out' the immigrants who don't belong here (she went on a rant about her exclusive European shoes and handbags, and the immigrants from Mexico who are selling 'black market goods' and 'knock offs' in other neighborhoods...Trump would be proud of her.)

Jump ahead to this past Labor Day weekend, and she's back on TV - this time being interviewed about closing her store for good this week, after 45 years, even though she wanted to make it to 50. She talked about the high cost of tariffs on her European merchandise (she also has shoes and accessories I'm sure are from China) and she's not certain her products will be in for Christmas, etc. Does she blame Trump for this at all ? Never ! He did what he had to do and she supports him.

She said on TV that she really puts the blame on her closing on 'doing business in a blue state' and the 'laws put into place by Democrats which makes it hard to run a small business...' Trump is good, Dems are bad.

She's in the cult, she drowned in the Kool Aid and there's no hope for her.

R12 - their racism always wins out.

The U.S. had lower average tariffs than most major trading partners, around 1.6% on imports.

China’s average applied tariffs were around 7–9%, and the European averaged about 3–5%.

So in short, we’ve been getting fucked forever. Trump was just super aggressive about it.

But it should have happened.

R13 I really shouldn't be shocked by what she was saying on TV last year and this year, but still...does any family member or close friend tell her how stupid she sounds ? For being in a 'blue' state where it's hard to run a small business, she's done damn well lasting 45 years. I could see if she was saying this if she closed within 3 years, but the 'math ain't mathin' for her at 45.

If it sounds like --even to worm-riddled minds-- that Trump is putting the thumbscrews to foreign countries (all of which we know for a fact are evil, because they are not American), then MAGAs will flock to it.

R15, paying lower tariffs is not getting fucked. You think Americans paying twelve times more to their government is winning?

Sorry, I meant r14.

R14 - what should have happened? Every trading country on earth has economic policies in place to protect their own markets. You think Dump”s super high tariffs will accomplish what, exactly?

R19 I don’t agree with Trump’s huge tariff spike — too soon and too high, but I wish there would have been a middle ground in increasing the tariffs because they’ve always been unfair to the US and it snowballed into a monster.

R17 Fucked is the imbalance was that foreign governments taxed U.S. exports heavily, while the U.S. kept its doors mostly open. Not that Americans were underpaying their own government, but that U.S. companies had to pay higher tariffs overseas than foreign companies paid here.

I don’t agree with Trump spiking tariffs but I don’t agree that other countries can have higher tariffs than us while we keep ours the lowest.

R12, that is a perfect illustration of the Trump/MAGA closed-loop tribal thinking that enters and then consumes these people. They wall themselves off from any sources that do not follow two simple rules: (1) all praise and all credit to Trump, and (2) all blame to those whom Trump has deemed the Targets Of Blame. No matter what the facts are.

R21, you seem to have a blind spot. U.S. companies don’t pay the tariffs in other countries. The foreign importers and consumers pay them. This is fairly basic.

If we keep tariffs low, that means consumers pay less. We’re going to see the reverse of that.

The companies do, OP

And as you indicated, they almost always pass the cost on to consumers by raising prices At first, a few companies tried to absorb the costs in hopes it would be a short term thing. Once it was clear that Trump's tariff madness was going to be neither short term nor predictable, however, those holdouts joined the rest and raised prices.

Not that I shop there, but I heard even the dollar stores have raised prices.

R21 - and what kind of tariffs were you paying for all the electronics, autos, etc., coming into the US before? You think Samsung or Sony are suddenly going to start manufacturing electronics is the US? I would say that the imbalance you think existed heavily favored US consumers. It maybe didn’t help the US manufacturing industry, but that ain’t coming back unless you’re willing to work for $30 a day rather than $30 an hour.

It’s not rocket science but we have an entire political party twisting itself into knots because it is an authoritarian party and Dear Leader is a moron.

A tariff is a sales tax paid by the buyer who imports goods into a country. As others have noted, most importers are retailers or manufacturers and they pass along most if not all of the cost to their consumers. They may also use the tariffs as an excuse to raise prices even more

The tariffs are also illegal because the power to tax belongs to Congress not the President. But who knows with this SCOTUS which has been captured by the extreme right. If they don’t shut down the tariffs quickly Trump will drive the economy into a ditch which, I think would be the best way to destroy MAGA once and for all. You can already see the economy grinding to a halt if you dismiss Trump’s lies that the statistics are rigged to make him look bad.

[quote]it is an authoritarian party and Dear Leader is a moron.

Game, set, match.

Actually, the rest of the world understands history and economics and is not reciprocating Trump’s tariffs on our good or each other’s. They are not going to follow the moron into a global depression. The US will suffer the most and the rest of the world will adjust to our self-imposed isolation.

This is the most rational discussion I have ever witnessed on DL.

[quote] So in short, we’ve been getting fucked forever. Trump was just super aggressive about it.

International trade is far more complicated that keeping score with arithmetic and only someone with a victim mentality/persecution complex who wants to feel that “we are getting fucked” would look at it so simplistically.

Ask the average American about whether they would be happy to trade the past few decades of access to inexpensive clothing and electronics manufactured abroad and sold at Target and Wal-Mart and on Amazon for increased exports by American manufacturers. Ask them if they would rather pay 25% more for everything so Ford can export 10% more cars or farmers in Iowa can export more wheat (if they can find farm workers to harvest it.) Do they really care so much about Ford shareholder dividends or the net worth of farmers that they are willing to pay more for everything? Ask them if a decade of inflation and unemployment will be worth it to eventually (maybe) force factories back to the US so people can go back to work on the production lines of the past and everything they make here will cost consumers much more because we’d rather create high-paying manufacturing jobs in dying industries than take advantage of cheaper labor costs in other parts of the world.

Trump’s policies are a misguided attempt to turn back the clock to the economy of his youth. When he was a coddled millionaire’s son. Even if is possible to turn back time (and protectionism has a sorry track record when it has been tried) is that really what people want so the MAGA scorekeepers can look at some numbers and smugly say “now we’re not getting fucked by them” but we’re still fucked by ourselves.

R4 I think MAGAs understand they're the ones paying for the tariffs and are not happy about it but, like in all cults, they will allow their supreme leader to do even the things they don't approve of.

Why is Trump saying if he has to quit the tariff ponzi scheme that all that money has to come out of our pockets?

I don’t think the MAGAs understand shit. But they will see what happens to prices and unemployment and realize that they have been conned by a corrupt cabal of billionaires looking out for their own power and wealth and a bunch of Christian Nationalists looking for chaos out of which to build their Gilead. It’s only a matter of time. But fasten your seat belts.

[quote] Why is Trump saying if he has to quit the tariff ponzi scheme that all that money has to come out of our pockets?

Because he is an idiot. He thinks he’s the smartest person on earth and no one else understands how tariffs work. He’s talking about the billions of new revenue pouring into the treasury from the sales taxes which WE ARE PAYING. These are used to offset his massive income taxes for the rich. Since he really believes (somehow) that the tariffs are “free money paid by foreigners” he thinks he has unlocked some magic way to make other countries pay for our government. It’s ridiculous and moronic and I can understand why people who don’t understand economics have trouble believing that he really is as stupid as he is, do they think he must know better. He doesn’t

R34, I don’t disagree but Trump does seem to have a dim understanding. He threatened American companies who might raise their prices based on tariffs.

At any rate, I think this is going to start accelerating very soon.

He probably thinks those companies would be taking advantage of the “confusion” to raise prices and a stern word from Daddy will stop them.

Of course it is also possible that reality does eventually sneak into his brain.

He’s now saying the benefits from his genius will take a year or two to be apparent. He knows the statistics are not an hoax even while he tells his followers they are. He’s a con man above all.

Dump knows. It’s why he threatened anyone - *cough, Amazon* - who tried putting tariffs as line items on customer invoices.

He is certainly aware that economists (and anyone with a brain) “predict” that the tariffs will be passed on to consumers, so it makes perfect sense that he would believe he should try to stop this, but the only way it makes any sense for him to believe he could stop this is if he genuinely believes that when he puts a retaliatory tariff “on Mexico” it is Mexico that pays it. Otherwise, it would be inevitable and reasonable for companies to pass along the cost.

The very idea that he thinks he can stop it shows he doesn’t understand it.

He's already TACOed some tariffs to some degree. The bigger problem is his unpredictability and inability to honor a deal. Former trusted trading partners are exploring other options.

and lets not pretend the US never imposed tariffs before Trump. It's not as if the US was taken advantage of on every single trade agreement prior to Trump.

R14 has a terrible understanding of how tariffs work, who pays them, and the international impacts of these taxes, and his numbers are way off. Where did you get the numbers you quote, R14? A Trump almanac?

Of course, this parallels Trumpian/MAGAt logic, and it goes like this: "I have no understanding of international trade, let alone the economics and delicate negotiations that have been in place for centuries when countries engage in trade. All I see is that manufacturing jobs have all gone overseas and factory towns across America have closed, so we're getting screwed!" Never mind that the reason all those manufacturing jobs went overseas was capitalism 101: because labor costs were lower, and never mind that the reason labor costs were lower was because those foreign governments wanted them to be lower so that manufacturing would come there, and thus incentivized (more likely mandated) keeping them low through what we would call oppressive tactics, regulation (including rate of return regulation), and taxation of profits to dis-incentivize short-term gain over national stability and shared prosperity.

In short, we have billionaires (and soon, even trillionaires) while they have high speed rail, modern ports, reasonably priced real estate, and an overall better quality of life. While our homeless problem has gotten progressively worse in the last 50 years, China has all but eradicated it. China has managed to bring 800 million people out of poverty; we have watched as our middle class, once the envy of the world, has shrunk to its smallest proportion of the population in 75+ years. India has more college graduates than our entire workforce (including non-college educated workers), while we're making college so expensive that only the children of oligarchs will be able to attend. It's almost like the majority of Americans are so brainwashed that they dismiss objective reality and the consequences we face in favor of magical thinking that somehow, despite all evidence, lived experience, and a crashing economy all around them, Trump will somehow bring back the prosperity that our grandparents and great-grandparents fought for literally with their lives and limbs — and a union card firmly in their wallets.

We've coasted on the economy that Democrats built after WWII, and are living through the end of that as Republicans kill everything that actually made America great.

The stupid idea around this is that it jacks up the prices of a certain country's good so much, that people will buy a similar good from another country or from the US.

Problem is

1) Trump has put tariffs on goods from almost all countries 2) The US DOES NOT MAKE THIS STUFF HERE ANYMORE - and will not for several years without massive build-out and investment.

It's so stupid it hurts my brain.

[quote] The US DOES NOT MAKE THIS STUFF HERE ANYMORE

this

OP and everyone else. Who actually pays the tariffs is slightly irrelevant. It was done to deliberately cause our economy to collapse.

This is the premise. When you finally come to realize that Dump is NOT working on behalf of this country, that Dump is working FOR Putin, and has been since the 2016 election, everything he's done up to this point, including tariffs, makes total complete sense!

Some additional back story, Trump went on and on months ago about the so-called Gilded Age as being what he meant by Make America Great Again.

=====

WASHINGTON (AP) — In President Donald Trump’s idealized framing, the United States was at its zenith in the 1890s, when top hats and shirtwaists were fashionable and typhoid fever often killed more soldiers than combat.

It was the Gilded Age, a time of rapid population growth and transformation from an agricultural economy toward a sprawling industrial system, when poverty was widespread while barons of phenomenal wealth, like John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan, held tremendous sway over politicians who often helped boost their financial empires.

“We were at our richest from 1870 to 1913. That’s when we were a tariff country. And then they went to an income tax concept,” Trump said days after taking office. “It’s fine. It’s OK. But it would have been very much better.”

The desire to recreate that era is fueled by Trump’s fondness for tariffs and his admiration for the nation’s 25th president, William McKinley, a Republican who was in office from 1897 until being assassinated in 1901.

Though Trump’s early implementation of tariffs has been inconsistent — with him imposing them, then pulling many back — he has been steadfast in endorsing the idea of 21st century protectionism. [bold]There have even been suggestions that higher import tariffs on the country’s foreign trading partners could eventually replace the federal income tax. [/bold]

============

That last point is stupidly, dogmatically, what the man envisions. It won't be happening, obviously, because 21st century tariff wars without a robust US manufacturing sector (as in days of yore) are a setup for economic disaster.

And it's not just stupid dogmatism.... Trump and other billionaires or near-billionaires would LOVE to abolish the entire income tax system and just make all the rest of us pay jacked-up tariff-war prices for everything we need from outside the US. Drastically widening the wealth gap even further than it is today.

But without financially healthy consumers where do the rich get their income?

The rich can invest globally. They are not dependent on the buying power of the American consumer.

R44 - correction - the RICH were at their RICHEST then. The poor and the working class were suffering terribly. You had the billionaires with their huge mansions and servants - not just the US, but UK and most European nations.

The concept of human rights and progressivism started during that era because of the inhumane living conditions people were suffering under.

It's idiocy at such a high level. How fucking GREEDY can these fuckers be? They're already billionaires? Your life will not get that much better with more money.

It's insane how we put these billionaires on a pedestal - and the vast majority do not give back in the way they should. Some billionaires actually did that back in the late 19th and early 20th century. Not today. Well maybe Mackenzie Bezos and Bill Gates - but it is rare.

Three keys to understanding any Trump policy:

1) He serves only the rich, his own ego and Vladimir Putin;

2) He does not care about the welfare of his base or the Constitution or laws;

3) He lies to his base and plays on their fears and resentments to get them to give more power to the rich.

Someday everyone will understand this and people will be ashamed for having been suckered. Soon, I hope.

Oh definitely R48, and PBS glossed over that point (the brutal and widespread poverty and inhumane working conditions during those years) more than they should have.

The venn diagram overlap of billionaire and sociopath is not a tiny one.

R50 - they didn't call them robber barons, for nothing!

You think Trump naming his son Baron was just a coincidence?

It really is interesting how few of the uber-rich want to help humanity these days.

Back in the old days, yes, there were big time money seekers who did plenty of immoral things because of their lust for wealth, but they also cared about their legacy and their name and did significantly good things with the money they amassed. They didn't want to become the villains in history books.

Bill Gates is one of the few today that seems to care about any of that. Most of the rest have some really bizarre dystopian fantasies and seem to want to make the world worse for most people. .

Most of these companies getting hit with tariffs support that stupid cunt, so fuck them. They can EAT THE COST IF THEIR FUCKERY

Thanks, everyone!

That's pretty much what i thought - but I kept thinking if that's so why are so many people supporting them?

Oh. Idiot magats.

As a non-American I haven't been paying too close of an attention to this whole thing. Are these tariffs applied to everything someone orders from outside of the US? Or does it have to be of a certain amount of money? Like I sell stuff on Etsy. If someone from US orders something from me that costs $10-$20 , will they also have to pay tariffs, and if so, how much?

I’ve been seeing sme people who have ordered overseas and paid tariffs upfront through the seller are still getting charged tariffs by FedEx, etc. Double whammy!

R55 - depends on the country and if it’s paid its dues to Mafia Don yet.

MAGA Fraus are going to feel the pain directly since many of them shop on the site for "cute" things made overseas and which are no longer exempt from "de minimis" tariffs.

“Who runs Barter Town?”

[quote] I’ve been seeing sme people who have ordered overseas and paid tariffs upfront through the seller are still getting charged tariffs by FedEx, etc. Double whammy!

Paid tariffs up front to whom? Tariffs are paid to the US Treasury when the goods enter the US by whoever is bring them in. I don’t think it’s possible for a foreign seller to pay them for a US customer/importer. Sounds like intentional fraud to me.

[quote] As a non-American I haven't been paying too close of an attention to this whole thing. Are these tariffs applied to everything someone orders from outside of the US? Or does it have to be of a certain amount of money? Like I sell stuff on Etsy. If someone from US orders something from me that costs $10-$20 , will they also have to pay tariffs, and if so, how much?

There used to be an $800 exemption. Trump got rid of it. Technically, your buyers will have to pay a tariff (depending on where you are and what you’re selling), but I don’t know if practically customs will bother. The amounts are changing so often on the whims of Dear Leader that some countries’ post offices have stopped shipping to the US.

R57 R61 I'm from Croatia (EU)

The tariffs are widely understood to be illegal and the first and second level courts to have considered the question have struck them down, but their rulings have been (or will soon be) appealed to the Supreme Court which has been captured by the Republicans and may want to find a way to avoid humiliating Trump. If I were to bet, I’d say the tariffs will be gone in the spring, but I would not bet a lot.

Gee, what will the Rethugs do with all the 'savings'? Will it... disappear?

R55–The current general tariff for goods from the EU is 15%, but you’d have to check if what you are selling has a special rate or exemption. Given the prices of the goods you mention, I’d bet they would just let a shipment slip by, but I don’t think you could promise that to your customers.

So if the tariffs are found to be illegally levied by Dump, does that mean US consumers get refunds?

It might.

No, it wouldn’t, unless they bought directly from overseas vendors. The people who paid the tariffs would get the refunds. The consumers would be lucky to get anything or to see the prices go back to pre-tariff levels.

^true

It sucks, I bought some clothes on sale from a store in UK online and when UPS delivered it, they asked me for 60 bucks in customs fee!!!

R55, in case helpful, here's a flow chart as another way to explain it.

Of course White House insiders are angling to profit if the tariffs are found to be illegal.

[quote]Financial firms have made a proposition to importers: They would buy companies’ legal claims over refund rights.

[quote]“We have a lot of clients asking about it,” Lenny Feldman, a managing partner of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, a law firm specializing in international trade, told DealBook. (His firm is not involved in such transactions.)

[quote]For importers, selling refund rights is a potential way to cushion tariff losses, even if some offers have been valued at pennies on the dollar. DealBook hears that large U.S. companies are among those weighing such proposals.

[quote]The trade gained attention in July, when Wired reported that it had seen a pitch letter from CANTOR FITZGERALD, THE WALL STREET BROKERAGE ONCE LED BY COMMERCE SECRETARY HOWARD LUTNICK, AND NOW IS HELMED BY BRANDON LUTNICK, ONE OF HIS SONS. Cantor was willing to buy the rights to a company’s claim and pay 20 to 30 percent of whatever it recovered, according to Wired.

“The foreign country pays the tariff….” *audience boos*

The US institutes a 40% tariff against China

The Chinese government collects the tariff from the Chinese supplier/manufacturer and pays the US.

The Chinese supplier/manufacturer raises their prices by 40% for their US clients thus recouping the payment to the government.

The US brands/retailers raise their prices by 40% thus recouping the higher cost of the supplier/manufacturer.

Guess who just got fucked OP.

[quote] The Chinese government collects the tariff from the Chinese supplier/manufacturer and pays the US.

No. Neither Tthe Chinese government not the Chinese manufacturer is involved. The tariffs are paid in the US by the importer directly to the US Treasury

Trying again:

[quote] No. Neither the Chinese government nor the Chinese manufacturer is involved. The tariffs are paid in the US by the US importer directly to the US Treasury.

R74, are you R14? You have the same cognitive difficulties (and writing style) understanding this basic concept and attempt to state your illusion with authority despite having little understanding of what tariffs are — taxes (of the import variety, but taxes nonetheless) — and who pays them.

Please stop spreading misinformation, or as MAGAts say, "Do your research!"

R2 why the democrats can’t easily explain this and repeat it over and over is beyond me.

Because maggots do not care. Fux and their orange god have told them that Jina pays the tariffs. Why would they question that?

No. Best let them get kicked in the teeth repeatedly. Then point and laugh. They’re idiots and deserve nothing less.

MAGA does not believe the media or Democrats. They prefer to believe Trump’s lies. And Trump has got Republican politicians and media so terrified by political and physical threats that they won’t point out his lies.

R74 - wrong. The US institutes a 40% tariff on Chinese made goods. The importer - say Walmart - has to pay 40% to the US government to bring those goods into the country. Walmart isn’t into goodwill so isn’t going to pay 40% more for you to have your Chinese made crap, so they pass along that cost to you.

I’m not talking about MAGAs. I’m talking about the average American white or black.

The average American pays no attention. They do not understand the conversation. But they will notice when prices go up.

[quote] Trump’s policies are a misguided attempt to turn back the clock to the economy of his youth.

Except without unions or the social safety nets. The McKinley era is his ideal, and there were good reasons why that area led to Progressivism and social democracy.

[quote] why the democrats can’t easily explain this and repeat it over and over is beyond me.

Are you living under a rock? I've been hearing Democrats explain this and repeat it over and over, very publicly, for as long as Trump has been saying it. The MAGAts just won't get it through their thick skulls—although to judge from Republicans' town hall meetings that may be changing now.

MAGAs simply never hear from Democrats or anyone outside their bubble. They get information from each other on social media and from party organs posing as journalism.

Mexico pays for it along with the wall

R58, self-correcting: the site I meant to mention is Etsy.

R65 "I don’t think you could promise that to your customers" What do you mean by that? It's not up to a seller to specify if there will be tariffs on the items they sell and how much, for every single country of there won't be any. That's up to a buyer, no? They should know the laws of their country better than the seller who sells from other other side of the world

The question of who pays the tariff is really irrelevant. The relevant question is who bears the tariff, which can’t be determined a priori. It may be borne by the consumer or by the importer or both. In some cases, the manufacturer has no ability to raise the post-tariff price, and the manufacturer bears the entire tariff. In other cases, the manufacturer can charge the same pre-tariff price and the consumer pays it all. Other situations are in between. One thing is sure. The foreign government isn’t paying it.

It may not be up to the seller to explain, but the buyers may ask or be reluctant to buy.

I ordered a watch band from Germany and the website addressed the tariffs saying that it was unlikely that I’d be charged (I wasn’t), but that they would reimburse me if I were. Good strategy .

[quote] In some cases, the manufacturer has no ability to raise the post-tariff price, and the manufacturer bears the entire tariff

Huh?

R91 But why would a buyer ask a seller that? Do you think that a seller from let's say Indonesia knows what the laws are in Denmark, Paraguay or in this case, USA, and if the person will be charged tariffs or not? There are over hundred countries in the world. Sellers can't know the laws of each country at any given moment. It's up to a buyer to know the laws of their country

We were asked by an EU seller about selling into the US and my advice was directed solely to that person.

[quote]Sellers can't know the laws of each country at any given moment. It's up to a buyer to know the laws of their country

I'm not R91 but virtually everyone whose business is reliant on US buyers, even tiny one-person shops on Etsy, is aware of the current tariff chaos. Many sellers suspended shipping to the US even before a long list of international postal services enacted their own suspensions. They can't risk the onslaught of lost shipments, credit card chargebacks and negative feedback that will result when consumers ignore warnings about delays, disruptions and tariff bills.

R95 Why would there be increase in lost shipments?

[quote][R95] Why would there be increase in lost shipments?

Uncertainty over the tariff collection process was expected to cause massive logistical problems and backlogs of undelivered shipments. The longer that cargo sits undelivered, the higher the likelihood it's lost (due to anything from theft or spoilage to being misplaced). A percentage of buyers will also refuse to pay tariffs on goods they ordered, rendering shipments undeliverable, and the costs associated with that can become the responsibility of the sender.

As usual, Trump and his cronies didn't think any of this through or care about the impact it would have on others, which is why so many countries have protected their own interests by temporarily suspending shipments. His mercurial flip-flopping and the threat of court intervention further complicated matters because there's no point in mail services rushing to accommodate policy changes that he might change on a whim the next time he needs a media distraction.

It's really quite simple: the export countries pay the tariffs directly into the US treasury and Americans benefit from low prices, runaway job growth, and lollipops for everyone!

I’m so sick of watching Bessent grin like an idiot while he spins the tariffs. No one in Dump’s administration has any integrity.

I just got a 40% coupon from Kohl's. Winning!

R92. If the consumer will not pay more for the goods after imposition of the tariff, the exporter eats the tariff.

A person of integrity, like Buck, never would have been in Trump’s cabinet.