Sam (crazy candle person) ✦ on Warpcast

Sam (crazy candle person) ✦ pfp

Sam (crazy candle person) ✦

1/ I have a nuanced take on tariffs, as someone who actually imports/exports and has manufacturers in the U.S. and Canada for /humankind. Originally when Trump was elected a lot of my manufacturing friends thought that he would get rid of the “de minimis” (which the media is referring to a loophole or subsidy). The de minimis rule outlined in the USMCA dictates that goods imported under $800 are not subject to tariffs. That means that Americans buying almost anywhere outside of the U.S. for goods under $800 are not subject to paying state taxes, because they’re paying for goods (incl. tax) to other countries. This gave a lot of room for Chinese manufacturers like SHEIN and Temu to dominate the market for fast fashion and home goods. However, me and my friends thought that he would get rid of the de minimis for *just China. It is unusual that he started with Canada and Mexico.

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Sam (crazy candle person) ✦ pfp

Sam (crazy candle person) ✦

2/ Under USCMA, each product imported has a harmonized tariff schedule (HTS) code. And some products fell under the de minimis, while others didn’t. For example, candles were duty-free and technically *American tax free since I sell them for only $80 USD each. The tax I charge goes to the Canadian government. But books are not duty free, and Americans pay duties on them to go the U.S. government if they are imported from Canada. Now, if your products (or the number of products you ship) are over $800, purchasers are responsible for tariffs. That was with the old trade agreement, USCMA. If I shipped $1000 worth of candles under the old trade agreement, the purchaser would only be responsible for paying a 12.5% tariff for candles. Each HTS code has a specific tax rate under USCMA. Now, Trump has 1. Removed the de minimis for all products imported from Canada/Mexico 2. Subjected all products to a 25% tariff, way higher than the average specific tax rate matching each HTS code.

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Jason pfp

And I was just getting happy about my shipping provider making it possible to ship to the US. Doesn’t matter under this administration Tough conditions to sell physical goods

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kbc pfp

Thanks for this. When Brexit started I was in Ireland. People and business were affected even though Ireland was still in the EU. The market was tightly coupled with the UK and business has to find new supply routes. Also, Irish people still have to explain to EU companies that Brexit rules don’t apply to them. Even the post gets it wrong

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matthewb.eth pfp

great post, thank you for sharing

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