Sure. Existing agreements are so relevant. 
Correct. Maybe someday that unpopularity will matter.
Political survival has a way of sharpening minds.
It’s a little late for that. Isn’t it still the same “day” in the House as it has been for a year, to prevent a vote on tariffs?
That’s not at all what is happening.
I am a bit out of the loop but looking at making a pre-arrival order from across the pond… where do we currently stand on the tariff front for such pre-arrivals. I am reading it’s still at 15%, is that holding true? Anyone make any purchases from Westgarth wines recently? They are not quoting tariffs up front, but are saying they will be provided 10 days or so from import time.
It’s currently 10%, and likely will stay that way until late July. After that it’s anybody’s guess.
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Yeah, those are the Section 122 tariffs. There is a case, Burlap and Barrel v Trump, that may eventually reach a result. There is also another case, Oregon v Trump, assigned to the same judge, that seems less likely to be granted their requested relief (standing). But, these cases will more likely affect attempts to use Section 122 in a serial fashion. Then there are the other types of tariffs that require more process but that I expect will likely be used more broadly than one might think Congress contemplated. Time will tell.
-Al
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Two months ago, I ordered a shirt from an online store that appeared to be in LA. Two weeks later it arrived from Pakistan. A month after that I got a letter from FedEx with 4 pages of unintelligible (to me) tariff paperwork and an invoice for $0.63. For $0.63, it’s simpler to pay it and more fun to come here to post about it than to figure it out.
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Do you have a payment portal where you can pay via credit card; or do you have to send in a check and fill out paperwork?
It’s the potential hassle of the payment process that makes me hesitant to order things from overseas more than the actual tariff, tbh.
First off the importer should have paid FedEx. Random people should not be getting tariff bills unless they were in fact the importer of record.
These are things being shipped directly from overseas retailers to consumers in the United States (think the Shein model). So no middleman importer.
For example, I used to buy coffee direct from a Norwegian coffee roaster, but ever since the new tariff regime started, I cancelled my subscription because I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of potential paperwork for a $50 order of coffee.
FedEx had a URL for a payment portal. Easy-peasy.
I did not order from Pakistan. I ordered from HLeather Jackets which purports to be in San Diego. https://www.hleatherjackets.com/
They drop-shipped from Pakistan, where the shirt was made.
Had this been a substantial sum, I would have had a problem with it.
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FedEx pays the duty as a courtesy to speed up delivery and sends you an invoice. If you don’t pay, they send it to collections.
Time will tell, but I think FedEx has promised to refund these types of payments when they receive their refund. This assumes they don’t change their mind or put some de minimis threshold.
-Al
If you are the importer of record. The vast majority of Americans never will be that person.
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In a somewhat complicated ruling, a three court panel ruled 2-1 that the Section 122 tariffs are contrary to law.
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cit.19559/gov.uscourts.cit.19559.49.0.pdf
-Al
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A couple of notes:
2-1 ruling
Prohibition on collecting tariffs immediately in effect but only with respect to the two plaintiffs and the State of Washington (also a plaintiff)
The private importers didn’t present much of an argument for relief beyond themselves. As far as the states, only Washington introduced direct evidence that an entity in their state had paid the Section 122 tariffs. Seems like some plaintiff lawyers could have done better.
The government just appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (recall, this was in the Court of International Trade). Will continue to be litigated for quite some time.
-Al
Yes. Clearly won’t be over before the tariffs expire (though perhaps additional litigation on a possible extension . . .)
At least there will (a) be a refund system already set up that can be reused and (b) a bit easier to administer because the gov’t will (barring “extension”) have collected all tariffs and not have pending payments.