2. What are considered "U.S. products" that are subjected to foreign tariffs? For example, for decades now we actually do not manufacture a lot of products; if an Italian buys an iPhone (which are made in China and/or India, Vietnam) is that considered an "American product" on which an Italian or EU tariff is imposed?
3. What other rules do the other countries have that limit sale of American goods in their countries? (There’s way more to it than just tariffs.)
Residents in foreign countries generally pay the original price of an American good sold in the United States (the sticker price at a retail store or the price on a website), plus any applicable import duties (tariffs), shipping fees, and their local taxes.
These additional costs can vary significantly based on the specific country, the type of good, and shipping methods.
Let’s say a foreign resident purchases a $100 American-made shirt online.
Original Price: $100
Import Duty (e.g., 5%): $5
Shipping Fees (e.g., $20): $20
Local Sales Tax (e.g., 10%): $11.65 (calculated on the total price)
Total: $100 + $5 + $20 + $11.65 = $136.65
The foreign resident would pay $136.65 for the shirt.
About two-thirds of the trade imbalance with China comes from the Chinese counterpart of ‘Buy American’.
People in China generally have the option of buying Chinese, and they do.
They don’t want to be seen as unpatriotic.
The 100% Chinese Huawei phone is bought, and the majority of the price American Apple phone isn’t.
****
What do we need to do?
1. make what we can for similar cost in the USA and prohibit the import of such except by barter
2. impose Trump-style trade deficit by country tariff rates
https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/customs-4/international-affairs/origin-goods_en
The origin of goods is based on 2 basic concepts (see Article 60 of the UCC):
‘wholly obtained’ products are entirely produced within a single country, including those obtained in their natural state as well as products derived from them. A comprehensive list is provided in Article 31 UCC-DA.
products that underwent a ‘last substantial transformation’ in the last country of production, in cases where two or more countries are involved in the production of goods.
In both cases, the country of origin of the goods is the country where the major portion of the materials originated, based on the value or the weight of the materials as indicated for the Chapter of the tariff classification.
A PDF is available via:
https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/customs-4/international-affairs/origin-goods/non-preferential-rules-origin_en
22 pages:
I can’t spare the time to investigate further.
The key thing to bear in mind is that if the EU targets an iPhone, China will get impacted.
An EU ‘bullet’ that hits an American company will also likely wound a third country and its companies and people.
American product companies are largely hollowed out branding shells.
If less Kentucky bourbon gets sold overseas, Joses and Pedros will still have to pay their American living expenses but will have less money to remit to relatives in Mexico and Central American countries.
Import tax rates with de minimis
https://zonos.com/docs/guides/import-tax-rates-by-country
Those rates are fairly high but are generally only paid by small fry without further knowledge.
“In 2023, around 72 % of the imports that entered the EU did so at zero tariff.”
A quick google search or Grok question will answer yours.
The thing about the tariff charts is you have to really read the footnotes and understand the nomenclature. For the “amateur (which we are) they can be like reading a foreign language.
Tariffs usually are charge from where they are imported from. The reasons why we slapped big tariffs on Vietnam is because China would ship good to Vietnam, slap a label on them, and then resell them for export.
.
Recently I had to buy a headlight bulb at the local Auto Zone store.
I read all of the documentation on the box which held the bulb.
The parts were made in the U.S.A. then shipped to Vietnam to be ‘assembled.’
After assembly they were shipped to Mexico to be ‘packaged’ in a box which was made in.....Thailand.
As far as I am concerned, Globalism jumped the shark with the above maneuver. I’m equally sure that equivalent maneuvers happen all of the time.
Using Germany as an example there are tariffs, VAT tax, generally 19% paid by the importer (seller), and Import Duties, paid by the seller. In other words it’s more than just tariffs.