So why is the broker there? You are saying Mr O’Hara from Georgia showed up in New York to pay the tariff on those meager farm instruments and then arranged to have them shipped south?
Boy, those guys were really inefficient. No wonder they lost the war. ;~).
Many times there isn't a broker there when goods owned by a company or individual enter the country...an agent of the owner perhaps. Farm equipment wasn't meager. Some of it then as now could be rather expensive items. Also the goods purchased in Europe (primarily England) weren't necessarily shipped South. Some items like textiles could be sold there. The profits from those sales would help defray the costs of shipment. You never want empty cargo holds. That's hugely wasteful.