Because the Law required Foreign ships to only carry goods to one US port. New York was the easiest.
Since Southern products made up 75% of all exports at this time, the returning trade had to balance those exports in money and goods.
Payment for Southern Products always ended up in New York, where the Feds took their cut.
New York was collecting the tariffs because the laws (and geography) were set up in such a way that favored the New York port usage, but most of the money coming into New York still came from Southern Export products.
So you're saying that instead of taking those 75% of the imported goods destined for Southern consumers directly to them, they were taken to New York, landed, taxed, loaded on ships again, and sent south? Finding any economic sense in that is beyond my abilities.
Since Southern products made up 75% of all exports at this time, the returning trade had to balance those exports in money and goods.
And amazingly enough the vast majority of those exports left from southern ports and went directly to Europe. So why the need for the stop in New York coming and not going?
But if exports had to balance imports then what did the North do during the war when there were no Southern exports?
New York was collecting the tariffs because the laws (and geography) were set up in such a way that favored the New York port usage, but most of the money coming into New York still came from Southern Export products.
The money came from tariffs. Tariffs are placed on imports and not exports.