Yes, I do. I have been involved in the Import/Export business for over 40 years, starting with my work with the Skip Barber Racing School in 1982. We imported race cars and parts from Ireland and England.
Later, through 3 European companies, Mannesmann Demag, Arburg and Wittmann, I was involved in the importation of machines and parts for injection molding.
I worked with many freight forwarders and brokers. Even working in the domestic elevator industry as a parts supplier, we had dealings in England, and Australia.
So when someone tells you the company exporting goods pays the tariffs - they do not know what they are talking about.
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| https://incodocs.com/blog/incoterms-2020-explained-the-complete-guide/ |
Look at the chart above. Notice the last line on the left column. That is where the sender (exporter) pays the tariff. Notice this is only one out of eleven situations, and the least likely.
In all the ten other cases, the receiver (importer) pays the tariff and it goes to the government. In this case it is a TAX.
Now the purpose is in theory, to make imported goods more expensive than domestic goods. This works when the exporting country is dumping (selling deliberately at a low price to buy market share) or has an extreme manufacturing cost advantage compared to the domestic manufacturers.
The problem that arises in many cases, is that the price to the consumer goes up and the quality of the domestic product goes down, as they do not have to be competitive.
Are tariffs useful? Yes, they are a tool in the economy, but more like a precision screwdriver than a sledgehammer. If you need a sledgehammer than sanctions are more the political solution, but this is usually a last case scenario.
Even President McKinley was moving away from tariffs at what turned out to be the end of his presidency. You might want to read his last speech to understand.
