Trump Grudgingly Concedes That Certain Tariffs Are Paid by U.S. Importers

Daniel J. IkensonYesterday, to help businesses stay afloat and keep workers on payrolls, President Trumpauthorized the deferral of tariff payments on imports ofcertain products bycertain companies for a certain amount of time. Before you smile broadly and, perhaps, engage in a few moments of gloating over the fact that, in this gesture, the president has finally conceded that U.S. importers pay the tariffs, first be reminded that Trump sees no cost too big for others to bear and no collateral damage too catastrophic for the economy to endure to ensure he doesn ’t have to admit to a mistake.Trump ’s action will provide a little breathing room for some businesses, but many, many more will asphyxiate at the altar of “China Pays the Tariffs.” Here’s what happened.The United States, like nearly every other country, imposes MFN (most ‐​favored nation) tariffs on imported goods. The U.S. MFN tariff rate for a particular product is the same, regardless of which WTO ‐​member country the product comes from. For example, the duty applied to imported automobiles is 2.5 percent ad valorem. China, the European Union, South Korea, and every other WTO member have their own MFN tariff rate for imported automobiles. The rates charged by each country may differ from each other’s (and they do), but the MFN rate each applies to every other country is the same.Now, to add a layer of complexity, the duty rates applied to imports from countries with ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs