Show HN: Tariff Calculator for Amazon

#1

Post by wyxuan » Wed, Apr 30, 2025, 1:13 AM UTC

I made a simple tariff calculator extension for Amazon.

It queries gemini flash 2.0 to determine the category, and then matches it with the corresponding tariff category.

Fun quick hack – it does brick a little – but the majority of the code was cobbled by a first pass of Claude Code

Repo is here: https://github.com/mergd/amzn-tariff

Show HN: Tariff Calculator for Amazon
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Re: Show HN: Tariff Calculator for Amazon

#2

Post by kacesensitive » Wed, Apr 30, 2025, 1:53 AM UTC

I hope you have an automated way of pulling the tariff percentages.

Seems like it changes hour to hour.

Re: Show HN: Tariff Calculator for Amazon

#3

Post by Ecco » Wed, Apr 30, 2025, 3:18 AM UTC

Fun! That being said, I think that the extension is very inaccurate because it can't know how much the product was actually paid for when imported from China (and therefore tariffed).

I would argue the 40% estimate, even though probably correct some of the time, is very often vastly overestimated. Consumers mostly pay for last-mile delivery, marketing, and the retailer's margin. The price paid in bulk to manufacturers is usually a very small fraction of the retail price.

Re: Show HN: Tariff Calculator for Amazon

#4

Post by dharmab » Wed, Apr 30, 2025, 3:19 AM UTC

Note that tariff categories can be pretty tricky. For example, a board game might be imported as a toy (125%) or as a table or parlor game (20%). Both categories are valid choices, and it simply depends on which the importer specified on the paperwork.