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When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts

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Re: When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts

#141

Post by chrneu »

anonymousiam wrote: post #117

UPS sucks today. I've had a UPS business account for over 35 years. In the past year or so they've become just terrible. Any call you make to them will have a hold time of at least half an hour. Many of my calls have gone over an hour. Usually you'll get transferred at least once. Also, earlier this year they outsourced their billing services to a third party, requiring additional consent on their website, and billin…

Didn't UPS try to move away from union labor a few years ago after a strike? I wonder if this has anything to do with that.

Re: When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts

#142

Post by chrneu »

Terr_ wrote: post #101
rabf wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its funny how little US citizens know about this, meanwhile in the rest of the world we have been paying import duties our entire lives. When an item is posted abroad forms have to be filled detailing the sender, the nature of the goods and the value. Some sellers willl bend the law for you and decalre the value of the goods to be lower than what you actually paid if you ask nicely. The main danger being that if the…

> Its funny how little US citizens know about this Is it really? It sounds like you're implying it's some kind of woeful ignorance, but I say it's perfectly reasonable: 1. Each US state is already in a open-borders zero-tariff framework with all other states, which covers a very large portion of what people purchase. 2. Until recently, most individual consumers didn't need to think about tariffs on international good…

[flagged]

Re: When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts

#143

Post by lostlogin »

axiolite wrote: post #132
lostlogin wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would this ever work? The vast bulk of tariffs are surely paid by the buyer, not the seller.

> tariffs are surely paid by the buyer, not the seller. The US has declared import tariffs are to be paid by the importer/shipper, not collected from the end purchaser after... The opposite of the rest of the world. If you look through eBay, at items coming from China, you'll see most are noted as: Import fees: Includes import fees This item includes applicable import fees—you won’t pay anything extra after checkout.…

> It seems to be a rare exception that you'll see the seller is not paying the tariffs

The seller won’t take the hit if that results in a loss. Surely the price just went up to include the tariff?

Re: When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts

#144

Post by badc0ffee »

ericd wrote: post #81
seg_lol wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sociopaths. It breaks me to see the Fed use interest rates to cause unemployment as the lever against inflation. It all seems so cruel.

Have you ever read about people burning piles of German currency because it was better than using it to buy firewood with? Not to say we would get there, but allowing inflation to run is not kinder.

Have you ever tried to start a fire with a bunch of paper? It doesn't work great, and what a mess.

Re: When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts

#145

Post by chrneu »

aranelsurion wrote: post #71
mrtksn wrote: post #16

Ah this is just another step towards Turkification[0] of USA. This situation is just how it is in Erdogan's Turkey but you still have way to go if you are able to get your package out of the customs in less than a few weeks and no hustle. When the trade deals and tariff conditions get sufficiently complex(it gets more complex every day as the president accommodates specific companies and personal favors), the bureauc…

It’s still a little hard to believe and terrifying how similar this particular title and the comments below are to what I would’ve read in Turkish forums circa 2010s. For Turkey it only got worse from there.

yeah this is just a way for republicans to curry favors/influence from businesses they prefer.

they make everything as hard as possible, then create loopholes for their buddies.

this is what they've been claiming has been happening under democrats(projection), but in reality it's teh system they long for. Now that they're in power they can make it happen.

Re: When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts

#146

Post by chrneu »

michaelteter wrote: post #50

Never fear! That $2000 check will be coming your way soon.

Lol the mental gymnastics of republicans to say "Tariffs aren't taxes on citizens, they're taxes on foreign countries"

and now trump is easing tariffs on foods because they're too expensive. he's also thinking of shipping out STIMULUS CHECKS because people are struggling to buy tariffed goods.

it's mind boggling what they must be thinking to justify this stuff.

Re: When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts

#147

Post by iancmceachern »

WalterBright wrote: post #128
iancmceachern wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hardware companies often operate on a relatively thin margin, especially as compared to say, software companies. Let's say a companies margin was 40%. The cost of their constituent parts doubles due to tariffs, they are no longer making money as a result. I hope this helps explain it for you.

It's more complicated than that. For example, the company can raise its prices. How well that works depends on whether there is competition for the company's product. If the competition is also hit by the tariffs, then they're on an even playing field. If the competition is using native parts, then the competitor gets the business.

This is one of the great misconceptions.

There are often no "native" alternatives.

Even the machines that make the chips are nearly all made in one country and then shipped around the world.

The amazing, modern nature of our modern world is built on the collective effort and knowledge of humankind globally.

Globally.

Re: When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts

#148

Post by chrneu »

nielsbot wrote: post #70

If (when) SCOTUS determines that Trump's tariffs were illegally collected and importers are refunded, will end consumers who paid tariffs also be refunded?

nobody has any idea and you best bet trump is going to hold onto that money until it goes to the supreme court.

Re: When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts

#149

Post by chrneu »

Coffeewine wrote: post #37
femiagbabiaka wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be surprised if the money was being held in escrow and could be refunded. Actually the Trump admin is using this as an argument to the SC as to why making the tariffs unconstitutional is a bad idea.

Indeed. The moral of the story is that it’s ideal to do illegal acts which are difficult to undo, as it’ll give the judiciary greater pause.

This reminds me of the quote

If you owe the bank $100 that's your problem. If you owe the bank $100 million, that's the bank's problem.

Kind of the same idea, sorta.

Re: When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts

#150

Post by temptemptemp111 »

Hobadee wrote: post #140

At least this guy got the option to know what was happening. A few years ago I randomly got a letter from the IRS (or some other 3-letter agency - I can't recall which) demanding I pay thousands of dollars because I imported "industrial equipment". I found this odd as I'm just a normal consumer who buys crap of Amazon and whatnot - I'm not importing tens of thousands of dollars worth of industrial equipment. I verifi…

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