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CBP says it can't comply with refund order

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Re: CBP says it can't comply with refund order

#41

Post by JumpCrisscross »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #37
otterley wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not trying to muddy any situation. I don’t have to: Reality has a lot of nuance. Besides, it is possible to both agree that these tariffs should never have been implemented in the first place and have some sympathy for the agency that has literally never had to do something like this at this scale before and is now under duress to come up with a working, legal, and fair mechanism for implementing one at breakneck…

I think you'll have to dig very deep to strike any sympathy for the CBP.

> you'll have to dig very deep to strike any sympathy for the CBP

Not me. They’re ordinary people doing administrative tasks. Most of them have dutifully turned up for work and done their jobs as the law required them to. They’re now being asked to work overtime to fix a mistake they didn’t make.

Re: CBP says it can't comply with refund order

#42

Post by otterley »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #37
otterley wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not trying to muddy any situation. I don’t have to: Reality has a lot of nuance. Besides, it is possible to both agree that these tariffs should never have been implemented in the first place and have some sympathy for the agency that has literally never had to do something like this at this scale before and is now under duress to come up with a working, legal, and fair mechanism for implementing one at breakneck…

I think you'll have to dig very deep to strike any sympathy for the CBP.

CBP is a sprawling agency charged with a broad variety of responsibilities. You can possess furious anger at the gestapo-like tactics the Border Patrol have engaged in while also feeling sympathy for the customs agent charged with accurately collecting duties on millions of dollars worth of imports every day and filing the mountains of paperwork that go along with that.

Re: CBP says it can't comply with refund order

#43

Post by nine_zeros »

dylan604 wrote: post #28
PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SCOTUS has already given the President complete immunity for anything done as part of an "official act", so that's not going to fly (even if it should).

Isn't it only immunity as long as Congress is controlled by the same party so that no impeachment/conviction? Otherwise, Congress technically still has that ability. That's also what Trump was screaming the whole time that Congress is the only way to hold POTUS accountable.

> That's also what Trump was screaming the whole time that Congress is the only way to hold POTUS accountable.

And this is just wrong - anyone can see that every branch must be held accountable by other branches. This supreme court has done more damage to America than most historical supreme courts.

Re: CBP says it can't comply with refund order

#44

Post by readthenotes1 »

cheema33 wrote: post #39
gzread wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's only for crimes, isn't it? Ans it doesn't apply to anyone who isn't the president.

> And it doesn't apply to anyone who isn't the president. They have a cool loophole for it. President can pardon those who commit crimes he asks them to commit. See what he did for thousands of insurrectionists and a lot of his friends who bribed him.

The strangest "The President is not King but we give home this power of a King" section in the Constitution.

Re: CBP says it can't comply with refund order

#45

Post by alephnerd »

dboreham wrote: post #35
remarkEon wrote: post #22

Corporate welfare at its finest. We spent this whole time up until now exclaiming that it was actually the consumer who pays the tariffs, and now it’s the corporation that gets a “refund”. That’s my money, assholes, give it back to me .

It'll be repaid to whoever paid it in the first place (typically an importer, not you unless you're an importer). So any beef to do with not getting a refund should be directed at the domestic supply chain. I note that Costco has stated they will pass on the refund to their customers.

In Costco's case they sell branded goods as loss leaders because they make up the cost via the membership fees, margins engineering thanks to Kirkland Signature, extremely diligent SKU management, and only targeting the upper 50% of households by income [0][1].

As such, they can eat the cost of a "refund" because the actual cost is hidden in the membership fee anyhow.

Costco is a case study in how to run a business - promote operational leadership internally, charge a subscription, segment your ICP based on purchasing ability, and ruthlessly negotiate with vendors (eg. Costco's alcohol purchasing department has LVMH and by extension the government of France over a barrel as they are the single largest purchaser of wine globally, and from personal experience Kirkland's Single Malt Islay - retail of $35 - is a white label of Bunnahabhain's Cruach Mhona - retail of $150-200).

The bottom 50% shop at Walmart. The top 50% at Costco. It's an interesting symbiosis.

A Costco membership, a mid-end Toyota or Honda, maxing out your Roth 401K, putting the 50-60% that remains into a mixed VOO-VTI-VWO-VXUS strategy, upskilling as cheaply as possible (OMSCS@GT or UT Austin) and a 25 year roof is the path to riches.

[0] - https://www.businessinsider.com/how-costco-sams-club-shopper...

[1] - https://minesafetydisclosures.com/blog/2018/6/18/costco

Re: CBP says it can't comply with refund order

#46

Post by uqual »

The CBP seems to be asserting that they lack the technical resources to issue the refunds in a timely fashion. Thus, when they finally comply, they (well, the US taxpayer) will end up paying more interest - probably around $20M/day (assuming 4% and $175B in illegal tariffs collected).

Perhaps this Administration should ask Musk to bring in a team to revamp the systems involved to get these refunds "in the mail" quickly. The DOGE team must be done with the Social Security system rewrite by now so may be available for this task. Maybe Big Balls is free this weekend to take care of this...

Re: CBP says it can't comply with refund order

#47

Post by salawat »

readthenotes1 wrote: post #44
cheema33 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And it doesn't apply to anyone who isn't the president. They have a cool loophole for it. President can pardon those who commit crimes he asks them to commit. See what he did for thousands of insurrectionists and a lot of his friends who bribed him.

The strangest "The President is not King but we give home this power of a King" section in the Constitution.

It isn't strange per se. The Chief executor by definition has discretion. The thing that's gone haywire now is that discretion is being used in a repugnant manner to most actually sane people.

Re: CBP says it can't comply with refund order

#48

Post by salawat »

alephnerd wrote: post #45
dboreham wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'll be repaid to whoever paid it in the first place (typically an importer, not you unless you're an importer). So any beef to do with not getting a refund should be directed at the domestic supply chain. I note that Costco has stated they will pass on the refund to their customers.

In Costco's case they sell branded goods as loss leaders because they make up the cost via the membership fees, margins engineering thanks to Kirkland Signature, extremely diligent SKU management, and only targeting the upper 50% of households by income [0][1]. As such, they can eat the cost of a "refund" because the actual cost is hidden in the membership fee anyhow. Costco is a case study in how to run a business -…

You forgot selling your soul and integrity to the business sector, destroying the future of the next generation of engineers, rolling up the ladder behind you, merging and consolidating to avoid competition... I can go on.

Re: CBP says it can't comply with refund order

#49

Post by salawat »

cheema33 wrote: post #40

You stole $166 billion from people. And now that you've been caught, you are dragging your feet on giving it back and making excuses. What cult brought us this mess?

waves hand in general direction of Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and Trump voters I mean... It's really as simple as that. Follow the damn Benjamins.

Re: CBP says it can't comply with refund order

#50

Post by alephnerd »

salawat wrote: post #48
alephnerd wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Costco's case they sell branded goods as loss leaders because they make up the cost via the membership fees, margins engineering thanks to Kirkland Signature, extremely diligent SKU management, and only targeting the upper 50% of households by income [0][1]. As such, they can eat the cost of a "refund" because the actual cost is hidden in the membership fee anyhow. Costco is a case study in how to run a business -…

You forgot selling your soul and integrity to the business sector, destroying the future of the next generation of engineers, rolling up the ladder behind you, merging and consolidating to avoid competition... I can go on.

You can feel free to exit society and never be employed - every business and employer is part of the system no matter what.

The path to becoming a HNWI ($1M) or VHNWI ($5M) is doable for most SWEs over their career.

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