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Comment by reaperman | Hacker News Reader

Why stop the packages though? Just make the shipper declare a value and let the receiver pay the tariff if they want their package.

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My guess is customs isn't prepared to inspect that volume of packages and would need to up their infrastructure to handle it.

The USA doesn't inspect every package -- almost all current tariffs are on the honor system. They could start by checking every 1 in 10,000 packages and then build up the system until they're spot-checking x in 100.

Customs doesn't even know what half the shit is. If I order a quarter-pound of palladium for $4,000 from China, but pay tariffs on 4 ounces of lead (say, $5), do you really think customs can tell the difference? They open the package, see a chunk of metal, and go "okie dokey". Yes, sometimes they'll whip out an XRP gun and double-check the alloy, but not for a completely random & arbitrary 4-ounce package.

This will happen for every. single. product.

They got rid of the de minimis exemption. Now every package needs to pay duty.

They may not inspect the package but they still have to collect duty on it.

I live in Canada where our de minimis exemption is like $20. Generally when a package comes to in it is help at the border where a broker certifies it for customs. Below $20 there's no broker.

Now you need brokers etc for every single package. Def more paperwork even if they keep the same inspection ratio.

Sure when you courier stuff into Canada but when it’s through the postal service, duty & sales tax collection is at the discretion of customs.

Customs used to check everything and tax/duty any parcel over $20 until ~2011 or so.

Not sure if it was because of cutbacks, rationalization (it’s a lot of paperwork to collect a couple bucks even with their, at the time, $6.95 fee), or a part of their reinvention as gun carrying “law enforcement” and consistent tax collection being beneath them.

There's still more paperwork though. Canada Post cites a $9.95 handling fee on international packages over $20.

I'm not saying US customs will inspect everything. My point is on $800 packages they're moving from a very low level of scrutiny to some scrutiny and at scale that matters. They'll need to add staff to handle the new process and make the new process.

https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/support/articl...

The sticking point isn't the value of the tax, it's having to individually generate the paperwork for each shipment.

Customs could just… not.

It’s at their discretion, just like someone bringing in more than their exemption of beer and deciding not not to charge duty.

Trump and Elon apparently don't know how to do anything without first blowing it up.

It's divide and conquer tactics. They are not interested in continuity or a smoothly functioning economy. They want chaos and panic because they can exploit it.

The problem is they've already threatened most of their allies. In divide and conquer the goal is supposed to be to divide your enemies, not divide yourself from your allies. As it is their enemies and allies now have good reason to work together.

If you assume they are both compromised by Russia and China(which they are), then all of their actions make much more sense by treating our allies as enemies because they are enemies of Russia and China.

I wasn't thinking IR terms. I think they're perfectly willing to crash the US economy in order to consolidate domestic power, even if it causes an overall loss for the US.

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