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Comment by carlosjobim | Hacker News Reader

VAT on imports are across the board, as far as consumer goods go.

VAT by definition applies to domestic products as well, and is thus not putting foreign sellers at a disadvantage.

Domestic producers can redeem part of their VAT, which foreign producers can't, effectively making it a tariff. Also European countries apply their own bona-fide tariffs to foreign imports, which anybody who has imported into the EU has experienced. It is stated "tariff" on the bill you receive from customs and in the law that regulates said tariff, and in your accounting for expenses if you are a business. But now we have to pretend these tariffs do not exist? What kind of game is this? Has everybody became psychopaths?

VAT is like a sales-tax but along the supply chain (with credits) - so it's like a complicated sales-tax.

If you want to use that for argument, you should include US sales taxes in the calculation too. Which could be fair, I guess.

European VAT is significantly higher than any US sales tax, reaching as high as 25% or more. Also, foreign manufacturers do not get any VAT credits.

Also, every person in the US can import goods to a value of $800 per day without having to pay any duties. In Europe you have much less generous rules, and sometimes the limit is €0.

Are you for these recent tariffs?

I'm not American so I think they can do whatever they want.

And as long as taxes on labour exist, I don't think anybody can complain about other types of taxes. Any negative economic impact that tariffs or any other taxes have are doubly worse from taxes on labour.

America is a massive consumer, so it will likely impact other countries, too.

I've been seeing your perspective a lot lately online - that this will somehow cancel income tax. Where is that coming from? I haven't heard a single thing about that from the administration. Where is the basis?

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