Tariff Situation Set to Impact Buyers & Sellers

Up till now merchandise from the UK and Europe has continued to flow into the USA without hindrance but the situation now appears to be changing rapidly. Some European countries have already ceased sending mail to the USA which contains "goods" - of any description. The Royal Mail in the UK is working to establish a system for collecting a 10% tariff but I doubt it will be operational by August 29th which is Trump's deadline.

For forum members who regularly order from UK outfits such as Waterstones or Rough Trade this means you are likely to be denied access to products to begin with and will face a 10% increase in pricing in due course. That's 10% of the combined price, i.e. product plus shipping cost and it must be paid at the point of purchase,  not when it arrives at the border.

There has been talk of books - not sure about records/CD's etc - being excluded from tariffs due to their "educational content" but it has only been talk - there is no published guidance from U.S. Customs on the subject. Yet.

Big mess.

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Permalink Reply by JK on August 21, 2025 at 1:46pm

I thought tariffs were paid by the recipient.  Why would the sender care, other than having to deal with upset customers who didn't know they'd pay an import fee?

A lot of countries have tariffs.  

Permalink Reply by Findbooks on August 21, 2025 at 2:22pm

Basically it is up to sellers about how they deal with these new tariffs. They can absorb the costs themselves (10% is not the end of the world) or pass them on to customers by raising the price. I am sure that most would seek to pass them on to the buyer. Whichever the case, the new requirement is that the tariff is applied upon purchase and not on delivery. 

The problem is that are no systems in place for these new tariffs to be collected and then remitted to U.S. customs. I mean nada. This is why some postal services have suspended all mail with goods to the U.S. altogether.

To illustrate - let's say you buy a book from Waterstones next week and with shipping it costs $50. So Waterstones charge you $55 to include the tariff. What do Waterstones then do with that $5? There is nothing in place in the US for Waterstones to work with. And how do they ensure that your parcel gets through Customs without any agreed procedures for labelling mail as "Tariff Paid". 

I can't speak for Waterstones but I would not be surprised if some of the smaller retailers in the UK decide to simply exclude U.S. customers until such time that there are systems in place.

Permalink Reply by JK on August 21, 2025 at 2:29pm

If it is as presented in your example, then yes, it would be a confusing problem.  I'm just not sure how the US can compel a foreign company to pay a tax upon purchase, rather than shipment/delivery.  Seems unworkable.

Permalink Reply by Findbooks on August 21, 2025 at 2:42pm

As things stand it is definitely unworkable. It's not so much "paying" the tax as "collecting" it. Ultimately the customer is paying.

The cart has definitely been placed before the horse.

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