Tariffs-Suck-I-Should-Know-Personally


So El Trumpo boasts about millions and billions being realized from tariffs!!!

But whose pocket does the money come from?

Mine!

I bought an essential item to repair my log splitter from Canada on Monday, August 4 (this week) and paid $46.00 for shipping, via UPS.

It arrived today (August 8).

The UPS driver then requested a check for something like $37.00!

Naturally, my eyebrows went somewhere on top of my head.

He explained that this was his first such delivery, and he was required to get a check for the “tariff.”

We had a very good-natured discussion, and I asked him if he’d accept a credit or debit card.

Sorry, he said, he couldn’t do that; his phone thing was not so equipped. He needed a check.

I got some of my brain cells working overtime.

My question was, “how come the likes of UPS are required to get a check from me, on behalf of the government?”

Naturally, being only a guy doing his job he could not answer that question, but I have certainly had time to ponder ‘where’s the law that says I must pay a tariff to UPS so UPS can put the money in their bank, and pass it on to the gummint?’

There is no such law, as far as I know.

The brain cells then outperformed any AI computer thing and quick as a flash I had a thought….

“Theoretically speaking,” I said, “what if I don’t have a check book?”

The situation was then resolved very amicably.

The package was delivered, it’s in my hands, and although there was some mention of the driver apparently being required to take it back, he accepted that I had no check book, could not pay with a card, so it was time to leave and report back to his company.

And now, it’s time to check my bank balance:-)

And fix the wood splitter.


This might evince some interesting comments below…go for it if you wish.


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Comments

7 responses to “Tariffs-Suck-I-Should-Know-Personally”

  1. Michael Knight Avatar

    The driver did specify that it was a tariff fee, which he had been told to get a check for. As for the wood I burn…alder, hemlock, apple from pruned trees, pallets, cherry, filbert,…fence posts, slabs from a sawmill I used to work on, and cedar rails as kindling. Oddly enough the price of wood ($200 a cord – 6 cords through winter) pretty much matches what baseboard electrcity would cost but friends have often donated loads of free wood. The splitter is a 10ton DR – they no longer sell it, but after some serious research I found it to be the same as one sold by ForestWest. So the rack and pinion parts are perfect. I used to be able to split a cord by hand, but this method is great. After 10 years use, it’ll now be as good as new.

  2. Kathleen Avatar
    Kathleen

    The sender probably didn’t fill out the customs form correctly so you were being asked to pay the UPS “brokerage fee,” not the tariff. FedEx and UPS both charge high fees to move the goods through Customs. USPS also charge a broker fee. It’s much lower and is included in the price of the international postage. The brokerage fee has nothing to do with the higher tariffs unless UPS has raised its rates.

  3. Val Anderson Avatar
    Val Anderson

    PS – what was wrong w/the wood splitter, Mr Knight?

    ~V~

  4. Val Anderson Avatar
    Val Anderson

    I wonder if the tariff thing w/the EU is what\’s hampering my payment from Paris on the last project I completed a month ago. It\’s not like these people to keep me waiting, I\’ve been with them since 2012. I guess it\’s a very fluid situation. And I wouldn\’t try to GUESS who pays what if anything [image: 7HMluf.gif]

    ~V~

  5.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    BIG thumbs. … do you burn?

  6. AspensPlace Avatar
    AspensPlace

    Wondering, what type of wood do burn? 😎

  7.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    You’re living in the future….

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