tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4538361619679101786.post958338096354806123..comments2021-01-30T06:51:48.529-08:00Comments on Huffman Bicycle Club: Tariffs -- all good, for now, but what can cyclists buying overseas do?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4538361619679101786.post-85259454509994145282018-08-13T12:27:23.880-07:002018-08-13T12:27:23.880-07:00I think you can do a lot if nobody spends the time...I think you can do a lot if nobody spends the time looking, kind of like my claiming a bike was a "racing wheelchair" for baggage fee purposes. The problem is that the customs officer is king unless you want to go to court for a ruling. Anything too cute would work until it didn't, I would guess.<br /><br />It is easy to see why the tariff engineering examples come from the auto industry, where the dollars at stake are well worth somebody hiring counsel to make a challenge. Unless the bike industry joined forces it seems unlikely here. (Though I have thought about buying your claim for overpayment of taxes on the Arkose and trying to get some of your tariff recouped, just to see how one does it.)Maxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07722786211652015559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4538361619679101786.post-87866620212320819782018-07-19T08:36:08.986-07:002018-07-19T08:36:08.986-07:00Interesting thoughts in this post. I find it odd t...Interesting thoughts in this post. I find it odd that "lightweight" bikes (where "light" means under ~35 pounds) get a 5.5% tariff while heavier bikes are 11%. This seems to target, specifically, delivery bikes for higher tariffs. Though no doubt a handful of DH mountain bikes could get caught up in that rate.<br /><br />I wonder if one could arbitrage tariffs across different products by selling "bundles". Sell a $2000 bicycle for $1000 as part of a bundle deal that comes with a $1000 tube (assuming tubes have a lower tariff).<br /><br />Of course there's no doubt verbiage that prevents shipping through one of the "free" countries listed in the second-to-right column.<br /><br />I suppose at the end of the day, 5.5% is low enough that few people will engage in the monkey business we see with delivery vans.samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16215727841155911987noreply@blogger.com