I have a question about the mechanics of tariffs. Never mind the question of the IMPACT now. How does the actual payment work (see below)?

2019-05-20T13:40:50Z

Assume company XYZ is in Hong Kong and company ABC is in Long Beach, California. ABC agrees to pay money to XYZ for a shipment of widgets. The widgets are loaded onto container ships and sent across the Pacific. Is the US govt charging XYZ money? or ABC? Is it like a sales tax, where the buyer pays a bit extra before walking out of the store (or unloading the ship in this case)? Thanks.

random_man2019-05-20T13:49:46Z

It's basically like a sales tax, as you put it.

ABC company (the American importer), has to pay the tariff in the form of a payment to the US treasury, in order to get the goods released from customs.

Sometimes, an exporter (in this case XYZ company), will lower their price a bit, in order to offset some of the cost of the tariff in order to get the sale, but in all cases, the importer ultimately pays the tax.

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