Trump's New Tariffs Could Strain Collection of Customs Fees
The sweeping tariffs on Canadian, Mexican and Chinese products that President Trump imposed on Tuesday could strain the system that collects import duties and the government agencies that enforce those fees, trade and legal experts said.
Collecting import duties is usually a routine task, but the new tariffs are being imposed on Mexican and Canadian goods, many of which have been imported into the United States duty-free for many years. Adding to the challenge is the sheer volume of goods subject to the new tariffs — U.S. imports from China, Mexico and Canada totaled over $1.3 trillion last year, or about two-fifths of all imports.
The tariffs apply a 25 percent duty on goods from Mexico and Canada and an additional 10 percent on imports from China.
Importers typically employ customs brokers to calculate and pay tariffs to the government agency that collects them, U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Adam Lewis, a co-founder and the president of Clearit, a customs broker, said that it would not be hard to tweak software to collect the new tariffs, but that a crucial part of the tariffs payment system might need significant adjustments. Importers must buy a 'customs bond,' a type of insurance that guarantees the duties will be paid. Mr. Lewis said some customers might have to increase the size of their bonds to cover the extra tariff payments.
'Many of their products were coming in duty-free, and all of a sudden there's going to be a 25 percent increase,' he said. 'It's quite large.'
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump tariffs to remain in place pending appeal, court rules
A federal appeals court on Tuesday agreed to let many of President Trump's sweeping tariffs on United States trade partners remain in effect for now, extending a pause issued late last month after a separate court ruled the tariffs were illegal. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Trump administration's request for a longer pause after issuing a temporary stay of the lower court ruling last month. The court put the case on a fast track to be resolved by the end of this summer, noting that 'these cases present issues of exceptional importance warranting expedited en banc consideration of the merits in the first instance.' The decision comes after the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled on May 28 that Congress did not delegate 'unbounded' tariff authority to the president in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA), the linchpin of Trump's legal defense. Trump appealed the ruling and, hours later, the appeals court granted the temporary stay and agreed to hear arguments in the case on June 9, when the court said it would decide on a longer pause. 'Both sides have made substantial arguments on the merits. Having considered the traditional stay factors… the court concludes a stay is warranted under the circumstances,' the order read on Tuesday. Trump has sought to impose tariffs on almost all U.S. trading partners since taking office, creating whiplash in financial markets as he repeatedly delayed or adjusted the announcements. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Those who invested in Momentum Group (JSE:MTM) three years ago are up 188%
It might seem bad, but the worst that can happen when you buy a stock (without leverage) is that its share price goes to zero. But if you buy shares in a really great company, you can more than double your money. For example, the Momentum Group Limited (JSE:MTM) share price has soared 140% in the last three years. How nice for those who held the stock! On top of that, the share price is up 27% in about a quarter. But this could be related to the strong market, which is up 11% in the last three months. Let's take a look at the underlying fundamentals over the longer term, and see if they've been consistent with shareholders returns. Trump has pledged to "unleash" American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit. While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement. Momentum Group was able to grow its EPS at 181% per year over three years, sending the share price higher. This EPS growth is higher than the 34% average annual increase in the share price. So one could reasonably conclude that the market has cooled on the stock. This cautious sentiment is reflected in its (fairly low) P/E ratio of 9.66. The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image). It is of course excellent to see how Momentum Group has grown profits over the years, but the future is more important for shareholders. Take a more thorough look at Momentum Group's financial health with this free report on its balance sheet. When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. As it happens, Momentum Group's TSR for the last 3 years was 188%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return. It's nice to see that Momentum Group shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 77% over the last year. And that does include the dividend. That gain is better than the annual TSR over five years, which is 20%. Therefore it seems like sentiment around the company has been positive lately. Someone with an optimistic perspective could view the recent improvement in TSR as indicating that the business itself is getting better with time. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Momentum Group better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Momentum Group , and understanding them should be part of your investment process. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings. Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on South African exchanges. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Are Strong Financial Prospects The Force That Is Driving The Momentum In FirstGroup plc's LON:FGP) Stock?
FirstGroup (LON:FGP) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 24% over the last three months. Since the market usually pay for a company's long-term fundamentals, we decided to study the company's key performance indicators to see if they could be influencing the market. Particularly, we will be paying attention to FirstGroup's ROE today. Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders. Trump has pledged to "unleash" American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit. The formula for return on equity is: Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity So, based on the above formula, the ROE for FirstGroup is: 14% = UK£100m ÷ UK£701m (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025). The 'return' is the yearly profit. So, this means that for every £1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of £0.14. Check out our latest analysis for FirstGroup Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company's earnings growth potential. Assuming all else is equal, companies that have both a higher return on equity and higher profit retention are usually the ones that have a higher growth rate when compared to companies that don't have the same features. At first glance, FirstGroup seems to have a decent ROE. On comparing with the average industry ROE of 12% the company's ROE looks pretty remarkable. Probably as a result of this, FirstGroup was able to see an impressive net income growth of 86% over the last five years. We reckon that there could also be other factors at play here. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place. Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that FirstGroup's growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 31% in the same period, which is great to see. Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. It's important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. If you're wondering about FirstGroup's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry. FirstGroup's three-year median payout ratio is a pretty moderate 36%, meaning the company retains 64% of its income. By the looks of it, the dividend is well covered and FirstGroup is reinvesting its profits efficiently as evidenced by its exceptional growth which we discussed above. Besides, FirstGroup has been paying dividends over a period of three years. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company is expected to keep paying out approximately 33% of its profits over the next three years. Accordingly, forecasts suggest that FirstGroup's future ROE will be 14% which is again, similar to the current ROE. Overall, we are quite pleased with FirstGroup's performance. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business, and at a high rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. That being so, according to the latest industry analyst forecasts, the company's earnings are expected to shrink in the future. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page for the company. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
