If I have pancakes at Waffle House, I don’t charge them a retaliatory tariff against them because they didn’t buy an equal amount of oil & gas technical consulting services from me… just sayin’ 
It means the other country can decide whether they want to pay the transaction fee to access US markets or go someplace else. Same as I decide if I want to be an Amazon Prime customer.
And what method or vehicle would you suggest the US govt use to charge those fees?
I suggest to you that there is significant difference between paying a fee to qualify for buying goods and paying a fee to effect a transaction in which you are the seller of those goods.
The first is a capitalistic principal the latter is a socialist’s tool to control beneficial aspects of a market transaction.
There are lots of seller fees in the US: credit card transactions, state taxes, real estate commissions, consignment stores, etc. It’s the norm. I think of it only as COGS.
I guess you are right that these are all socialist aspects of what I would still consider a free market. The “free” part would be buyers/sellers who can go someplace else if the deal is not good.
All of the fees you mention are charged to the seller as a result of a sales transaction and are driven by the transaction itself. They are not imposed on the seller as a fee to access a market opportunity, but instead are based on value received by the seller when a transaction takes place.
Sales taxes are typically collected by the seller but they are paid by the buyer and not until a sales transaction has taken place.
Reasonable taxing of sales in a capitalist system is not socialism, without rules a capitalist economy would destroy itself and the surrounding social order or turn into an authoritarian kleptocracy, oligarchy or socialist form of government. The sales taxes collected in our country go toward preventing that from happening.
So a poorer country that grows our coffee or bananas has to pay us to sell their coffee and bananas to us?
I don’t think the purchaser cares about the slight philosophical differences. They don’t care if it’s a tariff or a sales tax, or if the money is passed along to some government or credit card processor. They are looking at the end price and will adjust accordingly.
Yes. Why is that so objectionable, yet other taxes and fees are ok?
For example, is it wrong if the poor country’s government itself imposes a tax every time they sell to the US? How is that any different?
In the end, these are all simply costs, and the market will determine what percentage of these can be passed on to the buyer. Perhaps the buyer pays all of them. Perhaps the market cannot support that, and the seller has to pay some of them (eating into their margin). Perhaps they add up to such an increase in cost that it’s not possible/profitable for the seller to continue in the market because some other seller is able to offer the same good at a decreased price.
When the consumer sees a huge jump in prices in essential goods the first question they ask is “WHY?”
As they discover the reason behind that increase is a herky-jerky, on-again-off-again implementation of new US tariff policy, believe me, they will care.
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Yes, if prices/inflation go up, the current administration will be voted out just like the last one was after 4 years of massive inflation destroyed everyone’s paychecks.
So far, that hasn’t happened. Prices/inflation are down.
Interesting thought -
‘It’s really simple’: Billionaire Mark Cuban explains ‘why inflation isn’t up’
IOW… it’s time bomb set to blow up in 3-9 months. THAT ain’t good news! 
So we were going to see it in April, then May, then June…and now 3-9 more months. Got it…
My first question when I see a huge price jump is not “why” but rather, “What is cheaper?”.
I buy based upon unit pricing.
Years ago on the mainland, Marie Collanders frozen dinners were 24 cents per ounce. Here now they were 35 cents per ounce, but by watching that price change I saw that (for whatever reason) the stores unit price jumped up higher.
It could be a supply chain issue, it could be increased and decreased shipping prices, it could be that the retailer decided to change the price every couple of weeks.
SIDENOTE: Barcodes on items were added to products for two reasons. They allowed easy inventory taking AND allowed the store to change the price at will. Rather than send a guy to the shelf to use his little label machine to put a new sticker on every can on the shelf, the manager changes the price in the computer and the clerk just changes the shelf edge price label.
So to me it does not matter why the price changed, I just adjust my buying to some price I am willing to pay.
A problem with my shopping is I first look at the unit price (price per ounce, etc) then decide if I would eat that product. Also, many stores are not consistant with unit pricing. Similar products may have a price per ounce while other in the same category might be a price per pound.
Places like Walmat may sell the same product (with a slightly different UPC) code in two section of the store where the price for the identical product differs. A generic product for migraine headaches may also have the exact same ingredients, exact form [capsule] and exact same label but call it headache medicine with a different barcode and price. I know to check ingredients too.
More like we HAVE seen the initial effects of the herky-jerky, on-again-off-again implementation of new US tariff policy…here’s the result so far:
So the answer is YES… the rest is yet to come, gird your loins my friend. 
So you are pivoting to the stock market now away from inflation. Good idea. If the market goes down irrationally again then I will be buying more, just like I did in April. You don’t get too many opportunities to make easy money like that…
I think we’ll see the worst of both… stagflation.
It’ll consist of a lethargic economy, high unemployment and high inflation. The catalyst setting it in motion is a the series of shocks coming that are pretty much a sure thing.
Stagflation Warning Signs
- Supply disruptions: Major interruptions to supply chains, whether from geopolitical conflicts, rising tariffs, or natural disasters, often precede stagflation.
- Rising input costs: When businesses face steadily increasing costs for essential inputs like energy, materials, or labor that outpace productivity growth, stagflationary pressures build.
- Declining productivity: Falling output per worker could signal structural economic problems that can contribute to stagflation. This is especially a problem when it occurs alongside rising wages.
- Policy uncertainty: Erratic or unpredictable economic policies make it far more difficult for businesses to plan hiring and other investments.
- Rising long-term inflation expectations: When businesses and consumers begin anticipating persistent inflation—these become “de-anchored”—they may change behavior in ways that make further rises in inflation self-fulfilling.9
- Slowing growth with persistent inflation: The most obvious sign is when gross domestic product growth wane
You don’t need to explain Stagflation to me by copying and pasting your AI query results. I am well beyond Economics 102…
I will bookmark this post to revisit in the future. I would love another opportunity to pick up equities or real estate at big discounts…
The cut-and-paste section of my post is not from “AI query results.” It is from Investopedia.com, fact-checked and reviewed before publishing. That fact should be glaringly obvious to anyone taking the time to read it. (hint… that’s why it shows up in a blue typeface)
I find the AI-generated responses from my online queries interesting and possibly useful in providing information for further inquiry, but I don’t take them seriously and do not and have not used them in this or any other forum as my own writing.