{"id":14282,"date":"2018-11-12T23:56:27","date_gmt":"2018-11-12T23:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=14282"},"modified":"2018-11-12T23:56:27","modified_gmt":"2018-11-12T23:56:27","slug":"trumps-tariffs-dont-apply-to-american-flag-imports-from-china-but-they-should","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/trumps-tariffs-dont-apply-to-american-flag-imports-from-china-but-they-should\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump’s tariffs don’t apply to American flag imports from China \u2013 but they should"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jay L. Zagorsky<\/a>, Boston University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

On Veterans Day<\/a>, many Americans drape the Stars and Stripes around their neighborhoods, businesses promote U.S. flags alongside their holiday discounts, and officials display them in government buildings. <\/p>\n

The holiday started off<\/a> as a day to honor those who fought in the \u201cwar to end all wars\u201d and marked the armistice that ended hostilities on Nov. 11 exactly a century ago. And today Americans wave flags to commemorate all veterans and active-duty members<\/a> of the U.S. armed forces.<\/p>\n

Recently, while walking by a VFW Post<\/a> dutifully displaying a U.S. flag, I read a newspaper headline<\/a> about the president\u2019s latest round of tariffs on Chinese goods. The juxtaposition of seeing the flag and the headline made me wonder, how many of those star-spangled banners actually come from China? And if so, are they being hit with the tariffs too? <\/p>\n

You may be surprised at the answers \u2013 I certainly was. <\/p>\n

Made in China<\/h2>\n

Every shipment of imports brought into the U.S<\/a> includes a detailed invoice that shows the price, quantity and category of goods being imported, as well as any tariff that\u2019s been applied<\/a>. The national flag of the United States even gets its own code: 6307909825.<\/p>\n

The Harmonized Tariff Schedule<\/a> shows imported flags must pay a 7 percent tariff<\/a> unless the country of origin has signed a free trade agreement with the U.S.<\/p>\n

The invoices show that in 2017 the U.S. imported 10 million American flags. Of those, all but 50,000 came from China. <\/p>\n