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To determine the level of tariff imposed on any given country, go to your search engine and type, "what is the us tariff rate for___?" Where ___ is the country you want to know about.

For the UK, it is 10% for the purposes of models we are talking about here. (Steel, and other items have a different rate.)

For the EU, it is 15%

For the Philippines, it is 19%

For Australia, it is 10% for the purposes of models. Other products might have different rates.

For China, it is "all over the place," However there is an agreement in effect until November 10th of this year which keeps it at 30% while both countries continue to negotiate, and to allow the US to buy for the holiday season. Knowing that November 10, 2025 is the deadline, many are moving to get their holiday shopping done now, and suppliers are moving to stock up. After November 10, if the two countries can not reach agreement, the rate could be as high as 145%.

For India, it is 50%.

For Vietnam, it is 20%, with a 40% rate on transshipped goods.

For Mexico, I am too lazy to type all this. Here's the AI response: "The US-Mexico tariff rate is a mix of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) (which generally maintains 0% tariffs) and other tariffs, most notably a 25% tariff on general imports not covered by USMCA, which remains in effect. Additionally, some goods face higher, specific tariffs, such as 50% on steel, aluminum, and copper, and 25% on cars and related parts."

For Canada, it is 35%.

So, the rates themselves are a matter of using a search engine for whatever country you are interested in.

So, the duty rate (used in a transaction) will either match the percentages as illustrated above, OR will be a specific duty as noted by this article.

For example, the flat rate (specific duty) used for the UK and EU would be $80, since their percentages are 15% or less. The Philippines flat rate is $160, since their percentage is between 16 and 25%. The flat rate for China is $200, since their percentage is above 25%.

The flat rates (specific duties) are for postal system use only. Common carriers, and all others are using the actual percentage rate to charge. They are set up to know and apply these percentages. Most postal services do not have tables of all these rates, so to "make it simple" for postal clerks, these specific duties are available for six months only. After six months from now, postal services will be expected to apply the actual percentage rate.

It is the choice of the foreign postal service themselves which method they will use.

So, I am in a post office in an EU country, wanting to mail an EU made item to the US. My clerk tells me the tariff charge is $80. That nation is using the flat rate (specific duty.) I am in another EU country, looking to mail an EU made item to the US. My clerk tells me the tariff charge is 15% of the item cost. That nation has chosen to use the actual percentage rate. I am in a post office in India, wanting to mail a product made in India to the US. I am told either that the tariff will be $200, or 50% of the item value, depending on which method the postal service of India chooses to apply. And it is the nation's postal service which chooses/decides how to do this.

The last paragraph is why many nations are no longer shipping to the US. They have not agreed to accepting the onus on senders to pay import duties before the shipment leaves for the U.S. To be able to accept it, the sender must know how much to collect for payment, which is all of what my above is about...how to figure that out. Which is a reasonable position, in my view. I would note that the EU will be expecting the sender to accept this same onus in 2028 or before, when their own de minimis goes away. However, they will have provided better access to their electronic customs system, known as IOSS. Still, the burden of getting connected to IOSS falls to senders, and anyone who won't connect to it will probably face more difficulty and higher amounts when trying to send to the EU.

I hope this helps to clarify some of the prevailing confusion.