Oklahoma City Tour Guide Hit With $103,000 Bill as 478% Duties Strand Her Two Chinese Electric Buses at the Port of Los Angeles
Two electric buses that Oklahoma City tour guide Sarah Horton bought from China are stranded at the Port of Los Angeles under an import bill of about $103,000. Horton founded the small tour company Explore OKC two years ago to show visitors around Oklahoma City, and bought the buses so that tourists with limited mobility could also join her tours. She had budgeted for a 35 percent import tariff, expecting duties of about $6,500. Instead she learned that antidumping and countervailing duties totaling 478 percent applied, bringing the bill to roughly $103,000. The buses are still sitting at the port while Horton raises funds or looks for ways to cut her losses, and port storage fees will soon accumulate at about $500 a day. Horton said she started Explore OKC out of love for her hometown and a wish to share Oklahoma City with visitors, and that the buses are now the key to offering accessible service for disabled tourists. She has launched an online fundraiser appealing for help to bring the buses home. The episode also illustrates the impact of today’s high tariffs on small-business importers.
Source: News 9 Oklahoma City
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 中国产比亚迪电动巴士资料图。（经 Wikimedia Commons）
