It is my understanding that, in the US, companies are required to collect taxes for any sales in states in which they have a business presence. If a company has their headquarters in Oregon and a branch office in Texas and you order something in Texas, then they collect your state/local Texas sales tax at time of purchase.

If the company has no business presence in your state, then the law is kind of vague. Dell tells all their customers that they are supposed to self-report their purchases for tax purposes. The sale is considered to have taken place where the customer is by the states, not where the company is. Some insist that it is interstate commerce, however, and thus insist that federal government should regulate it, not the states.

It would be the same in the U.S. as the EU, though, if a national sales tax ever gets passed. It gets proposed every few years and, thankfully, killed. I saw something a few weeks ago about it being proposed again, for a temporary time period. I suspect if it was passed, it might stick around longer though, much like there is a $1 tax per month on U.S. phone bills to pay for the Spanish American war of the 19th century.

Back on topic: I had no idea European tarriffs were so high. It seems silly that an item from a UK company, manufactured (?) in the UK would require tarriff fees.

-Biscuits