[pmcollins]

Same in tiny Uruguay, but it's even more preposterous to say that they're trying to protect or incentivize a local consumer electronics manufacturing industry.

As a thought experiment, you could take the concept of tariffs and apply it to an ever decreasing geographic area. Maybe my city should try to protect its jobs and industry and therefore levy a 100% tariff on goods made in other cities. Same for my neighborhood or city block.

Ultimately, it's also a tragically regressive tax. Wealthy families that regularly travel to Miami or New York don't suffer much from it -- they just buy their electronics there. They may even make some money by bringing some home and selling the goods for much more than they paid.

If you're poor and you need to buy a laptop or phone on your meager salary, you're screwed.

[cblum]

That’s surprising.

I grew up in Brazil near the border with Uruguay, and we’d always cross the border to buy our electronics at the duty free stores. It was massively cheaper than buying them in Brazil.

Are duty free stores only present in border areas?