[Muromec]

The idea behind vat is to spread the sales tax across the chain, which means the government gets the money even if the end product didnt reach the customer.

Naturally the chain breaks at the border, so importers pay vat and exporters get vat refunds.

In the end its just a sales tax

[bardak]

The main purpose of VAT is to not fully apply a consumption tax multiple times through manufacturing and distraction

[surfmike]

Exactly, and for American producers, sales tax does get applied multiple times and can’t be deducted from VAT

[alexanderchr]

Not true, see for example

https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/94-124.php