Tariffs have suddenly become a massively disruptive feature of the U.S. economic landscape, upending supply chains and threatening consumers with a new wave of inflation. But even as tariffs have come to dominate headlines, most people would struggle to explain how exactly they work in practice. How exactly do U.S. businesses keep track of them? How do firms know how much they owe? The answer is that the process is not easy and requires companies to know their way around an 18-pound book with thousands of rules—while also posting bonds upwards of $50,000 and using special software.
To get an idea of how collecting tariffs works in practice, Fortune spoke with customs brokers and legal experts to learn just what happens after the White House announces a new tariff. Here is a basic overview of the process.
