Transfer Pricing and Tariff

U.S. transfer pricing rules require U.S. taxpayers to report arm's length results on their U.S. federal income tax returns. The reported results of transactions with related parties must be consistent with the results that would have been realized by uncontrolled taxpayers in similar circumstances. In practice, U.S. taxpayers commonly demonstrate compliance with this requirement by showing that their profitability on transactions with related parties is consistent with the profitability of comparable companies engaging in comparable transactions. For example, a U.S. distributor of imported goods might benchmark its operating margin for a tax year against the operating margins of independent distributors, with such information being obtained from public financial disclosures.

https://www.millerchevalier.com/publication/tariff-increases-create-transfer-pricing-challenges-us-importers

Transfer Pricing 就是美國公司（US taxpayer）和一個子公司（related party）虛構一個arm's length transaction。規定是隻要母公司和海外子公司的交易對比母公司與其他公司交易，隻要profitability類似就可以。

那麽太好搞了，大家都從中國進口，買給美國公司們都是一個價，也就是說，大家都避稅，那麽避稅做法就是基準線。

挑戰是什麽？

The introduction of unanticipated costs into a supply chain can have significant implications for transfer pricing purposes. An immediate issue is determining which affiliate – the U.S. distributor, a foreign manufacturer, a foreign principal company, or some combination – should bear the cost to the extent it is not passed on to customers. Under the arm's length standard, that depends on, among other things, the allocation of risk among the parties, as evidenced from intercompany agreements and course of conduct, and relative bargaining position. Another issue is how to implement changes to transfer prices to ensure arm's length results. 

在關稅下麵，到底是美國公司，海外工廠，還是海外子公司負擔關稅問題，如何分配關稅負擔而符合arm's length transaction，是一個稅務挑戰。

但是，不要擔心，總會有辦法的。