That is a very interesting argument that I had not heard made before. Has anyone had any success with it?
I’ve seen it before, and no, nobody has successfully used it, because it is not a valid argument.
Use Tax is not a tariff; it is the sales tax for when the tax isn’t collected by the business selling the item, so it’s the same tax a person owes whether they buy from inside or outside the state. That clearly is not a tariff, which would be a tax applied only to items purchased out-of-state.
Note that in many cases, sales tax is collected on out-of-state purchases; it’s only when you buy from companies with no business in your state that the business doesn’t collect the sales tax, and therefore you have to calculated it and pay it on your own.
I believe every state with sales tax includes sales tax on untaxed purchases, either on income tax forms, or separate forms that must be filed. Some annually, some quarterly, some monthly.
As more people buy from Amazon, states are realising how unfair it is to let so many people cheat on their taxes —it increases the tax burden on law-abiding citizens. So they are stepping up finally and cracking down on the tax cheats living off the hard work of their neighbors.