[Vocabulary] be subject to

[halbert]

In several times I have come across this kind of expression.

I asked some freight forwarder to quote their price. Then they wrote me:

US$ 2000 (subject to XXX fee US$ 200)

My dictionary gives a similar example [Violators are subject to a $100 fine.= must pay amount of money]
However, how should I calsulate the price? 200 dollars are included in the 2000 amount, or I pay $2000, and then another $200???

 

[MikeNewYork]

I don't know what "subject to" means in that phrase. What does XXX mean?

 

[halbert]

xxx means some kind of fee

 

[MikeNewYork]

But what kind of fee?

 

[Barb_D]

I would assume there is another fee imposed by some other agency that also must be paid and that is in addition to the base price quoted.

 

[halbert]

I would assume there is another fee imposed by some other agency that also must be paid and that is in addition to the base price quoted.

A further question. I change the original sentence to:
US$ 2000 (not subject to XXX fee US$ 200)
Then how would you understand it? Does this mean, there will not be another fee by some other agency, or, the fee exists and is already included in the base price?
Thanks a lot!

 

[Barb_D]

It's a very strange thing to say. It would tell me that the item is not subject to the fee. If it's not subject to the fee, then the dollar amount of that fee is irrelevant to the price.

If it's not "subject to the fee" the fee does not apply. It's certainly not included in the price.

 

[halbert]

It's a very strange thing to say. It would tell me that the item is not subject to the fee. If it's not subject to the fee, then the dollar amount of that fee is irrelevant to the price.

If it's not "subject to the fee" the fee does not apply. It's certainly not included in the price.

The following words are written in an contract between shipping company and shipper.

The above contract rates are NOT subject to the following charges,
- Currency Adjustment Factor
- Destination Delivery Charge
- Chassis Charge.
- Inland Fuel Charge
- Alameda Corridor Charge
- Origin Terminal Handling Charge (OTHC)
- Shanghai Port Surcharge
- Documentation Fee
- Cargo Declaration Data Charge

Then, are those charges already in the contract, or say, there will be no such charges at all?

 

[emsr2d2]

I find that ambiguous. I would initially take it to mean "This particular contract will not/does not attract any of these fees" (the fees are not applicable in this case) but it could also mean "We have not yet included those fees in our figure. They will be calculated separately".

 

[Roman55]

The above contract rates are NOT subject to the following charges,

I am not a teacher.

I don't find this intrinsically ambiguous myself.

They are not subject to means they are not subject to. They haven't yet been subjected to is another matter.

If I had learnt from previous experience with this, or another, non-native shipping company that words were not always used as I understand them, then I might suspect another meaning.