That's at least a highly misleading way to put it. The american company doesn't charge VAT simply because the EU states cannot enforce it in the US. Instead, th

That's at least a highly misleading way to put it. The american company doesn't charge VAT simply because the EU states cannot enforce it in the US. Instead, the tax liability is shifted to the importer inside the EU. So, it's not like you don't have to pay VAT on imported goods from US companies, it's just very inconvenient for the buyer. If a US company wants to make things easy for their customers, they can instead choose to do what any company trading within the EU has to do: They can pay the taxes to the member states that they are exporting to. The same will apply to the UK once they are out.