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Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?

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Re: Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?

#31

Post by scarface_74 »

KeithBrink wrote: post #20

Not any kind of expert, but from my research, Article 19.3 of the USMCA says that tariffs can't be imposed on digital products: 1. No Party shall impose customs duties, fees, or other charges on or in connection with the importation or exportation of digital products transmitted electronically, between a person of one Party and a person of another Party. The full chapter on digital trade: https://ustr.gov/sites/defau…

You act as if this administration is concerned with silly things like laws or that either the courts or Congress is going to stop him.

This isn’t hyperbole. Right now, Oracle and Akamai is illegally supporting TikTok even though a bipartisan law was passed and it was upheld by the conservative court because Trump said it was okay.

Re: Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?

#32

Post by scarface_74 »

bradac56 wrote: post #6
fuzzfactor wrote: post #2

>Will it be more difficult to sell software or SaaS across the border between Canada and the US? That's one intended outcome. OTOH, people in both countries may be financially hosed bad enough, that way more people will never be able to afford things other than bare necessities for the rest of their lives anyway.

O yes fearmongering always helps. Back under your bridge troll.

So exactly how is it a good thing to add costs to everything you buy?

Re: Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?

#33

Post by scarface_74 »

bradac56 wrote: post #5

[dead]

I thought conservatives thought that the drug problem was because people stopped going to church, lack of personal responsibility and “absentee fathers”?

Or is the causation different now because it is affecting “rural America” and not the “inner city”?

Re: Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?

#34

Post by hello_moto »

nathanaldensr wrote: post #16
kaaskop wrote: post #14

[flagged]

Tariffs are not extortion; they are lawful taxes on imported goods. Every country can levy tariffs on any other country; they aren't unique to the US. Your personal feelings about Donald Trump don't change these facts. The hyperbole on HN has been ridiculous lately. Get it together, folks. The US doesn't owe any other country cheap prices and the US also reserves the right to raise income in any lawful manner.

Tariff is a legal tool, I give you that.

Trump's tariff on the other hand doesn't have justification. He uses Drugs as an excuse to get his tariff unchallenged.

Trump also wants to use revenue Tariff to cover the tax revenue deficit for his proposed Tax Cut that only benefits the Rich people and he's selling Tariff as "tax on foreign countries" where in reality American consumers are the ones footing the bill, not the Corporate who pass the cost.

Go out and ask what Americans know about Tariff prior to this debacle and check how many articles, short videos were published to explain what or how Tariff works. It's pretty clear Americans don't understand how it works and Trump eloquently attempts to misled these folks.

Now having said that... Let's get to the details:

If you take out Oil from Canada-US trade agreement, both nations are on-par (yep, White House didn't tell you that)

You know how much Fentanyl goes across the border from Canada side? 19kg, you (yes you) can carry it in a military grade backpack probably. Fentanyl is US problems.

Trump is building a narrative to justify stealing US taxpayer money and shift it to the Billionaires.

Re: Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?

#35

Post by hello_moto »

bradac56 wrote: post #5

[dead]

Uh this isn't about Trudeau.

This is about Trump wanting to replace the deficit from him fleecing US tax revenue to be distributed to the billionaires as Tax Cut.

He needs to replenish some from another source: Tariff, which is a form of tax for stupid voters.

He already said it that there's nothing Canada can do during meeting between Officials.

Re: Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?

#36

Post by hello_moto »

theyknowitsxmas wrote: post #23
0172 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was never about the drugs or migrants. Trump himself said "nothing" Canada can do to prevent tariffs[1] [1]: https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/trumps-tariffs/article/nothing-...

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/impo...

lol, this is just "paper" justification just like the whole Military plane debacle with LatAm countries.

Eventually Colombia still reject Military plane deporting immigrants, just like how Mexico said "Fuck you" when Trump sent military plane (this didn't make a huge news in the US)

Re: Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?

#37

Post by hello_moto »

owenversteeg wrote: post #21
fuzzfactor wrote: post #2

>Will it be more difficult to sell software or SaaS across the border between Canada and the US? That's one intended outcome. OTOH, people in both countries may be financially hosed bad enough, that way more people will never be able to afford things other than bare necessities for the rest of their lives anyway.

Wow, the doom is off the charts here. Just to inject some sanity into this discussion, these tariffs would not even bring the US to the level of some higher-tariff countries such as the notoriously impoverished United Kingdom or South Korea. 2022 tariff revenue was about 100B and the current Trump tariffs as of today stand around 90B/year depending who you ask, so this takes us to, very roughly, a weighted mean of 2.…

Uh... Ya just like GDP going up is good for the nation ignoring GDP hides distribution and wealth inequality goes up unchecked.

Average sucks.

Re: Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?

#38

Post by hello_moto »

bradac56 wrote: post #6
fuzzfactor wrote: post #2

>Will it be more difficult to sell software or SaaS across the border between Canada and the US? That's one intended outcome. OTOH, people in both countries may be financially hosed bad enough, that way more people will never be able to afford things other than bare necessities for the rest of their lives anyway.

O yes fearmongering always helps. Back under your bridge troll.

Sudden tariff on stable trade agreement that has been tweaked to ensure both side won is not fear mongering.

Fear mongering is what Trump does to Americans: take out Oil, the thing that Americans have never ending hunger for because US infra and public transport suck ass, then the trade between US and Canada is on par.

Fear mongering is 19kg of fentanyl (or less than 1% of US fentanyl) moving from Canada to US while fentanyl by and large is US problem.

Re: Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?

#39

Post by owenversteeg »

rsynnott wrote: post #30
owenversteeg wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, the doom is off the charts here. Just to inject some sanity into this discussion, these tariffs would not even bring the US to the level of some higher-tariff countries such as the notoriously impoverished United Kingdom or South Korea. 2022 tariff revenue was about 100B and the current Trump tariffs as of today stand around 90B/year depending who you ask, so this takes us to, very roughly, a weighted mean of 2.…

… I mean, that’s really hardly the point. “Hey, car industry, it’s totally fine _in aggregate_, so you really shouldn’t be complaining about collapsing”. High tariff countries have economies configured around those tariffs. You can’t do that overnight (as the UK is discovering post-Brexit).

Are you aware that the US did this before (weighted mean tariffs >doubled in Trump’s first term) and it worked well enough that the Biden administration kept the tariffs and even increased some?

Also, comparing this to Brexit is absurd. Even putting aside the minor difference between Brexit and tariff changes, let’s compare a small island completely dependent on its neighbors to the US. They could not be more different! UK exports/imports as a percentage of GDP are double to triple the US.

Re: Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?

#40

Post by owenversteeg »

qwytw wrote: post #24
owenversteeg wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, the doom is off the charts here. Just to inject some sanity into this discussion, these tariffs would not even bring the US to the level of some higher-tariff countries such as the notoriously impoverished United Kingdom or South Korea. 2022 tariff revenue was about 100B and the current Trump tariffs as of today stand around 90B/year depending who you ask, so this takes us to, very roughly, a weighted mean of 2.…

> Trump tariffs as of today stand around 90B/year Of course total revenue will decrease. Possibly very significantly so only a fraction of that estimated will be collected. > a weighted mean of 2.8%. Can you explain where are you getting that? I'm not saying it's false but ~45% of all use imports come from China, Canada and Mexico. If they are all taxes at 10%/25% the mean would be significantly above 2.8%?

Are you aware that the US did this before (weighted mean tariffs >doubled in Trump’s first term) and it worked well enough that the Biden administration kept the tariffs and even increased some?

You may want to take a look at a graph of US imports by year or tariff revenue by year to see your “very significant” decrease in revenue (hint: it kept going up…) I don’t claim that it is entirely independent of tariff rates forever, but it is certainly nowhere near as dependent as people imagine.

>Can you explain where are you getting that?

Sure, there are various organizations that study US tax policy and they generally publish estimates of revenue generated by a proposed tariff. I took a look at a few and found estimates around 90-100B first year. The reason that it’s not simple to calculate these tariffs is because tariff law is complex and real world behavior shifts. With the last Trump tariffs there was a huge shift out of China for several industries. Companies also lie about the value of things: https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/did-...

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