What about contracting? Hourly rates? Employment?
Genuine question!
Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?
41–50 of 52 posts
Re: Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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…
> Are you aware that the US did this before
No because it wasn't even remotely the same. In 2022 the average tariff on Chinese imports was 2.86%, 0.01% on Mexican goods and 0.12% on Canadian goods.
Besides that the first term tariffs were targeted and not applied universally to all imports. That "great/fantastic deal"(USMCA) that Trump "negotiated" back in his first term kept most trade with Mexico and Canada more or less tariff free.
TBH it's hard to tell if you're being purposefully obtuse or not...
> The reason that it’s not simple to calculate
Yes and while I very well might be wrong I just don't see how is the 2.8% figure arithmetically possible.
e.g. https://www.fitchratings.com/research/structured-finance/eff...
had different calculations (of course it assumes 60% on China and 10% on all other countries besides Mexico/Canada so it would be well below 21% but not 2.8% either).
Re: Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?
#43Probably but with how weak the Canadian dollar is you can probably just eat the cost (assuming you're Canadian selling to the US).
Re: Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?
#44Not 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…
USMCA is defacto null and void.
Re: Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?
#45Probably but with how weak the Canadian dollar is you can probably just eat the cost (assuming you're Canadian selling to the US).
This is not how tariffs work - the US company is responsible for the tariff, not the Canadian company.
Re: Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?
#46Probably but with how weak the Canadian dollar is you can probably just eat the cost (assuming you're Canadian selling to the US).
This is not how tariffs work - the US company is responsible for the tariff, not the Canadian company.
Well usually it's levied at the border for physical goods so the importing company (usually not the end consumer for consumer goods) eats the cost (or prices it in/passes it to the consumer).
You're right though, with digital goods it's ambiguous. If the company has a US entity is that the importer? That's the scenario that popped into my (somewhat tired) head. Probably because Canada has been trying to impose taxes on US tech companies with a similar argument.
If you buy a good online in a separate country, where is the transaction made?
Re: Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?
#47What about contracting? Hourly rates? Employment?
Services are much less likely to be impacted
Re: Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 th…
> American consumers are the ones footing the bill, not the Corporate who pass the cost
I see this a lot. Obviously, the idea is to create market space for local companies to compete in with a clear advantage.
I think India before 1990s used to have nearly 200% tariffs (I am not entirely sure on the numbers, but it was absurdly high). This did not fare well for India because quality products made in countries like US and Japan were incredibly expensive. Some companies got around this by forming alliances with local companies leading to companies like (Maruti-Suzuki, Hero-Honda, Mahindra-Ford, etc.)
But US seems to me in a position where they can impose tariffs on some competing countries and reasonably expect their local market to occupy the space created
Re: Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?
#49[dead]
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-...
Funny now that Mexico and Canada has come to the table the "end of the world" tariff's has been given a 30 day extension while they negotiate a better border agreement. This has always been about Canada and Mexico getting the better end of the deal Bill Clinton gave them, why would they negotiate until there forced to?
China is a different story I suspect the 35% tariff (25% Biden, 10% Trump) will stick.
Re: Ask HN: Do the tarrifs impact software/SaaS? If so, how?
#50[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”?
Nothing quite like good old Liberal racism to make yourself feel better huh?