Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods

theverge.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 390 posts

Re: White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods

#61

Post by tehbeard »

EpicEng wrote: post #52
anon23423532 wrote: post #48

It's punishment for stealing hundreds of billions of dollars of IP, illegally subsidizing businesses to steal market share, and general national security by not outsourcing knowledge and infrastructure critical to national security to save a few bucks. It's easy to let someone push you back inch by inch instead of fighting back, but eventually you're on the edge of a cliff and have nowhere else to go. I'd take short…

I don't know why you're being downvoted; China absolutely does all of those things. They are not playing fair in the global market and never have. One can debate whether or not the tariff is the right approach, but let's not pretend that China is a victim.

GP never said China was a victim, just that a tariff screws over US companies, not China.

Re: White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods

#62

Post by debt »

EpicEng wrote: post #52
anon23423532 wrote: post #48

It's punishment for stealing hundreds of billions of dollars of IP, illegally subsidizing businesses to steal market share, and general national security by not outsourcing knowledge and infrastructure critical to national security to save a few bucks. It's easy to let someone push you back inch by inch instead of fighting back, but eventually you're on the edge of a cliff and have nowhere else to go. I'd take short…

I don't know why you're being downvoted; China absolutely does all of those things. They are not playing fair in the global market and never have. One can debate whether or not the tariff is the right approach, but let's not pretend that China is a victim.

Not every single Chinese tech firm does these things. It's possible to develop a more nuanced view of China other than "China bad tariff good".

Why not investigate which firms committed which crimes and punish those specific firms? It's a smarter approach that helps our justice system and China's.

But "smarter" isn't part of this administrations playbook.

Re: White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods

#63

Post by craftyguy »

sdhgaiojfsa wrote: post #23
ceejayoz wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Canada appears to be considering it. http://thehill.com/policy/international/392281-canadian-fore...

FWIW this is exactly why Presidents are supposed to divest themselves of business interests. It is a very bad thing that foreign powers have the ability to apply leverage specifically to his private interests. He's suppose to act in the interests of Americans, but if he were to exempt Canada after they threaten to sanction the Trump organization, that would be the very definition of a conflict of interest.

Exactly. And this would be an excellent test just to see how much he has actually 'divested'.

Re: White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods

#64

Post by sharemywin »

nodesocket wrote: post #37
bmelton wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does that materially change whether or not it does or doesn't make it more expensive to build products in America that rely on Chinese components?

I can't speak specifically to these new items, but just to give an example, many auto experts came out and said the steel and aluminum tarrifs would raise car prices, but so small it's a rounding error. Typically under $100 or $200 per car. Point being, people jump to conclusions without seeing the impact on the total cost of goods. Meanwhile dismissing the point, putting more capital into the pockets of US based com…

Because china won't retaliate? Which won't cause us to retaliate? seeing a pattern?

Re: White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods

#65

Post by sremani »

uniacid wrote: post #29
nodesocket wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You realize that Democrats are supporting these tarrifs on China as well. China has already won the trade war by dumping steel and aluminum and stealing intellectual property for decades. This isn't even controversal.

Who said anything about Democrats? also last time I checked the majority of the US Government is controlled by Republicans.

I think he wanted to highlight the bi-partisan support for the action.

Re: White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods

#66

Post by stusmall »

I used to do a lot more embedded systems work. I've been 100% software lately and, looking at this list, I'm glad I started on that transition. I don't know what the exact BOM impact would have been on past projects, but it would have been rough.

I can't get over this Don Quixote-esque crusade. This just hurts American competitiveness.

Re: White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods

#67

Post by [deleted] »

WhiteDawn wrote: post #58
luma wrote: post #3

As a basement hacker selling goods on Tindie this tariff schedule covers nearly every tool, consumable, and component parts I use in everything I do. My cost of business just went up by 25% today across the board. The full schedule: https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/enforcement/301Investig... Example items of interest to people designing electronic goods in the US: ------------------------------------------------…

This is the true story here. How does putting tariffs on parts that hackers/innovators use to prototype new products help the American people? If you don't have enough funding, and a large enough customer base to get your electronics manufactured offshore, you get hurt by the tariffs. I feel like China may welcome this with open arms, bolster their own manufacturing by cutting out DIY'ers.

[deleted]

Re: White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods

#68

Post by kevin_b_er »

rsynnott wrote: post #27

> It includes a broad range of components used in electronics manufacturing, specifically naming touchscreens, batteries, and electric motors. General components like transistors are also named on the list as well as more specific components used in televisions, cameras, and radio receivers. [..] Notably, the list does not include cellphones or completed televisions. So, this will, er, serve to discourage companies f…

Made in USA electronics goods are now more expensive via tariffs because the equipment and the components are now more expensive. Brilliant.

Re: White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods

#69

Post by tacomonstrous »

cabaalis wrote: post #50
bmelton wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does that materially change whether or not it does or doesn't make it more expensive to build products in America that rely on Chinese components?

So let me ask you, do you think the people in charge do not know this? Do you buy into the media push that Trump is a petulant, reactive child who does not listen to advisers? Do you think our government is truly led by the whims of a single individual? Tariffs are a political tool. There is some objective here that is not being publicly outlined because it would defeat the purpose of the strategy. Example: Other cou…

>you buy into the media push that Trump is a petulant, reactive child who does not listen to advisers?

You don't have to buy anything. Just listen to the man himself and it's crystal clear.

Re: White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods

#70

Post by rsynnott »

craftyguy wrote: post #55
rsynnott wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Difficult to do legally; just because the US may be breaking WTO rules isn't license for everyone else to do it.

The WTO allows for countries that are being wronged by another country (which is breaking trade rules) to enact retribution. That is 100% legal.

My impression was that this would require the WTO to adjudicate that the other country is breaking the rules (which hasn't happened, yet), though I may be wrong.
Post reply on HN