If we assume that this sort of thing is of short-term detriment and long-term benefit, isn't now the best possible time for it? Admitted unemployment is lower than it has been in a long time and admitted inflation is still quite low. Complaining about protectionism now and calling for it when the economy is in the crapper would be reminiscent of the Arkansas Traveler ... Of course we don't have to make those two assu…
White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods
271–280 of 390 posts
Re: White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods
#272So, to encourage manufacturers in the US to build more stuff in the US, they will increase tariffs on components so that it will cost even more to build something in the US than to build it in China. Good plan, hello Canada!
I am in the middle of starting a business around a product that will get slammed by this. I was going to import the components and have the boards built here.("Made in the USA" labels are huge for my target market.) Assuming I am parsing all of this correctly it will end up being better for me to have the PCBs assembled into the products in China and not create jobs in the USA.
Re: White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods
#273> 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…
Any coincidence that Foxconn is building a large display factory in Wisconsin?
Re: White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods
#274Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just wondering, but what does a "firm but gentle push" look like that brings "back" local jobs? "Bringing back local jobs" is the entirely wrong way to solve the issues facing those that are losing jobs in declining domestic industries. It's just the easiest for a (probably) blue-collar worker to engage with and the easiest for a politician to sell, even if it's pure fantasy.
> "Bringing back local jobs" is the entirely wrong way if so, what is the right way?
But a coal miner learning a new skill/new skills is a lot harder for him than just getting his old coal mining job back... Unfortunately one of those (well maybe both of them) isn't going to happen.
This is just as true for steel manufacturing.
Re: White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods
#275Here is the list https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/enforcement/301Investig... Tractors, fork lifts, agricultural equipment Lathes Milling Machines LED's Lithium batteries Touch screen Not a lot of electrical "tech" goods besides these three above, maybe PCB and GPS equipment. About the tractors, milling machines, and lathe. I like this, because the new products that are available ... are chinese crap. But they are…
Did you not read the list, or are you unfamiliar with electronic components? Every single component commonly found in consumer electronics is covered in that document. That includes the individual components (passives, actives, everything), the circuit boards, the wires, the power supplies, the connectors, displays, switches, fuses, sensors... everything.
Re: White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods
#276Earlier quoted context omitted.
Remember, that's the approval rating of Congress as a whole, including members who are of the opposite party. Individual Congresspersons enjoy a much higher and more reasonable approval rating, especially among their constituents.
Well, yeah. Bernie Sanders has a very high rating but even at 70 percent his high rating hardly budges the rest of Congress. The problem is they just don't work together. I wouldn't be heart broken if we decided to just break into smaller City states that came up with laws on their own so there were more options. Progressive states could have legalized weed and universal health. Red States could have no public safety…
They don't average the approval rating of each individual Congressperson. They literally ask, "Do you approve of the job Congress is doing as a whole, yes or no?" (at least that's what they did when I was asked to take one of those opinion polls).
"I wouldn't be heart broken if we decided to just break into smaller City states that came up with laws on their own so there were more options. "
I mean, we kinda have that with States. The issue is, there are many things that transcend geographical borders. While moving between states isn't as onerous as moving countries, it isn't the easiest thing in the world to do, especially if you don't have a job lined up or money.
Re: White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods
#277I guess my earlier comment was too long, so let me provide a shorter version: this action actively harms anyone attempting to design, prototype, and manufacture electronic devices in the US. There isn't a single component in the projects I'm currently working on which isn't impacted by this. My cost of goods just went up by 25% across the board today in an effort to help "protect" American businesses. I don't feel li…
Your comment proves too much. It would equally apply in the scenario where the foreign country is dumping goods to destroy local competition (i.e. the "Walmart destroys local stores" story writ large). And yet, in that scenario most people would be in favor of tariffs. More generally, as I understand it, the reason economic orthodoxy is against tariffs is because of "comparative advantage", and the idea that differen…
Tariffs might help a very few people, those working in a factory that makes these 'higher human overhead' objects. But everyone else will (1) first pay more for the object that's probably still not made in the us but not imported at higher cost. Things built by using that now higher priced widget will cost 25% more because of the tariff. so they have to lose most/all profit and/or increase their price, kicking it up the food chain.
So it's a net negative to have tariffs on things that can be made by basic hourly workers. There must be some people helped, like say a steel producer who makes things that was competing with China. But like coal workers, there aren't that many. Remember there are more Arby's workers than coal miners.
Re: White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods
#278Re: White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods
#279Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is actually quite self-explanatory: if an action that is intended to protect one party (US electronics manufacturers) at the expense of another party ends up instead harming the former, then by definition said action is good for no one.
It’s actually good for every country not affected by it.
Re: White House announces 25 percent tariff on Chinese tech goods
#280Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, more likely the companies making them will just move production elsewhere or go out of business. Components are big part of the cost of your average consumer device, and margins mostly aren't high.
It depends a lot on exactly what kind of production facilities we’re talking about moving. Simple plastic injection mold shops? Sure, maybe. Multi-billion dollar chip fab plants? Not so much.
Of course we could just move the people here too, but our current immigration policy doesn't seem too fond of that approach either.