101–110 of 193 posts
In my trade economics textbook years ago it was stated that the cleared customs cost of an imported good is no more than 30% of its final consumer price, and more typically 10%. The rest is inland logistics, retail costs, and marketing. Further to that, 80% of the economy is services or otherwise has nothing to do with imports. Tariffs are not affecting haircuts or yoga classes or bank fees. Seems to me like tariffs…
Crazy that one of the major policy initiatives of the all Republican/Maga government is to impose a huge consumer tax increase. Maybe calling these "import taxes" instead of "tarrifs" would help emphasize that to the average voter?
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Haven't a ton of the tariffs been delayed? To what extent have they actually been in effect?
Everyone focusing on consumer prices. But tariffs also function to incentivize domestic reindustrialization, which has huge national security implications. You see this clearly in the venture space as increased investment interest in hardtech and manufacturing. It's great that the federal government is looking long term again.
No one is risking multi-year commitments of millions or billions of dollars to build a factory in America when the tariffs change week to week. If you want to incentive domestic reindustrialization, you do it with things like the Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS act or the "Green New Deal" where congress lays out clear sets of rules in law with a mixture of tax incentives, loan programs and spending to give investors a…
Apple: $500M over four years including a facility in Houston opening next year
Chobani: $1.7B for new facilities in Idaho and NY
J&J: $55B over four years into new facilities, a 25% increase over previous
Honda: moving 100% of Civic hybrid hatchback production to the US
Hyundai: $25B over three years
IBM: $150B over five years
Merck: $1B for a new plant in Delaware
Nvidia: For this first time in history will be manufacturing chips in the US
Roche: $50B
TSMC: $165B
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-manufacturing-domestic-tarif...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Tariff rates have changed how many times in the past six months? Businesses need certainty if they are going to make long term investments.
have you followed the news? it's been reported that after the period of changing tariffs, agreements have been reached for more US manufacturing, said agreements providing the certainty you are seeking.
The rest of the world now knows that any promise made by the US government is not worth the paper it's signed on, and is planning accordingly.
A reminder, most tariffs will not be paid because consumers will just shift their spending habits to match or just buy less. Tariffs are a double edged sword because the hurt purchasing power of consumers without really generating much money for the government. The administration is going to focus on the fact that tariffs don't really drive inflation, but are going to miss the forest for the trees: prices won't go up…
it's been reported that tariff collections have soared to the point that the budgeted spending is no longer in the red. this article is written in a confusing way, but your statement "not generating much money for the govt" appears to be incorrect
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/11/treasury-posts-unexpected-su...
Everyone focusing on consumer prices. But tariffs also function to incentivize domestic reindustrialization, which has huge national security implications. You see this clearly in the venture space as increased investment interest in hardtech and manufacturing. It's great that the federal government is looking long term again.
No one is risking multi-year commitments of millions or billions of dollars to build a factory in America when the tariffs change week to week. If you want to incentive domestic reindustrialization, you do it with things like the Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS act or the "Green New Deal" where congress lays out clear sets of rules in law with a mixture of tax incentives, loan programs and spending to give investors a…
In my trade economics textbook years ago it was stated that the cleared customs cost of an imported good is no more than 30% of its final consumer price, and more typically 10%. The rest is inland logistics, retail costs, and marketing. Further to that, 80% of the economy is services or otherwise has nothing to do with imports. Tariffs are not affecting haircuts or yoga classes or bank fees. Seems to me like tariffs…
Right, but if you double the cleared customs cost with a 100% tariff, many of those additional costs are levied as a constant margin, which tends toward doubling the retail price. You might argue that the retail channel can eat the difference, but it doesn't make sense to make the same absolute margin on goods that are subject to volatile tariff policies. It makes it hard to predict how many units will sell, how much…
lay people have a broken view of what goes into a price and a profit, thinking that a "fair" profit should be some "reasonable" percentage. It's just not how it works, it works on multiplied rates. the financial markets exist to give large companies working capital. if the companies need double the working capital, the shareholders/bankers want double the returns. the alternative would be you getting a letter saying "hey, the returns on your retirement account are going to be halved, think of it like your retirement account is now half the size"
Earlier quoted context omitted.
have you followed the news? it's been reported that after the period of changing tariffs, agreements have been reached for more US manufacturing, said agreements providing the certainty you are seeking.
If you believe that any agreements with Trump provide certainty, I have a bridge to sell. The rest of the world now knows that any promise made by the US government is not worth the paper it's signed on, and is planning accordingly.
Crazy that one of the major policy initiatives of the all Republican/Maga government is to impose a huge consumer tax increase. Maybe calling these "import taxes" instead of "tarrifs" would help emphasize that to the average voter?
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And if those hints become reality, might prices rise to re-increase margins?
Do you make the same argument about the corporate income tax being absorbed by companies? Or do you assume that tax makes its way to consumers through price increases? What about increases in the minimum wage?