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Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything

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Re: Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything

#291

Post by toasterlovin »

IAmGraydon wrote: post #273
toasterlovin wrote: post #229

FWIW, we’ve been affected by the tariffs (10% for now; we import mainly from Vietnam and Thailand at this point). Did our second price increase a few weeks ago. We’ll probably test out how much the market will bear because operating in this market really demands a risk premium. So far it’s not as crazy as the pandemic supply chain crisis, but it’s close. The most insane ending to all of this that I can imagine is tha…

>FWIW, we’ve been affected by the tariffs (10% for now; we import mainly from Vietnam and Thailand at this point). The import tariff from Vietnam is 20% and Thailand is 19%.

The 20% tariff from Vietnam has been announced by Trump, but unless I’ve missed something in the past week or so, it’s not official. There was a news piece I read a few days after he announced the 20% number that said the Vietnamese side had actually agreed to 11% and were surprised when he injected himself into the process at the end and announced a different number. So it sounds like it’s a WIP. I believe the only country that actually has a signed deal at this point is the UK.

That being said, the copper, steel, and aluminum tariffs announced recently are real and have been assigned import classification codes by US Customs (which is when new tariffs to become real).

Re: Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything

#292

Post by CursedSilicon »

monero-xmr wrote: post #264
dismalaf wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Beware of rankings that rate perception. Also most easily available statistics are from 2020. The US economy has been a massive winner post-Covid and has diverged a lot from some countries. This website should be a good example. The typical Sr Software dev in the US would be in the top 1% to 0.1% of earners in European countries and Canada. The US has more millionaires than many entire European countries have citizen…

[flagged]

Hi, I live here

My priorities do not align with your postulating

Re: Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything

#293

Post by CursedSilicon »

monero-xmr wrote: post #263
danans wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The average European is poorer than the average person from Mississippi, the US’ poorest state Mississippi has a GDP per capita of $53k. 11% of Mississippi's population has no health insurance. Mississippi is one of the highest inequality states in the US. Its median income is $30k. It's Gini Index is 49%. It has poor physical and social infrastructure by advanced country standards. Spain has a GDP per capita of $3…

I know several Spaniards who emigrated to the US, including my sister-in-law. The situation you describe is… one of statistics and not reality

Why does your anecdotal evidence trump math, exactly?

Re: Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything

#294

Post by anecdatas »

monero-xmr wrote: post #204
Refreeze5224 wrote: post #200

[flagged]

That’s fine if you accept that you can’t force the rich at gunpoint to stay, or seize their wealth upon exit. But if they do choose to leave, or at least stop expanding their businesses, you can’t deny the rational self interest

This is making a lot of assumptions --

1) That we're at the threshold for taxes that the wealthy will accept. I would bet many wealthy folks feel attached to their homes as their identity, and it would take some amount to price them out. Like, clearly a billionaire would leave if the cost to stay was a 100% of their wealth, but would probably stay if it was $10 more in taxes. So there's a very nebulous line somewhere in between. I suspect we are not close to that line.

2) That wealthy people living in an area are storing their wealth or declaring that area as their home. Plenty of ways to shield wealth from local taxes, and plenty of ways to claim a place as your home without being taxed by it.

3) That having wealthy people in your community is a net positive for the community. Wealthy people tend to use a lot more resources and distort local politics for their personal gain rather than the gain of the community. Maybe we'd be better off if they weren't around, and several families moved in to take their place. Wealthy people don't ride public transit, normal folks do. Wealthy people can push city council positions to reduce transit, normal folks don't have that influence. Maybe we need more normal folks around.

4) That businesses owned by the wealthy are a net positive compared to, e.g., workers co-ops. Maybe we could be a bit more collective in our approaches and a bit less lionizing towards the wealthy person who got lucky. Maybe we need more community oriented businesses run by members of the community they live in and fewer wealthy business owners racing to the bottom.

Re: Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything

#295

Post by AngryData »

monero-xmr wrote: post #204
Refreeze5224 wrote: post #200

[flagged]

That’s fine if you accept that you can’t force the rich at gunpoint to stay, or seize their wealth upon exit. But if they do choose to leave, or at least stop expanding their businesses, you can’t deny the rational self interest

If they want to sell off all their assets and leave, then lets see them do it. If they don't want to sell their assets, I don't see why it can't be seized if they leave.

Re: Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything

#296

Post by jibal »

mancerayder wrote: post #269
Refreeze5224 wrote: post #200

[flagged]

Fantastic. And tax levy for the city goes down, and cuts are made while middle class people pick up the rest of the burden. Notice your statement is a broad morale, and I'm presenting a consequence out here in the real world. The math of booting wealthy people from the city doesn't play out well for the city.

> I'm presenting a consequence out here in the real world.

No, you're making baseless assertions / talking points / propaganda.

Re: Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything

#297

Post by bruce511 »

decimalenough wrote: post #163
haunter wrote: post #97

In the end it's the biggest leopard ate my face moment ever: China has very high growth momentum that surpasses American living standards soon, and not long before it will surpass American security standards too. China's purchasing power is probably more comfortable than most western countries, with extensive housing and high speed rail and electric cars etc. When a country becomes rich, inevitably other countries as…

The craziest thing about all this is that Chinese exports to the US aren't even that big a part of the Chinese economy (3% or so). Sure, it'll hurt and there's multiplier effects, but the entire rest of the world is more than happy to take up the slack. So the tariffs really are the US cutting its own nose off to spite its face.

You're assuming US citizens stop buying Chinese goods, just because they got more expensive.

That's unlikely to be true. They might buy less, but the numbers won't fall to zero.

It also overlooks the detail that the component parts of items "made in the usa" also come from other places. Clothing made in the US, doesn't necessarily use fabric made in the US.

In the short to medium term, the increased cash-flow requirements (tarrifs are paid before sales) will favor large importers with access to abundant cash over smaller importers.

Yes, the purchasing power of US consumers will go down as retail prices of goods go up. Yes global producers will seek out alternate markets.

The current uncertainty causes US purchasing to prefer not to commit to long-term orders. Global suppliers will prefer orders from stable customers, even at somewhat lower prices. Once those long-term contracts are in place, it may be hard to reenter the global marketplace, especially on the currently favorable terms.

In other words tarifs are doing long-term reputational damage that will not be easily undone in a few years time.

On the up side the world is about to observe, for the first time in a couple generations, the effects of an isolationist policy. It is a valuable lesson that needs to be reinforced from time to time.

Re: Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything

#298

Post by hereme888 »

breadwinner wrote: post #72

Trump is even using Tariff threats to strong-arm other countries to retreat on their climate goals [1]. If the Supreme Court agrees that the Trump can do this then that means we have a dictator — one that will do way more harm than the one in North Korea. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/climate/trump-internation...

[flagged]

Re: Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything

#299

Post by platevoltage »

MiscCompFacts wrote: post #191
selectodude wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reindustrializing America requires people that are actually willing to work in a factory.

Won’t people be willing when the cost of living goes up so much and all the tech jobs are gone to foreign labor that they have to work factory jobs?

So you think going backwards and becoming a developing nation is a good thing?

Re: Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything

#300

Post by jibal »

monero-xmr wrote: post #204
Refreeze5224 wrote: post #200

[flagged]

That’s fine if you accept that you can’t force the rich at gunpoint to stay, or seize their wealth upon exit. But if they do choose to leave, or at least stop expanding their businesses, you can’t deny the rational self interest

> That’s fine

Oh good. Then we can ignore your baseless assertions / talking points / propaganda and outright [non-truths].

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