Live data from Hacker News

Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

about.usps.com

401–410 of 610 posts

Re: Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

#401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's funny because I've thought it is the same for years and I'm happy to see someone else post a comment about it instead. Perhaps you'd like to elaborate on why you think it's not the same.

These are the extremely obviously different. A company that has to take specific measures to prevent the suicide of their workers should raise a much different level of scrutiny that the fact that a massive bridge available to millions of people is used to commit suicide.

The company had just shy of a million people in it at the time, making the comparison "about the entire population of South Dakota" (which had 139 suicides that year) or "121% of the population of San Francisco" (32 jumped from specifically the Golden Gate bridge in 2010, which was Foxconn's worst year[0], and that doesn't count any of the other suicides in SF that year, just jumping specifically off that specific bridge), and it's nowhere near the only example of this in the USA.

This university had three students jump to their deaths in 2010, out of about 26k students, compared to 15 in Foxconn's worst year out of 980,000 employees:

https://news.sky.com/story/suicide-nets-college-attempts-to-...

Population adjusted, what happened at Cornell University was as if 112 people rather than 15 had jumped in Foxconn.

Or this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmer_Holmes_Bobst_Library

"""In late 2003, the library was the site of two suicides. In separate incidents, students jumped from the open-air crosswalks inside the library and fell to the stereogram-patterned marble floor below.

After the second suicide, the university installed Plexiglas barricades on each level and along the stairways to prevent further jumping. In 2009, a third student jumped to his death from the tenth floor, apparently scaling the plexiglas barricade.[7]

The library has since added floor-to-ceiling metal barriers to prevent any future suicide attempts. The barrier is made of randomly perforated aluminum screens that evoke the zeros and ones of a digital waterfall.[8]"""

2 out of 59,144 students would be equivalent to 33 out of the 980k Foxconn employees, double the number who actually jumped.

[0] https://abc7news.com/archive/7878562/

Re: Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

#402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Paying ~$30 for express shipping through DHL (plus whatever the new tariffs end up being) will still get you those parts in 3-5 days to most major shipping hubs in the US, your suppliers will just need to start filing the export paperwork correctly. In my european experience, DHL is anything but fast when customs are involved. And I doubt they have the manpower to handle it for the new US rules. > These changes wil…

DHL B2C shipments to the EU are generally held in customs until the duty is paid, which makes it slow but ensures DHL isn't left holding the bag when people decide they don't want to pay unexpected import duties. That's (historically) not the case for US B2B shipments. For those, DHL pays the duty as the shipment goes through customs and then sends an invoice after the parcel is delivered.

DHL doesn't accept packages anymore (or temporarily, hopefully) either https://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news/section/4/22675...

Re: Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

#403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DHL B2C shipments to the EU are generally held in customs until the duty is paid, which makes it slow but ensures DHL isn't left holding the bag when people decide they don't want to pay unexpected import duties. That's (historically) not the case for US B2B shipments. For those, DHL pays the duty as the shipment goes through customs and then sends an invoice after the parcel is delivered.

DHL doesn't accept packages anymore (or temporarily, hopefully) either https://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news/section/4/22675...

Understandable, they have to reevaluate the effort and probably adjust pricing. Upwards.

> DHL B2C shipments to the EU are generally held in customs until the duty is paid, which makes it slow but ensures DHL isn't left holding the bag when people decide they don't want to pay unexpected import duties.

Nothing is unexpected with DHL considering the amount of paperwork they want you to fill each time :) Even if you check "retain my data for next time and don't send me this form again".

They indeed send me a payment link and i pay for customs online before the package starts moving.

I don't do Asia->EU shipments but I get prototypes maybe 2-3 times per year from the US. We gave up on DHL and are using UPS now... they want 800% less forms, cost much less and take about the same time to deliver.

Re: Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

#404
post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chinese labour isn't that cheap anymore. Chinese wages are higher than those in Mexico for example.

My impression, having visited the place, is that the Chinese laborers just work ridiculously hard. Part of this is due to culture and very heavy handed management, part of this due to the working class seeing huge returns on their labor (wealth has grown exponentially in their own lifetimes).

Going a bit on a tangent:

I grew up in Europe, but am now living in Singapore. It's interesting: despite all the PRC's advances and progress in the last few decades, they are still the poorest Chinese-majority country. You can go even wider, and look at countries with sizeable Chinese minorities, like Malaysia or Thailand, and I think you will find that the average ethnic Chinese person there also makes more than the average ethnic Chinese person does in the PRC.

I haven't checked the numbers for all of the relevant countries, but I think it's fair to say that by and large, PR China has the poorest ethnically Chinese people.

Re: Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

#406

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The question is how did we let it go this far? Because allowing countries to maximize their comparative advantages is great for economic growth. It doesn’t make sense for every nation on earth to have their own copy of every industrial sector. We don’t need all nations to manufacture their own jet engines, oil tankers, t-shirts, and Tylenol. Trade is good. The idea that China is a major security threat is basically…

Great for who's economic growth? As in, when staring at the graph of GDP vs wages plotted over the last 50 years, that big-ass pie slice that everyone's excited about? That appears to have ended up in roughly 800 people's pockets. Meanwhile even mention domestic manufacturing in the country that basically invented consumer electronics and kazoo music starts playing in the background. grits teeth We knew NAFTA was bul…

For humanity? It is the same reason most of us don't grow our food or make our shoes. Specialization makes a lot of sense. Western tech wouldn't have been able to grow as fast if electronics manufacturing were not concentrated in China. It is (was?) a win-win.

Re: Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

#407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DHL doesn't accept packages anymore (or temporarily, hopefully) either https://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news/section/4/22675...

Understandable, they have to reevaluate the effort and probably adjust pricing. Upwards. > DHL B2C shipments to the EU are generally held in customs until the duty is paid, which makes it slow but ensures DHL isn't left holding the bag when people decide they don't want to pay unexpected import duties. Nothing is unexpected with DHL considering the amount of paperwork they want you to fill each time :) Even if you ch…

[deleted]

Re: Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

#408
post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Remember how Apple couldn't just pick up and move the production of iPhones to India or Vietnam? You left out the part about dormitories full of modern-day slaves, complete with nets so they don't leap to their deaths. Generally this is frowned upon in the West. India and Vietnam wouldn't tolerate it either, despite being developing countries. Wasn't there a riot at Apple's India factory over work conditions or am…

> You left out the part about dormitories full of modern-day slaves, complete with nets so they don't leap to their deaths. Generally this is frowned upon in the West. Frowned upon, but you (the US) do have them: https://www.goldengate.org/district/district-projects/suicid... Seen them here in Germany, too: https://maps.app.goo.gl/vDSL4HeQrLLfYU2m7

I don't get all the hubbub about the nets. Classic example of trying to do something good (save lives) and getting attacked for it.

Compare to barriers around train/subway platforms, nets or high barriers on bridges. All sorts of things. It's pretty much a "large number of people living around tall structures" thing.

Re: Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

#409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Building out more high-speed rail interconnections than any other part in the world is a well-known sign of a country that thinks short-term.

It’s short-termism but not the kind you first think of in the West. Chinese local officials are expected to meet and exceed targets for GDP growth. Investment is GDP growth, so officials are incentivized to build lots of flashy projects to boost growth even if there isn’t a clear need for them. The central government is so concerned with local government spending that has resulted that it has ordered 12 provinces to…

It's amazing how different accounting systems can affect decision-making.

Re: Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

#410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If the SMT components are manufactured domestically say for military purposes it's going to be spread out all over the US because politicians pork barrel contracts for their districts and states. Or possibly politicians attracting investment to their districts for the benefit their voters. What's the alternative here, a centrally planned economy?

I don't understand your comment. None of it makes any sense. > because politicians pork barrel contracts for their districts and states. > Or possibly politicians attracting investment to their districts for the benefit their voters That's literally the same thing - you just gave the definition of pork barrel spending. It isn't purely bad, it's just excessive or unnecessary to benefit one politician's constituents. A…

[deleted]
Post reply on HN