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

Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

about.usps.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

501–510 of 610 posts

Re: Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

#501

Post by seanmcdirmid »

kilroy123 wrote: post #334
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China has a lot going for it. The right investments in green energy and EVs is maturing now, allowing them dominate basically 75% of the world market for energy production and vehicles (without local competitors). They are also making investments right now in AI and robotics that are already beginning to pay off. The US as a market doesn’t mean much to China anymore, and Trump’s aggressive treatment of enemies and al…

I don't buy this. They badly want into the US market for their EVs. As well as their solar panels.

I don’t see our protectionism as a problem given their own, but there are plenty of countries who don’t want to import lots of oil and won’t mind buying Chinese EVs along with solar panels and wind turbines to achieve that. American simply isn’t the only consumer market anymore.

Re: Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

#502

Post by Workaccount2 »

markus_zhang wrote: post #432

I sincerely hope US and Canada can regrow some manufacturing capacity. I think the only way to do it is by a one-two punch, and middle class like me are going to seriously get hurt, but I still want it done, for the sake of later generations and for a better, safer, more competitive humanity. Safer because a successful reform removes the need of a world war. The one-two punch is: 1) A massive devaluation of housing,…

I'd love to see it too, but as someone who does hardware for a living and software sometimes for fun, I just don't see how this is going to happen.

Hardware is a money pit endeavor with low margins and high overhead. Software is a money printer with high margins and low overhead.

Re: Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

#503

Post by persedes »

hedora wrote: post #275
persedes wrote: post #65

I'm unclear on this, but to my understanding if I order of Temu, Aliexpress etc I forfeit any consumer rights that I might have in the country I reside in? E.g. if the cheap stuff burns down my house / takes out my eye [1], there's no one to blame about gross defects / QC oversight? [1] https://www.geekwire.com/2019/lawsuit-ruling-dog-leash-purch...

It’s the same for Amazon, at least in the US. By law, if a retailer sells you a thing, liability first goes to the manufacturer, and, failing that, the retailer. Amazon isn’t a retailer, they’re a “marketplace” or some other BS the courts buy, so they’re not liable if they sell you stuff that’s negligently dangerous. Good luck tracking down SGVEEESQRTS or whoever built the thing.

in the case linked above amazons defense that they're just a "marketplace" did not work though.

Re: Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

#504

Post by chiengineer »

jeroenhd wrote: post #430
b112 wrote: post #326

Unless I've missed a thread, no one seems to be saying what counts. Changing duties, taxes, and rules is fine. It's how a society adjusts. Changing them instantly is literally the most anti-consumer, anti-business concept ever. No 30 days? 90 days? Nope, block it all now! That's sheer stupid on a caliber almost unheard of. It sends a signal "Don't do business with the US, the rules change on a whim". Don't do busines…

For what it's worth, the Project 2025 documents with all of these measures written down as bullet points has been up for a while. Getting rid of China's de minimis exemption is listed on page 789. Americans, American businesses, and businesses with American clients would be wise to read through the document to see what they can expect the coming year(s). The current executive branch sure won't give you a heads up, bu…

I just use chatgpt to summarize it months ago. It legit said it will cause a recession

Re: Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

#505

Post by treis »

999900000999 wrote: post #498
treis wrote: post #490

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>15$ direct from China. The same exact bag, made in the same exact factory is going to be 40$ on Amazon. Do you have examples of this? It hasn't been the case for me. Usually the prices are similar and I tend to find that Amazon is slightly cheaper.

Amazon , 40$ https://a.co/d/6HSc2A6 AliExpress , 17$( see coupons below). https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806198514308.html Plus AliExpress tends to offer coupons. So let's say you buy 300$ of stuff from Amazon, and 300$ of stuff from AliExpress. Even if the products are the same price, AliExpress will offer a 30$ off coupon. Amazon has to build in a higher margin though, they practically have a no questions asked…

$17 is temporarily half off with list $37.19. So normally it's pretty similar.

Re: Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

#506

Post by floatrock »

macleginn wrote: post #499
floatrock wrote: post #463

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The boston-95-ring-vs-silicon-valley/noncompete-enforcement story gets close to this. Or the detroit-automotive-supply-chain story. It's largely about can you set up an effective ecosystem of suppliers. The story of the Traitorous 8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traitorous_eight is basically the tale of how free-market competition spawns the economic prosperity of an entire region. In those times, Boston's 95 ring wa…

"VC's won't fund a bodega specializing in some obscure electronics niche" --- is it generally known who funds Shenzhen bodegas?

My armchair understanding is they're closer to "lifestyle businesses", and if there's larger funding sources at play it's in supporting the ecosystem at large.

But I'm just an armchair commentator here. I hangout here cause I'd love to hear some better firsthand experiences if my story is off.

Re: Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

#507

Post by persedes »

jeroenhd wrote: post #442
persedes wrote: post #65

I'm unclear on this, but to my understanding if I order of Temu, Aliexpress etc I forfeit any consumer rights that I might have in the country I reside in? E.g. if the cheap stuff burns down my house / takes out my eye [1], there's no one to blame about gross defects / QC oversight? [1] https://www.geekwire.com/2019/lawsuit-ruling-dog-leash-purch...

If you buy from an American store, you can file your claims with the store under American law and everything is easy. If you import from China, American laws apply to you and Chinese laws apply to the seller. If you get scammed or hurt yourself with a dangerous product, you can try two things: sue the Chinese seller in your home country (they won't turn up if the court even cares enough not to dismiss your case) or s…

Yes, that's of how I see it too. The upcharge has to come from somewhere and I guess it's up to regulators on how much they would allow the public to take on that risk. My guess is that most people are completely ignorant about that gotcha and (understandably) only care about the price.

Re: Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

#508

Post by DaveExeter »

reaperman wrote: post #72

This is going to utterly fuck so many R&D projects at my company. We actually do large-scale manufacturing of industrial valves in the USA. But a lot of our prototyping involves working with Chinese suppliers and getting small batches of samples / prototypes / revisions sent in packages on airplanes. I literally do not know how the electrical and firmware engineers will do their jobs now if we cannot receive packages…

It will create jobs, for customs inspectors. Good, high-paying jobs with the best health insurance and lifetime pensions.

And it's a small price to pay for the freedom of Ross Ulbricht and the January 6th patriots.

Re: Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

#509

Post by thaumasiotes »

throwaway290 wrote: post #395
thaumasiotes wrote: post #373

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US is treated as a high-income country because incomes are high. Incomes in China are low. There's nobody disputing either of those claims. USA NGDP per capita 2024: US$86,600, just below Norway. China NGDP per capita 2024: US$13,000, just below Malaysia. Their economy is large because there are more of them. That doesn't do anything for their income.

High income != developed. There are different metrics. Overall GDP very high, GDP PPP per capita middling, incomes highly disparate, etc. Developing status becomes kinda subjective and this particular move is not insane. Sadly it's unlike many many other moves.

> High income != developed. There are different metrics.

You might want to replace the quote you were citing.

Re: Suspension of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong

#510

Post by Workaccount2 »

stikit wrote: post #90
conception wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least for China they have an environmental plan far and away better than the US’s “what do the rich want to do?”.

Can you give details of China’s environment plan?. All I hear about are the dozens of coal plants China builds each year. Are they no longer building those plants?

China doesn't actually care to much about green energy production, it's more that green energy production just happens to be one of the best ways for China to achieve energy independence.

China doesn't have huge reserves of fossil fuels, and they don't have a truly reliable way of importing them (and any import will always be vulnerable anyway).

So they are left with coal, nuclear, wind, and sun to build energy independence with. This is the primary driver of massive "green" investment (and coal investment too). They want all their energy made in house with what they have, which turns out to be a lot of cheaply accessible sun and wind.

Post reply on HN