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Trump exempts phones, computers, chips from ‘reciprocal’ tariffs

bloomberg.com

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Re: Trump exempts phones, computers, chips from ‘reciprocal’ tariffs

#651

Post by _heimdall »

jpster wrote: post #542

I suspect it would be a good idea if the US abolished the presidency and moved to a parliamentary system. Turns out that concentrating so much power in a single position is a bad idea.

We don't need to abolish the presidency or entirely change our system for a parliamentary model. We do need to drastically shrink the executive branch and its powers though.

I've found it interesting that so many are seriously concerned with what Trump is doing but not why the executive branch has the authority to do it in the first place.

Re: Trump exempts phones, computers, chips from ‘reciprocal’ tariffs

#652

Post by jfengel »

peteforde wrote: post #539

I listened the book "Lucky Loser" (Craig/Buettner) a few months back. It's a well-researched timeline of how the Trump fortune was made, and to be really kind, how monumentally terrible DJT is at business on a fundamental level. The shady deals and repulsive ethics are not exceptions but the status quo. The only reason he's in the situation he's in is because the guy who created Survivor saw an opportunity. Now the w…

From what I am hearing, he seems to have appealed on culture war issues. On economic issues, it was assumed that Biden had been doing something bad and Trump would end it, but they didn't much care past that.

There is still a halo of "Democrats are bad at the economy" dating from the 1970s and rooted in the New Deal.

Re: Trump exempts phones, computers, chips from ‘reciprocal’ tariffs

#653

Post by _heimdall »

jjav wrote: post #631
fjfaase wrote: post #583

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The president has all the power that the congress and the senate gives him. Previous presidents were not given this much power. The bad guys are in the congress and the senate for not upholding the constitution.

I think the current state of affair has exposed a fundamental bug in the consitution. Sure, the US has three branches of government that are supposed to be checks and balances on each other. Which has, mostly, worked really great. But turns out there is no way to enforce this. If we get a president that doesn't care about any of this and is happy to ignore everyone else, there isn't actually any way to enforce the se…

The problem we have today is that the one runaway branch has support from at least one of the branches meant to act as a check on power (the legislative).

Congress should be stepping in if the president is overstepping his legal authority, or if they wish to reduce his legal authority. The Republican party has control of Congress and our political system has devolved into a game of blind faith in your team, neither party is willing to go against their president in a meaningful way.

We need principled leaders who care to run an effective government based on our constitution. We have few, if any, of those people in charge.

Re: Trump exempts phones, computers, chips from ‘reciprocal’ tariffs

#654

Post by _heimdall »

sebazzz wrote: post #600
techpineapple wrote: post #431

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing that’s really been getting to me, is that, I’m liberal, not pro-Trump, but the MAGA American heartland story has been really getting to me. I want to see small business, manufacturing, small town American succeed. And there’s some part of me that thought maybe Trump, as much as I don’t like him, is the thing that is needed to make that happen, but man it seems like he’s really fucking over the people who su…

> small business, manufacturing, small town American succeed That can only happen if you ban all imports of anything those small business manufacturers would made, and be content with the prices going up so those Americans can really be paid who make those products. If that is not possible, then it is either slavery, poorly paid illegal immigrants or back to some other low-wage country like we’ve done for the past de…

> That can only happen if you ban all imports of anything those small business manufacturers would made

Consumers could always make this decision for themselves and pick domestic over foreign. It seems extremely unlikely, but I also see bringing back manufacturing without massive economic shock as extremely unlikely. If I want a pipe dream, it be for manufacturing to come back because consumers actually care that it comes back.

Re: Trump exempts phones, computers, chips from ‘reciprocal’ tariffs

#655

Post by technothrasher »

yks wrote: post #485
koolba wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> many Americans will want to take a vacation to Canada to get a deal on their phone. That just doesn’t make sense. If they’re following the law they’d have to declare the purchase when they come home.

Let me explain how that works in the real world — you drop all the tags/boxes/receipts for the merchandise, maybe apply some dirt, then you can claim that it's not new and you brought it with you from your home country originally. Also in the airport there is a rather high chance you get to go through the green lane where your bags aren't checked. There are certain manners that help with not being singled out for the…

> then you can claim that it's not new and you brought it with you from your home country originally.

And then they can ask you for your Form 4457 that you filled out and presented to CBP before you left the country. Don't know what that is? Oops. Full duties owed on that iPhone then, thanks.

Re: Trump exempts phones, computers, chips from ‘reciprocal’ tariffs

#656

Post by _heimdall »

archagon wrote: post #586
t-writescode wrote: post #478

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of the biggest boons to small business would be universal healthcare and that's just ... you know, never going to happen under a Republican president (or a Democrat, for that matter). It would greatly ease the burden of employing others in small businesses and it would greatly increase the safety net of would-be entrepreneurs. It would also improve works-rights-as-capitalism because you could more easily quit ab…

It’s a common misconception that Republicans are pro-business. They loathe small business and love big business. If everyone could just be indentured to one of a dozen mega-conglomerates, that would be their perfect world.

Its probably outdated rather than a misconception, there was a time when the republican party did actually push policies that helped small businesses.

Re: Trump exempts phones, computers, chips from ‘reciprocal’ tariffs

#659

Post by bloopernova »

fjfaase wrote: post #583
jpster wrote: post #542

I suspect it would be a good idea if the US abolished the presidency and moved to a parliamentary system. Turns out that concentrating so much power in a single position is a bad idea.

The president has all the power that the congress and the senate gives him. Previous presidents were not given this much power. The bad guys are in the congress and the senate for not upholding the constitution.

They are enabling him because his grass roots supporters threaten anyone who "steps out of line" with oligarch-funded primary challenges.

I was surprised to learn that there doesn't seem to be a way for people to recall congresspeople or senators.

There needs to be a patch for the constitution of the USA to fix the vulnerabilities/bugs exposed by trump and his supporters.

Re: Trump exempts phones, computers, chips from ‘reciprocal’ tariffs

#660

Post by SOLAR_FIELDS »

cranium wrote: post #580

The 145% tariff is so absurd I wouldn't be surprised to see cheap chips glued to the item to exploit the exceptions. "Oh yeah, that's not a shoe: it's the protective case for an ESP32 WiFi router".

For those who think this is ridiculous, this happens already on a regular basis with batteries to get around the regulations and fees around shipping them. Instead of getting the battery in the mail you’ll get a cheap flashlight in the mail with a battery inside it.
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