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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

#711

Post by 9283409232 »

otterley wrote: post #703
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…

Why does it deserve to succeed, especially if it results in everyone paying more for things, and if they’re of worse quality to boot? Labor and industries are specialized just like agriculture is. Fighting to redomesticate labor is a bit like fighting to produce bananas at scale in the USA: It’s just not practical and will cause harm to the broader economy.

They said nothing about deserve. They said they want it to succeed.

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

#712

Post by 9283409232 »

keybored wrote: post #662
archagon wrote: post #586

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That’s the same thing as being pro-business. Big business out-competes small businesses again and again. The idea of smol business being viable (see: this whole thread) is just the marketing front.

Small business is viable. There are hundreds of thousands of small businesses successfully running throughout the country. Maybe I'm missing your point but this seems like a dumb thing to say.

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

#713

Post by otterley »

9283409232 wrote: post #711
otterley wrote: post #703

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does it deserve to succeed, especially if it results in everyone paying more for things, and if they’re of worse quality to boot? Labor and industries are specialized just like agriculture is. Fighting to redomesticate labor is a bit like fighting to produce bananas at scale in the USA: It’s just not practical and will cause harm to the broader economy.

They said nothing about deserve. They said they want it to succeed.

And I want a pony. But one should be realistic in their desires.

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

#714

Post by amelius »

freeone3000 wrote: post #708
amelius wrote: post #681

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except he didn't announce anything. He said "a good time to buy" which may be code language that his friends understand.

… are you hearing yourself? “It’s a good time to buy!” has the plain english meaning “you should buy stock”. Everyone, you included, understood he was talking about US company stocks. Which, if you did, you would have profited. This theoretical code would be “when i say it’s a good time to buy stock, we should all buy stock!”. That is, well, not a code.

He should have announced the policy, and said something like "we will pause the tariffs". But instead, he said something vague, which can be interpreted as a hint, and which will open the road for investigations.

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

#715

Post by 9283409232 »

timschmidt wrote: post #425
9283409232 wrote: post #415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And I see no problem with forestry when practiced sustainably. I don't have a problem with most things when done sustainably. What in the history of the US makes you believe it will be done sustainably? Gas companies still publicly deny or downplay climate change.

> What in the history of the US makes you believe it will be done sustainably? Unions, labor law, the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_sit-down_strike in which the national guard and police used automatic weapons against striking workers, the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Hall_disaster immortalized in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz7oguguIZE the winning of the work week, overtime pay, healthcare of any…

These are all great accomplishments for labor law but they have nothing to do with sustainability. Maybe I'm not being clear, when I say sustainably, I mean for the environment. Most energy companies won't even admit climate change is real or severely downplay it. So no, I still don't think it will be done sustainably.

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

#716

Post by jccalhoun »

I'm not economist. Maybe tariffs could work. (It seems like most of the experts say they don't. And how they were determined certainly seems especially dumb) However, it doesn't take a genius to see that enacting them without advance notice to prepare for them is the worst way to do it. Give companies time to prepare. Give countries time to negotiate. The result would be the same without the uncertainty and chaos. Unless this really is some plan for the rich to short stocks and make a killing in the market, I don't see how this implementation would be a good idea to anyone.

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

#717

Post by keybored »

9283409232 wrote: post #712
keybored wrote: post #662

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s the same thing as being pro-business. Big business out-competes small businesses again and again. The idea of smol business being viable (see: this whole thread) is just the marketing front.

Small business is viable. There are hundreds of thousands of small businesses successfully running throughout the country. Maybe I'm missing your point but this seems like a dumb thing to say.

Sorry, it would have been more correct to say that while smol businesses are viable, Republicans and other corrupt politicians siding with big business is just them siding with the winning side.

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

#718

Post by washadjeffmad »

speleding wrote: post #671
beloch wrote: post #627

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Factories, tooling, machinery, etc. must be amortized over a market and production run. If you're making toilet paper, the cost is relatively low and the market is huge. The TP you make today will still be good TP in a decade. No one toilet paper factory can serve the world, so you'll need many of them in many markets. The inputs can be found within the U.S.. Why not build one in the U.S.? A factory that produces a s…

I agree with your general point, but I just read the book "Your life is manufactured" by Tim Minshall, in which he describes the production of toilet paper in detail and it's a surprising global industry. Wood pulp with the correct density comes from a few specific places on the globe (Scandinavia and South America apparently).

Those are big markets, but there are a lot of suitable softwoods for pulp production, farmed around the globe. Ideally, you want to use ones with good natural ratios of lignin to cellulose and hemicellulose (that's just to say, the constituents of biomass) to minimize processing and chemistry costs.

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

#719

Post by freeone3000 »

amelius wrote: post #714
freeone3000 wrote: post #708

Earlier quoted context omitted.

… are you hearing yourself? “It’s a good time to buy!” has the plain english meaning “you should buy stock”. Everyone, you included, understood he was talking about US company stocks. Which, if you did, you would have profited. This theoretical code would be “when i say it’s a good time to buy stock, we should all buy stock!”. That is, well, not a code.

He should have announced the policy, and said something like "we will pause the tariffs". But instead, he said something vague, which can be interpreted as a hint, and which will open the road for investigations.

“Now is a good time to buy” isn’t vague.

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

#720

Post by kccqzy »

righthand wrote: post #685
SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The articles you've linked are about threats of 10% to 25% tariffs in the context of active trade negotiations between the US and China. Here, there's an actually imposed tariff of 145% and no talks at all as far as has been reported. It's not the same situation.

It’s a different situation because the numbers are different even though so far the outcomes are the same. Am I reading that right?

The outcomes are not the same because the numbers are not the same. A few days ago some Chinese journalists interviewed analysts familiar with CATL on batteries. At that time the tariff was 125%, and the analysts thought CATL could still eke out some profits: it's one of the very few Chinese businesses that can profit despite the 125% tariffs because China controls 75% of the world's battery anodes, 90% of cathodes and electrolytes. At 145% tariff CATL will be taking a loss and won't supply batteries at all.
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