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What if tariffs?

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Re: What if tariffs?

#81
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I imagine some manufacturers used tariffs as a reason to lower the price of their products that imported into the US while also raising the price outside of the US to balance that change, but that doesn't mean the manufacturer or their customers outside of the USA are paying anything towards tariffs. The entire tariff transaction is between the customer and the US government, and it's all transacted within the USA. T…

Let’s say I’m a widget seller in the US, and my widgets cost $100 to import from Switzerland before tariffs. I retail them at $150 USD in the US, but I sell internationally. In the UK for example, I retail them at £113 (simple conversion, obviously it doesn’t really work like this). Now tariffs are imposed, my import cost per widget is $139. Not only do I have to jack up my US price to $189, I have to jack up my UK p…

That only works if you have no competition in the UK. Why would your customers there continue to buy from you when you are now more expensive than the competition?

Edit: for that matter, if you could raise your prices without losing any customers, why did you wait for the tarrifs? You should have already done it.

Re: What if tariffs?

#82
post #21

This would be more impactful if we could see the cost to US purchasers was actually 39% more. Sadly some manufacturers spread the cost across all consumers, which actually means non-US customers are actually paying some of the tariff costs too.

This was a big worry initially when the tariffs were announced but it doesn’t actually seem to be happening. Most manufacturers are not adjusting their price structure because the effects are super hard to estimate (don’t forget that the US is still just 20% of worldwide demand)

This might have been true three months ago, but it isn't any more. Narrow margin business like independently owned coffee shops are already seeing consumables increase in price by up to 3x, which then leads them to have to add "tariff surcharges" that show up on their POS devices.

Re: What if tariffs?

#83

So... they swapped 3 and 9 numerals. Does it run counter clockwise then, as a horological commentary on our present age of backwardness?

That you can find around southern South America https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-28013157 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Am%C3%A9rica_Invertida

Fascinating, thanks

Re: What if tariffs?

#84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was a big worry initially when the tariffs were announced but it doesn’t actually seem to be happening. Most manufacturers are not adjusting their price structure because the effects are super hard to estimate (don’t forget that the US is still just 20% of worldwide demand)

This might have been true three months ago, but it isn't any more. Narrow margin business like independently owned coffee shops are already seeing consumables increase in price by up to 3x, which then leads them to have to add "tariff surcharges" that show up on their POS devices.

I think we agree?! I’m arguing that the tariff is being passed on to US prices and not distributed onto the worldwide customer base. A manufacturer that doesn't adjust their price structure is passing the price on because the tariff is applied by the government and not by the company selling the product.

Re: What if tariffs?

#85
post #21

This would be more impactful if we could see the cost to US purchasers was actually 39% more. Sadly some manufacturers spread the cost across all consumers, which actually means non-US customers are actually paying some of the tariff costs too.

Seems to have been the case with PS5 and Xbox consoles. The rest of the world was effectively subsidizing US gamers for a while, until prices there were jacked up even higher.

Re: What if tariffs?

#86
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It flies in the face of any common sense. The consumer paying the tariff is merely an optimization over the exporter paying the tariff such that the tariff money passes through one less hand. Practically they seem pretty similar.

The exporter gets paid the same as before. The buyer pays more. There's a subtle difference, can you spot it?

I don't see it.

Exporter pays: Consumer ends up paying price + tariff, then seller pays the tariff to the shipping company, which pays it to the government.

Importer pays: Consumer pays price, then later pays the tariff to the shipping company, which pays it to the government.

In both cases the consumer is paying price + tariff. A small difference is that some consumers could be psychologically tricked by the lower price tag in the importer pays model. Note that what I'm saying doesn't concern itself with changes in pricing due to this.

Re: What if tariffs?

#89
post #11
post #5

absolutely brilliant, one of the greatest things i have ever seen. shame its only available in switzerland.

how is a watch with 3 and 9 swapped brilliant in any way at all?

Right? I don’t want to work from 3am to 9pm. ;)

Re: What if tariffs?

#90

The number 39 refers to the 39% tariff rate on Switzerland. Kind of insane that the American President just made up a lie that tariffs are paid by foreign countries and rest of the administration just went along with it. It flies in the face of any common sense.

it's thanks to the lying that he was elected in the first place, and no one around him dares to contradict him, what would be the incentives to stop?

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