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

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861–870 of 931 posts

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

#861

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This aestheticization of factory jobs is something I've noticed to be driving the New Right's worldview. It's not dissimilar to and no less dangerous than the aesthetic fixation on the agrarian economy of Mao and Pol Pot. Frankly, no, sweatshops are not important to the cultural fabric of a country. The US has problems with housing affordability, with medical costs, and with service sector costs emerging from Baumol'…

Sure, anyone not agreeing perfectly with the current system of global trade is part of the "new right"... Another way to look at it: globalisation weakens democratic control over the economy and undermines unions. Is that not a problem in your opinion?

Globalisation Also creates markets for the more advanced goods and services to be sold.

If we are going to wade into the deep waters of international trade, then you can’t look only at america or American workers without getting blind sided constantly.

At the depth you are talking - globalization has created more nations than anything else.

The undermining of democracy came with increased deregulation and increased lobbying and wealth concentration.

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

#862
After that wishy-washy flip-flopper with his tariff-trainwreck I wonder how many people will still go for the comforting fantasy that he is in fact "playing 4D chess"?

People that didn't care about his moral failings, the lying, how he treats women may care about him just being incompetent to the degree that the things he operates would fare better if he did nothing, especially if they have to pay the bill.

For Trump behaving erratic is a feature, as it favours people who have sworn loyalty and who Trump has deemed worthy as they at least might get a little head ups (enough for the stock market).

Sadly this turns the US not only into an absolute laughing stock, it also makes any business with it a risky one.

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

#863
post #42

This is pretty much how I expected this to play out, at least for now. Trump acts all tough and doesn't back down publicly , but China actually doesn't back down. So what happens is that some businesses get exemptions to mitigate the impact. Then some fine print gets changed about how the rules are enforced. Like, suddenly it turns out that Kiribati is a major electronics supplier to the US :) End result - US economy…

Comment cited here:

https://www.themotte.org/post/1827/culture-war-roundup-for-t...

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

#864

I’m not seeing anyone discuss this here, so I figured I’d raise an important point: this style of tariffs is crushing for US manufacturing. While a universal tariff with no exceptions incentivizes domestic manufacturing, a selective tariff with specific industry exceptions is absolute poison. You might think, as the authors of this exemption did, “well then we will exempt computer parts.” Then people will simply impo…

Relocating a factory to the US is expensive both as an investment and in its operation. Thst means you're thinking on a time horizon of decades not years. So if you're the CEO of a corp that is expected to be incentivized to move production to the US you would want to know how long those tariffs are going to last.

And lets face it, even if Trump instigated those tariffs via executive order at day 0 and didn't touch them till the expected end of his office that would not be enough incentive to relocate production. (1) because he could change the tariffs literally at any point (and he did just that) and (2) because any president after could just reverse the executive order immidately.

The erratic way Trump installed, modfied and communicated the tariffs run counter to the communicated purpose. E.g. why of all things excempt computers and electronic devices now from the tariffs? Why put a 10% tariff on goods from dirt-poor countries whose goods you already buy at an rate bordering on exploitation to your own benefit.

The way I see it, either he has no idea what the hell he is doing, or he is doing it for another purpose, e.g. insider trading. And I see myself exceedingly tired of journalists trying to read the tea leaves on a madman.

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

#865
post #770

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This aestheticization of factory jobs is something I've noticed to be driving the New Right's worldview. It's not dissimilar to and no less dangerous than the aesthetic fixation on the agrarian economy of Mao and Pol Pot. Frankly, no, sweatshops are not important to the cultural fabric of a country. The US has problems with housing affordability, with medical costs, and with service sector costs emerging from Baumol'…

Manufacturing doesn’t have to equate to sweat shops. It’s hard to take your argument seriously when your judgement is undermined by such fallacy. We have problems with housing affordability because asset values inflate inverse to the devaluation of the dollar. The dollar is deflating because a service economy is not as sustainable as a manufacturing economy. This is particularly pronounced when we all see the labor v…

>"Manufacturing doesn’t have to equate to sweat shops. It’s hard to take your argument seriously when your judgement is undermined by such fallacy."

You're right; humans will be as uninvolved as possible in the next domestic sweat shop lines. Astute observation!

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

#866

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That leaves the executive, and personally I don't see a problem with enforcement living there. What if the executive just decides not to enforce the decisions of the legislative and judicial branches?

The legislative branch can pass a law requiring enforcement, likely within some specified parameters or timeline. If that passes and is constitutional, the courts could be tested and uphold the law.

> The legislative branch can pass a law requiring enforcement

At this point the Executive is already ignoring the law.

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

#867
post #784

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, but (a) they won't, and (b) if they do, who carries out the actual removal of the president from power? ... oh, right, the executive branch, again. Oops.

If your concerns are only procedural, surely congress could fix that if they cared. If they actually had the vote to impeach they could likely have the voter to either pass new law or amend the constitution to ensure the removal is enforced.

Or we could fix it now, before the Constitutional crisis, which is what we were talking about from the start.

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

#868

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I beg to differ. Quote from Trump: “I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute ... is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning?" "Because you see it gets inside the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that” https://www.axios.com/2022/04/26/birx-calls-trump-disinfecta... Edit: found the actual video. Enjoy! https:…

Never mentioned bleach. Mentioned UV disinfection right before that quote. Never suggested it or said it's a good idea. Just said it's interesting, worth checking out, and has to be done by medical doctors. Completely manipulating and twisting what Trump said to further your agenda - again proving the user above right. Is what Trump said stupid? Yeah. Did he suggest to inject bleach? No

OK so he suggested injecting disinfectant. Which is basically the same as bleach. If you can’t tell that from the video I’m not sure what’s going on anymore.

He also talks about putting UV lights inside the body, which is still a bit dumb, but not as dumb as injecting or ingesting disinfectant or bleach.

If you want to say he is only says it could be ‘interesting’ to inject or consume disinfectant then sure, why not - that’s still insane and dumb in equal measure.

He even tries to walk back his comments later saying he was being ‘sarcastic’ which he very clearly was not.

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

#869

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This dumb bothsiderism take is exactly the reason for the shitstorm hitting US right now. People really need to stop sane washing everything he says and try to actually have an objective glance at him and take him for who he is: a con man. He made a majority of conservatives as goddamn fools, voting against their own best interests because he said he'll punish the right people. Spoiler alert: he instead concentrated…

What social nets did he dismantle? Similarly, democrats need to acknowledge that they are responsible for Trump getting elected. Immigration was one of the biggest issues for voters and it went rampant under the democrats.

It is sorta insane to me how someone can exist in the same reality that I do, and not be aware of, like, the main part of the platform that dude is implementing right now? Perhaps that is caused by all the mentions of DOGGY/Musk getting instantly flagged off the front page, but weren't they pretty open about their plans? It's all in project 2025. It's such a large amount of open and well-documented information that compiling it all myself would take a while, so I decided to give the Gemini Deep Research a try, here are some excerpts (but you can ask it yourself or literally just google):

> A central guiding force behind the austerity measures implemented in 2025 was "Project 2025," a comprehensive policy blueprint developed by conservative think tanks. This project advocated for a fundamental restructuring of the federal government, calling for a reduction in bureaucracy, significant tax cuts, and decreased spending across various sectors, including major social programs like Medicare and Medicaid

> The Social Security Administration (SSA) experienced significant changes and faced substantial workforce reductions under the Trump administration's austerity drive in 2025. Driven by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the administration announced plans to cut approximately 7,000 employees from the SSA, representing about 12% of its total workforce. This reduction followed a decade of underfunding for the agency's administrative budget, which had already shrunk the workforce considerably. Alongside these staff cuts, the SSA initiated the closure of regional offices and the termination of leases for numerous field offices across the country. These physical closures raised serious concerns about diminished access to in-person services for beneficiaries, particularly those residing in rural areas or lacking reliable transportation.

> Further limiting accessibility, the SSA eliminated phone services for most applications and for changes to direct deposit information. This policy shift mandated that individuals needing these services either visit an SSA field office in person or utilize the agency's online tools. This change disproportionately affected seniors, individuals with disabilities, and those without consistent internet access or digital literacy. Adding to the concerns surrounding the program, reports emerged of the administration classifying living immigrants as deceased, leading to the cancellation of their Social Security numbers

> Adding to the uncertainty, the House budget resolution for FY2025 called for significant spending cuts from the Energy and Commerce Committee, the very committee with jurisdiction over Medicare. Analysts raised concerns that the magnitude of these proposed cuts, totaling $880 billion , would be virtually impossible to achieve without impacting major healthcare programs like Medicare.

> Simultaneously, the Trump administration proposed several changes to the ACA. These included shortening the annual open enrollment period by a month, ending coverage eligibility for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and limiting the coverage of gender-transition care by defining "sex-trait modification" as not an essential health benefit. Furthermore, enhanced ACA subsidies, which had significantly lowered premium costs for millions of Americans, were set to expire in late 2025. The administration also significantly cut funding for community-based organizations that assisted individuals with enrolling in ACA coverage, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

> The Trump administration's austerity measures in 2025 also significantly impacted unemployment benefits and workforce development programs. Republican funding bills, shaped by Project 2025, proposed the elimination or substantial reduction of funding for key workforce development initiatives, including Youth Job Training Grants, Adult Job Training Grants, the Senior Community Service Employment Program, and the Women's Bureau. These cuts directly diminished the resources available for individuals seeking employment training and job placement assistance.

> The austerity measures implemented by the Trump administration in its second term in 2025 represented a significant and multifaceted retrenchment of the federal social safety net. Driven by the policy framework of Project 2025 and operationalized through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), these measures encompassed substantial workforce reductions across federal agencies, significant proposed budget cuts to key social programs, and policy changes aimed at tightening eligibility and restricting access to benefits. While the administration often framed these actions as necessary for fiscal responsibility and government efficiency, the analysis of available information reveals a consistent pattern of cuts and changes that disproportionately impacted vulnerable populations. Seniors, individuals with disabilities, low-income families, children, and immigrants faced increased barriers to accessing essential services and benefits across Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, SNAP, and housing assistance programs. The reduction in workforce development initiatives further threatened opportunities for economic advancement. The cumulative effect of these measures painted a picture of a significantly weakened social safety net, potentially leading to increased poverty, food insecurity, homelessness, and lack of access to healthcare for millions of Americans.

Mostly Gemini delivered a good overview of the changes, but it doesn't include stuff like people's pension plans being dependent on economy being in "number go up" state, which is not the case now.

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

#870

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somebody lost a ton of Bitcoin miner system motherboards [0][1]. [0]: https://bid.cwsmarketing.com/lot-details/index/catalog/167/l... , https://bid.cwsmarketing.com/lot-details/index/catalog/167/l... , https://bid.cwsmarketing.com/lot-details/index/catalog/167/l... [1]: https://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=1...

Bitcoin miners tend to be ASICs nowadays. Based on the PCIe lanes I would assume that is for some GPU-mining mobo for equihash or scrypt

I can guess, but I'm just echoing what's on the box, or what Biostar says. :)
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