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It’s bizarre people support this compulsive shopping loopholes. We need to protect our own manufacturing. Letting them ship with no taxes is insane. National in

• exmadscientist 2y ago
  The problem with that attitude is that there is a lot of stuff that is available on AliExpress that is just not purchaseable anywhere else, at any price. I would rather support US manufacturing, and I do vote that way with my dollars whenever I can. But when I want to play with a camera board, and I don't need the best (you usually don't need the best, and I'm skilled enough at these things that I can respond appropriately if I choose poorly and buy a total piece of crap), my choices are $5 from AliExpress, $50 from other grey-market sources that get me the exact same board, $500 for a "name brand" product that turns out to be made in China, or $5000 for a "Made in USA" part that is just as flaky (probably because no one buys it to debug it)... if I am just prototyping feasibility it is an easy choice. And that's before we get to Chinese-designed stuff that is offered nowhere else in the world. They do make some interesting things in China, and AliExpress is often how they offer them to the world. I also have a German tool habit. I do not want to deal with US Customs every time I import another set of nice $80 tools to replace mine (which is usually because I've gifted them to someone else/hooked them on high quality stuff). I do not want US trade rules to make my life harder just because Temu is full of crap. Is there not another way to hit back at these guys?
  • deleted 2y ago
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