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This whole tariff circus boils down to regulatory capture by manufacturers at the 10+-figure market cap scale. Olimex (and other small and medium businesses) c
by InitialLastName 1y ago
This whole tariff circus boils down to regulatory capture by manufacturers at the 10+-figure market cap scale. Olimex (and other small and medium businesses) can't reasonably be expected to calculate the exact material composition of their products (much less their suppliers' products); the only people who can are on the scale of Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and Google whose volumes can amortize the cost of doing so on a per-product basis (and who have probably already done that analysis as part of their process control).
- softwaredoug 1y agoWe’re living through a political revolution centralizing state and economic power. It’s almost like the pendulum swung away from the Soviet system and now we’re swinging back.
- shafoshaf 1y agoThis is a great podcast on philosophy in general, but this episode on Technofeudalism https://open.spotify.com/episode/5SjdkYzdSp6tHTdD2o1OAe?si=815899471d5c434d https://open.spotify.com/episode/5SjdkYzdSp6tHTdD2o1OAe?si=8... talks directly about the state of Big Tech taking over the capitalist free market. The same as is happening with large scale industries like you mention.
- mckirk 1y agoI knew without clicking this would be Philosophize This. I friggin love that podcast, and keep recommending it to friends. The only problem I have with it is that I like to listen to it while driving, but I can't stop to take notes every five minutes.
- StefanBatory 1y agoIt makes me so happy that he's still going. I remember listening to him when I was like 15, and now I'm way older...
- RankingMember 1y agoThis podcast is one of my favorites to listen to while out riding my bike. Something about the cardio + his way of breaking down the core meaning behind philosophers' works is just a very edifying and enjoyable experience. I had no idea who Byung-Chul_Han was before listening to this podcast- he has a lot of interesting things to say about the current state of our capitalist society. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byung-Chul_Han https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byung-Chul_Han )
- pstuart 1y agoIt's a fascist coup, and they're tidying up the loose ends.
- newsclues 1y ago[flagged]
- TheOtherHobbes 1y agoFascism is the world's most evil people lying to the world's most stupid people about what fascism is.
- thrance 1y agoHuh? Can you expand on that? Is fascism completely devoid of meaning then?
- miltonlost 1y agoWhat he was doing is called a joke a la The Devil's Dictionary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil's_Dictionary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil's_Dictionary
- pstuart 1y agoWe're not supposed to get political here, but my comment was more observation rather than accusation. As for communism -- if you think the Dems are communists I recommend you research what communism really means. Disclaimer: I'm non-partisan and abhor partisan politics, but I do think the Constitution is a worthy document to try to adhere to as best possible.
- anthem2025 1y ago[flagged]
- pstuart 1y ago
- fooker 1y agoYeah, seize the means of production, indeed. Funny that this time this started from the right side of the political spectrum. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_theory
- softwaredoug 1y agoI believe when you look at Germany, the Far Right party is much more popular in former Soviet strongholds (East Germany outside Berlin)
- fooker 1y agoIf you overload right to mean authoritarian, for sure. Good to remember that pretty much all leftist governments had to pivot toward authoritarianism 'for the greater good'.
- anthem2025 1y agoI don’t understand what you’re even trying to say here. AfD is objectively far more popular in the former east Germany. Look at a map of votes, it’s clear as day. The borders are exact. They are not a left wing party, not at all. They are a far right party. It makes sense that the the economically struggling former communist areas would be both more drawn to extreme parties and have a distaste for the left.
- wqaatwt 1y ago> They are not a left wing party, not at all. They are a far right party. They are a populist semi big tent party as well. They are not particularly coherent but there is some overlap between some of their policies and what some in the far-left might support (Euroscepticism, the Euro and such)
- anthem2025 1y ago[flagged]
- jacquesm 1y agoSlightly different location.
- zdragnar 1y agoThis is nothing new. The number of hoops a former employer had to jump through to export, from the US into the EU, what amounted to a steel bar with some brackets on it was almost worth more in salary hours than the entire value of the sale.
- cheema33 1y ago> The number of hoops a former employer had to jump through to export, from the US into the EU Makes perfect sense to make ordinary Americans pay tariff/taxes on imports in return. Sucks to be them.
- madaxe_again 1y agoNot so. There exist BOM analysis tools which are free for manufacturers of products to use - you just upload your parts list and your suppliers, and it works down the list either requesting info from the supplier or using pre-supplied info. The suppliers in turn contact their suppliers, etc. - it’s the suppliers who ultimately pay a few hundred bucks a year for access. At the end of the process you know exactly what’s in your doodad, get a materials compliance declaration, don’t poison any kids, etc. This is something this manufacturer should already be doing, otherwise it’s unclear how they’re complying with RoHS or REACH.
- chrisco255 1y agoIf only people had access to spreadsheet software and affordable desktop computers, they could easily do these calculations.
- general1726 1y agoYou know that you can't do it on your own, but you need to have certification for that? > U.S. customs is demanding a Certificate of Analysis (which could cost thousands of dollars and to determine what exact amount of Aluminum, Copper and Steel are in the product), otherwise they assume the entire PCB consists of copper, aluminum, and steel, and charge a 100% tariff on the whole product.
- chrisco255 1y agoYou can self certify unless it's a highly regulated import like pharma, food, or medical equipment.
- crote 1y agoSelf-certification generally doesn't mean simply saying "trust us, we won't lie to you". They still expect you to be able to hand over a bunch of laboratory reports proving that you have actually tested your stuff. The main difference is that with self-certification they will accept reports from your own in-house laboratory, rather than demanding reports from an independent pre-vetted testing lab. Same with paperwork: you can make your own rather than having it made by an independent auditor - but you better still be able to back it up!
- dgfitz 1y agoThis seems… quite reasonable.
- thisisit 1y agoThat is not how this works. No one can say - we used spreadsheet software and investigated ourselves and we estimate we use x mg of copper. Governments ask for something like a metal spectrometer analysis of components. They might even say each batch needs to be analysed and we trust analysis from spectrometers manufactured and/or operated in US. Each condition raising the price for certificate/analysis even more.
- Scoundreller 1y ago> This whole tariff circus boils down to regulatory capture by manufacturers at the 10+-figure market cap scale. Not just manufacturers but retailers/distributors too. Want to be a small time importer/retailer and do international sales online? Good luck!