4 ms·

My friends in the midwest say that there's actually exemptions on tariffs when it comes to buying the manufacturing equipment itself, to avoid the issues you're

My friends in the midwest say that there's actually exemptions on tariffs when it comes to buying the manufacturing equipment itself, to avoid the issues you're talking about. I think generally it's also a good thing that Americans are buying less - statistically, more stuff is made overseas than domestically. Those same friends expect purchase amounts to increase once America starts producing more on its own.

1121redblackgo 1y ago
Big if on that last sentence.
- Spartan-S63 1y ago
  Indeed. With the future of the tariffs in some question with the upcoming SCOTUS case, why would any business choose to invest in manufacturing here when the barriers might be gone in a few months (or mid-next year if SCOTUS slow rolls a decision until the end of their session)?
  - isleyaardvark 1y ago
    Or tomorrow since Trump has gone back and forth on specific tariffs
projectazorian 1y ago
> My friends in the midwest say that there's actually exemptions on tariffs when it comes to buying the manufacturing equipment itself, to avoid the issues you're talking about. This is a massive hand-wave and only applies to companies that have an in with the administration. If you're a small/medium-size business that doesn't have a budget for "government relations," or you're in a field like renewable energy or EVs where the admin doesn't like the vibes? Too bad for you. > Those same friends expect purchase amounts to increase once America starts producing more on its own. Yes they will, and aggregate output will decrease because producers are now spending more money on worse domestic substitutes for foreign products. Also, you're now shoveling corporate welfare to those new domestic producers, so they have no incentive to step up their game and innovate. (If you want an example of this look at the consistent failure of US automakers to compete globally, because tariffs incentivize them to optimize for building pickup trucks domestically.) Import substitution has been tried many times before, it doesn't work.
- red_rech 1y ago
  [dead]
- aurizon 1y ago
  Customs has detailed processes that track cars etc that travel back and forth a few times as parts are added that tracks the value add/country made in this production process - it adds cost and often the new tariffs are quite large and must be paid on the spot and brokerage process is far more detailed = adds fees$$
- kjellsbells 1y ago
  I really liked Ronald Reagan's comments on tariffs and fair trade from way back. Good reading in these times. https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/radio-address-nation-free-and-fair-trade-4 https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/radio-address-... Hell, even the Heritage Foundation thought NAFTA was a good idea instead of tariffs: https://www.heritage.org/trade/report/the-north-american-free-trade-agreement-ronald-reagans-vision-realized https://www.heritage.org/trade/report/the-north-american-fre...
  - johnnyanmac 1y ago
    There's a lot I read about in 2025, but I do not recall anything about tarriff policy. This one is all on Trump and "Ron Vaara".
  - isleyaardvark 1y ago
    Adam Smith wrote about it at length so it’s been known since before economics became a field of study
    - mothballed 1y ago
      I enjoyed Bastiat's indictment http://bastiat.org/en/petition.html http://bastiat.org/en/petition.html The question, and we pose it formally, is whether what you desire for France is the benefit of consumption free of charge or the alleged advantages of onerous production. Make your choice, but be logical; for as long as you ban, as you do, foreign coal, iron, wheat, and textiles, in proportion as their price approaches zero, how inconsistent it would be to admit the light of the sun, whose price is zero all day long!
Der_Einzige 1y ago
Tariffs are all political bluster and theater anyway. The more I researched the realities of tariffs on the ground, the more I realized that international trade is a giant grift for everyone. No one is honest about what is in those shipping containers (and no one wants to check). The longshoremen and their unions are corrupt AF and shouldn't even exist, let alone make more than google engineers. No one is honest about reporting what their goods are on customs forms. As of last time I checked, effective tariffs on GPUs and other important semis was actually slightly lower than under Biden. Not defending Trump but saying that what the executive says and what actually happens are different universes in regards to trade. Oh and BTW, there's a whole parallel court system related to trade in the USA which does all the boring work of adjudication related to implementation of trade. No normie knows these guys exist and they are the reason that you can safely ignore whatever nonsense percentage trump says outloud next. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Court_of_International_Trade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Court_of_Interna... also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_International_Trade_Commission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_International_Tr... Also I buy a lot of clothes which are "made overseas" (Bronsen, soso, unbranded brand) which seems to have dodged the tariffs (Bronsen prices didn't even go up and they're made in china!!!) or made in the USA/Canada but with overseas material, i.e. Naked and Famous. In theory my clothes prices should have doubled or more. In practice almost nothing happened.
- queenkjuul 1y ago
  Longshoremen absolutely deserve more than Google engineers, of this I'm completely certain
  - mothballed 1y ago
    They probably do, but after their little stunt where their mafia boss, whoops, I mean union representative went on TV bragging he would "cripple" the economy -- all the while talking about how broke he is while wearing a rolex and gawdy gold chain -- yeah I'm not terribly surprised the common American has grown to absolutely hate the longshoreman union.
queenkjuul 1y ago
I'm in the Midwest and your friends don't know what they're talking about. Hazarding a guess, they assume things will just work because their team is in power. Most people on both sides are in denial about the situation, frankly. But hey, maybe 30 years from now, your friends will be right about America producing more.

1121redblackgo 1y ago

Big if on that last sentence.

Spartan-S63 1y ago
Indeed. With the future of the tariffs in some question with the upcoming SCOTUS case, why would any business choose to invest in manufacturing here when the barriers might be gone in a few months (or mid-next year if SCOTUS slow rolls a decision until the end of their session)?
- isleyaardvark 1y ago
  Or tomorrow since Trump has gone back and forth on specific tariffs

projectazorian 1y ago

> My friends in the midwest say that there's actually exemptions on tariffs when it comes to buying the manufacturing equipment itself, to avoid the issues you're talking about. This is a massive hand-wave and only applies to companies that have an in with the administration. If you're a small/medium-size business that doesn't have a budget for "government relations," or you're in a field like renewable energy or EVs where the admin doesn't like the vibes? Too bad for you. > Those same friends expect purchase amounts to increase once America starts producing more on its own. Yes they will, and aggregate output will decrease because producers are now spending more money on worse domestic substitutes for foreign products. Also, you're now shoveling corporate welfare to those new domestic producers, so they have no incentive to step up their game and innovate. (If you want an example of this look at the consistent failure of US automakers to compete globally, because tariffs incentivize them to optimize for building pickup trucks domestically.) Import substitution has been tried many times before, it doesn't work.

red_rech 1y ago
[dead]
aurizon 1y ago
Customs has detailed processes that track cars etc that travel back and forth a few times as parts are added that tracks the value add/country made in this production process - it adds cost and often the new tariffs are quite large and must be paid on the spot and brokerage process is far more detailed = adds fees$$
kjellsbells 1y ago
I really liked Ronald Reagan's comments on tariffs and fair trade from way back. Good reading in these times. https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/radio-address-nation-free-and-fair-trade-4 https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/radio-address-... Hell, even the Heritage Foundation thought NAFTA was a good idea instead of tariffs: https://www.heritage.org/trade/report/the-north-american-free-trade-agreement-ronald-reagans-vision-realized https://www.heritage.org/trade/report/the-north-american-fre...
- johnnyanmac 1y ago
  There's a lot I read about in 2025, but I do not recall anything about tarriff policy. This one is all on Trump and "Ron Vaara".
- isleyaardvark 1y ago
  Adam Smith wrote about it at length so it’s been known since before economics became a field of study
  - mothballed 1y ago
    I enjoyed Bastiat's indictment http://bastiat.org/en/petition.html http://bastiat.org/en/petition.html The question, and we pose it formally, is whether what you desire for France is the benefit of consumption free of charge or the alleged advantages of onerous production. Make your choice, but be logical; for as long as you ban, as you do, foreign coal, iron, wheat, and textiles, in proportion as their price approaches zero, how inconsistent it would be to admit the light of the sun, whose price is zero all day long!

Der_Einzige 1y ago

Tariffs are all political bluster and theater anyway. The more I researched the realities of tariffs on the ground, the more I realized that international trade is a giant grift for everyone. No one is honest about what is in those shipping containers (and no one wants to check). The longshoremen and their unions are corrupt AF and shouldn't even exist, let alone make more than google engineers. No one is honest about reporting what their goods are on customs forms. As of last time I checked, effective tariffs on GPUs and other important semis was actually slightly lower than under Biden. Not defending Trump but saying that what the executive says and what actually happens are different universes in regards to trade. Oh and BTW, there's a whole parallel court system related to trade in the USA which does all the boring work of adjudication related to implementation of trade. No normie knows these guys exist and they are the reason that you can safely ignore whatever nonsense percentage trump says outloud next. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Court_of_International_Trade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Court_of_Interna... also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_International_Trade_Commission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_International_Tr... Also I buy a lot of clothes which are "made overseas" (Bronsen, soso, unbranded brand) which seems to have dodged the tariffs (Bronsen prices didn't even go up and they're made in china!!!) or made in the USA/Canada but with overseas material, i.e. Naked and Famous. In theory my clothes prices should have doubled or more. In practice almost nothing happened.

queenkjuul 1y ago
Longshoremen absolutely deserve more than Google engineers, of this I'm completely certain
- mothballed 1y ago
  They probably do, but after their little stunt where their mafia boss, whoops, I mean union representative went on TV bragging he would "cripple" the economy -- all the while talking about how broke he is while wearing a rolex and gawdy gold chain -- yeah I'm not terribly surprised the common American has grown to absolutely hate the longshoreman union.

queenkjuul 1y ago

I'm in the Midwest and your friends don't know what they're talking about. Hazarding a guess, they assume things will just work because their team is in power. Most people on both sides are in denial about the situation, frankly. But hey, maybe 30 years from now, your friends will be right about America producing more.