News Tech giants call Trump tariffs 'big headache

[Admin]

Foxconn CEO Young Liu claims major tech partners consider navigating Trump's tariff plays a "big headache" in an earnings call this week.

Tech giants call Trump tariffs 'big headache : Read more

 

[davisch]

I think that's the point of tariffs. They are meant to inconvenience both the consumer and producer of foreign goods, trying to steer people to produce and consume domestic goods, which it can tax, while collecting tax revenue on foreign purchases. The government wins either way. Usually, governments impose tariffs on goods that already have substantial domestic production, like car parts and wine, not things like computer chips.

I don't agree with heavy-handed governance tactics, like tariffs. Government meddling in markets tends to lead to black markets and crime rings because people are just that way. They want what they want and they will find a way. That said, tariffs are actually very common across the world. We just don't hear about them very often because of political politeness.

 

[Notton]

I think that's the point of tariffs. They are meant to inconvenience both the consumer and producer of foreign goods, trying to steer people to produce and consume domestic goods, which it can tax, while collecting tax revenue on foreign purchases

The producer is not inconvenienced by tariffs all that much.
A government can collect revenue from sales of a foreign goods within its own borders with.... a sales tax.
The only persons who get the short end of the stick are the consumers.
And it's a double whammy if the parts are purchased abroad, but are assembled in the USA because the factory/builder is going to pass the extra cost on consumers.

Lastly, it doesn't help that the implementation is bonkers and changes by the day.

 

[phead128]

US labor wages is orders of magnitude more costly than other countries labor wages, so the tariff needs to be very high to force manufacturing to return to US, otherwise they just move to Mexico, Indonesia, Vietnam, etc... You still have a trade deficit, just moving it to a different low-cost supplier, doesn't solve the job issue.

Also, it takes on average 1 year to build a factory, and 2-3 years to scale up production. Trump will be long gone before you even remotely see the benefit.

 

[blppt]

"Trump will be long gone before you even remotely see the benefit."

Maybe. He's already been teasing a 3rd term.

I agree though---the reason why long term plans cannot be enacted in this country is that the party in power changes all the time, but really, I'm not sure there are any good solutions to that problem.

 

[alrighty_then]

The tariffs bring financial pain, higher costs, and uncertainty - in the short term. But they also bring back jobs that were never coming back any other way to America. Such is the deal.

I just wish I had predicted people would pearl-clutch in reaction to the uncertainty and I could have profited more off the stock market drop!

 

[davisch]

A government can collect revenue from sales of a foreign goods within its own borders with.... a sales tax.

Yes, but why settle for a sales tax when you can have that and payroll, property, corporate, etc. taxes or the tariff on top of it? Like I said, It is garbage market meddling to appear virtuous to a voting base. All presidents do it and by some strange luck, their peer-group happens to get rich in the process. Its just louder now, so we're forced to be more aware of our government's misdeeds. I just wish people would be more upset in the off-season (when their preferred guy is in office) instead of cheerleading the consolidation of power that will inevitably be used to their displeasure during the next cycle.

 

[phead128]

But they also bring back jobs that were never coming back any other way to America.

It didn't work in the first tariff war during Trump's first term.

Trump's first-term tariffs reduced total manufacturing employment by a net 2.7% (source)

 

[blppt]

But they also bring back jobs that were never coming back any other way to America. Such is the deal.

That's the thing though, unless you have a person and party in power longer than 4-8 years, you simply cannot push that massive a change. So, what is far more likely to happen is that we get hit with the tariff penalty now for basically nothing.

And if you think people are going to put up with significantly higher prices for these onshore products you weren't paying attention to what caused the last administration's downfall.

 

[JayGau]

"The US government's unpredictability flummoxes many of the tech top dogs."

There is currently no US government. It's like you take out all the top admins of a company and replace them with some monkeys that just destroy the office's furniture and computers. During the first Trump's term, the monkeys were being kept in cages and watched by more or less responsible people. This time around they are completely loose and free to do anything they want, and after only two months it's already a nightmare.