Tariffs Catch-All

  • Thread starter Thread starter BubbaOtis
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In fairness, how many of those people voted for Trump? And it's also true that nobody saw 104% tariffs coming. Yes, electing a madman who in his prime was merely an idiot was a terrible, terrible idea, but still -- 104% tariffs are something else.

I feel bad for these small business owners getting crushed, even if they were Trump voters.
 
As many people have pointed out, the problem with this logic is that no company in its right mind is going to invest billions in US manufacturing when the success of that manufacturing is dependent on tariffs which Trump has constantly said are negotiable and therefore may be changed at any moment. You have to believe those tariffs will still be there in 3 years when you're finally ready to ramp up production.

You also have to believe that the next presidential administration won't just tear them up and go back to the way things were.
 
I was thinking about upgrading my cell phone in the fall - are they going to be outrageously expensive by then?
I would upgrade today, but for all i know they already jacked up prices under the guise of tariffs, though the current supply likely had none of the tariffs that went into effect today applied to them. they will eek out profit where they can.
 
In fairness, how many of those people voted for Trump? And it's also true that nobody saw 104% tariffs coming. Yes, electing a madman who in his prime was merely an idiot was a terrible, terrible idea, but still -- 104% tariffs are something else.

I feel bad for these small business owners getting crushed, even if they were Trump voters.
I do recognize there are a lot of people being crushed by this who did not vote for Trump and I have immense sympathy for them. I just can't feel the same way about Trump voters. Maybe this is worse than what they were expecting, but that's what you get when you throw your lot in with an economic terrorist.
 
Assume another day of start green, end red.
No, they just figured out he's an oracle of all knowing stable genius and they just have to listen to him. We should be back to previous highs in no less than 45 years.
 
Can someone explain something to me -- and maybe I need a new thread. Why are distributors taking markups on tariffs?

The value-added by the distributor hasn't changed. If they were adding $20 in value to a $100 product, they are still adding $20 in value for the $150 product. Why should their fee increase by 50% just because the price went up?

This is a way of asking, why do so many businesses accept multiplicative profit margins? I mean, it's a little bit like tipping waiters -- why would you tip the waiter 40% more for the same work just because the food on the plate is being charged more? In practice I tend to accept because why bother fighting (and I suppose this could be the answer above, though it seems like more is at stake there), though I tend to tip higher % at low-end restaurants and less % at higher-end ones.
 
Can someone explain something to me -- and maybe I need a new thread. Why are distributors taking markups on tariffs?

The value-added by the distributor hasn't changed. If they were adding $20 in value to a $100 product, they are still adding $20 in value for the $150 product. Why should their fee increase by 50% just because the price went up?

This is a way of asking, why do so many businesses accept multiplicative profit margins? I mean, it's a little bit like tipping waiters -- why would you tip the waiter 40% more for the same work just because the food on the plate is being charged more? In practice I tend to accept because why bother fighting (and I suppose this could be the answer above, though it seems like more is at stake there), though I tend to tip higher % at low-end restaurants and less % at higher-end ones.
There's no defensible explanation for it, but it's a great example of the compounding impacts of tariffs, which, as you note, operate much like inflation. It's one of the many, many reasons every credible economist thinks what Trump is doing is bat shit crazy. Price fuckery tends to set off doom spirals.
 
Yea because every good electrical know you can run a factory off of a Griswald power outlet.


No need for transformers, switchgear, or other electrical control components for that 480v 20000 amp service.
Right. Trump apparently thinks a factory in Shenzhen can be loaded on a Panamax, along with all its employees, and moved across the ocean to plug into the electrical grid and sewer system in Ogden, Utah.

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Any prediction on how fast people are going to throw money into revamping the coal industry, both mining and coal powered facilities? The ROI on that wouldn't terribly intrigue me if I were an investor.
 
Any prediction on how fast people are going to throw money into revamping the coal industry, both mining and coal powered facilities? The ROI on that wouldn't terribly intrigue me if I were an investor.
Do you have any insight on markups?
 
Do you have any insight on markups?
Oh hell no. The only thing I ever invested in was next week's groceries. I just think trying to revive coal is a classic case of beating a dead horse. The only way it's ever coming back is in a post apocalyptic world.
 
Oh hell no. The only thing I ever invested in was next week's groceries. I just think trying to revive coal is a classic case of beating a dead horse. The only way it's ever coming back is in a post apocalyptic world.
I didn't know if you subcontracted out work. And coal is ridiculous, obviously. It makes sense cost-wise only if you cut out all the pollution costs, which the Administration is trying to do by not enforcing rules about toxic emissions, but presumably those rules will be enforced after the fascists get voted out of office.
 
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