Comment on Trump says he plans to put a 100% tariff on computer chips, likely pushing up cost of electronics
artyom@piefed.social 3 weeks agoWe were not discussing driving up prices, we were discussing tariffs on American products, which don't exists, because that's not how tariffs work.
can@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
This feels like semantics. Sure, domestically made products wouldn’t have tariffs directly applied. But they will still increase in price as a result of this policy.
Which most of us here have reduced to “prices will rise on USA made products as a result of these tariffs”.
So yes, tariffs aren’t applied to domestic productions directly, but the end product will still cost more and the reason will be the tariffs.
I think we agree now, yes?
artyom@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
This is not semantics. The statement was "this will only affect goods manufactured in the US". No amount of semantics will make that correct.
Otherwise yes, I agree.
To expand slightly, I don't think tariffs are a inherently a bad idea. As part of a larger plan (in tandem with Biden's "build back better" financial incentives and other measures) they can be effective. Yes, they will increase prices. That's going to happen simply because the US generally doesn't exploit exploit cheap/slave labor. At least nowhere near the level of China. In the long term, theoretically, it brings jobs back to America and the median income increases. If you want to talk about affordability there are an infinite number of ways to improve that as well.
However, the way Trump has implemented them is haphazard, lazy, and unclear. Without even a concept of a plan. And the next President could very well wipe them all out overnight, thereby fucking any factories that made the decision to migrate. So yeah, they will absolutely fail.