From a purely political perspective, if you oppose the US tariffs as a US resident, should you buy or avoid buying products subject to tariffs?

Submitted ⁨⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨zkfcfbzr@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨nostupidquestions@lemmy.world⁩

Just curious about how this works out. At scale, would either decision make any sort of impact? I know most people, including me, will end up avoiding heavily tariffed products out of personal financial reasons. But in theory, would US residents buying or not buying tariffed products be the larger anti-tariff statement? I feel like the obvious answer is “only buy tariffed products” which is why I chose this community but I’m not entirely certain.

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0ops@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I’m just trying to keep my spending minimal in general

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Objection@lemmy.ml ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
If you have an option that doesn’t involve giving money to the US government you should probably do that. You’re not going to own them by giving them cash.

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gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I’m buying local as much as I can, and am avoiding buying stuff from red states as much as I can.

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RymrgandsDaughter@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Don’t buy anything just go to local markets

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- meekah@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Ah yes, local markets, where nobody is trying to sell anything
  
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  - RymrgandsDaughter@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    😒 I’ll sell you a heated blanket out of my trunk for 35$
    
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RBWells@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I don’t see how buying or not buying is going to hit the guy who is doing this.

As long as you aren’t buying trump-coins or whatever they are called, or a Tesla.

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LovableSidekick@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Money is the best reason to avoid heavily tariffed items. In fact, if you really want to make a political statement with your buying habits the responsible way to do it would be to research which companies are throwing money at MAGA to encourage tariffs to make their own products cheaper than foreign goods, and avoid buying from those companies. But most people are going to follow straight-line meme-brain logic and go, “Tariffs bad, boycott stuff with tariffs!” as if the tariffs make the seller evil.

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LovableSidekick@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Neither. Nobody selling a product is to blame for tariffs on the product, and selling it isn’t a political statement. Shop according to your budget like always. Tariffs might mean you have to do without some of your preferred things for a while, like war rationing did in WWII. Just hang in there, neither tariffs nor MAGA will last forever.

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Chemo@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Buy it later, if possible. Companies abroad are well aware that costumers won’t buy their products while tariffs are in place. But it’s very likely that those tarrifs will end or be massively reduced after some weeks or months. Buy it then and those companies can sell those products to you just like nothing happened. They can wait some time, it doesn’t really matter to them when you buy it.

The same goes off course for buying before the tarrifs take effect. Like apple fans are right now emptying the iPhone shelfs, before the tarrifs hit the component imports from China.

Of course that only works with certain products, that you can actually afford to wait for.

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- dnick@sh.itjust.works ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Which is exactly why the tariffs are stupid at one more level. The only thing they’re good for in theory is to level the playing field for non-tariffed products, to make them competitive to make ‘here’, but no company in it’s right mind is going to invest in the infrastructure it’s meant to drive knowing they aren’t guaranteed in the slightest.
  
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LordGimp@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Buy used. You can’t put tariffs on used goods.

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Treczoks@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
For Americans, it is nearly impossible to escape the tariffs. Either somethig is imported directly, or key ingredients to it are imported. This will be a blood bath.

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barneypiccolo@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Good luck being naked and starving.

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- LilB0kChoy@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Those two are easy. Thrift stores and farmers markets.
  
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  - SwingingTheLamp@midwest.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    You get thrown out of a farmer’s market if you show up naked, though. Probably thrift stores, too.
    
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General_Effort@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I don’t think you have the choice. Products that aren’t imported are made with parts that are imported. In fact, there will be products that have several layers of products in them, for example cars. Parts are made, assembled into bigger parts and ever bigger pats, and may cross the mexican or canadian border each time.

These tariffs are a monumental act of economic self harm. That’s what the stock market is saying. Stocks have (rational) value because you are entitled to a share of future profits. The stock market crashing tells you that the pros expects that a lot of value is not going to be created. Trillions of dollars will not be paid out to stock-owners, and further trillions will not be paid out as wages. The real wealth that is the other side of that money - all these new goods, cars, phones, TVs, dishwashers … - will not exist in the USA.

So, don’t worry about hitting them in the wallet.

If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a ball sack—for ever.

Maybe watch out for products from Russia and Belarus, as they are not included in the tariffs. This may start a new era of economic cooperation; putting the US in USSR. Ironically, Russia is still hit hard because of oil taking a nosedive.

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vvilld@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Honestly, as an individual there really isn’t much you can do with your purchasing power about it.

Next national day of protest in April 19. Find the largest one you are able to attend and join in.

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- hobovision@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  That link is just awful. Very difficult to tell where events are or how big they will be.
  
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- partial_accumen@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  As an individual, you take your purchasing power and can go to that other country and spend your money on services and consumables there, and not bring any goods back. That would be tariff free.
  
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  - vvilld@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Because that’s realistic advice. You have money for be to buy a plane ticket every time I need groceries? Who’s going to fund everyone moving to another country? You got that kind of money? Because I don’t.
    
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GrumpyDuckling@sh.itjust.works ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Full economic boycott to teach these mooks a hard lesson. Buy used, including car parts and cars. Switch to a local credit union. Pay cash whenever possible so the cc companies don’t get their cut. Buy from locally owned places, but they could be owned by one of the nutters. Sell your unwanted items or give them to worthwhile charities or directly. Go to your library and cancel streaming services.

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- letsgo2themall@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  this is what I’m doing. I’ve canceled every account I have except Costco. No amazon, no walmart, no microsoft, no netflix. I can sew so I’m fixing my clothes instead of buying. Keeping my 2009 car. I buy food, beer, and gas. Cash only. Vote with your wallet.
  
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NaibofTabr@infosec.pub ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Always buy local if you can. It has the lowest climate impact.

Even buying a less-green local product vs. a more eco-friendly import might have less climate impact due to resource extraction, production in areas with possibly less environmental protection regulations, and above all shipping.

Climate cost-benefit outweighs all other arguments for rational people.

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fubo@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
As an individual? Don’t worry about it; show up at your local protest on the 19th.

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adespoton@lemmy.ca ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
If you buy products subject to tariffs, on the one hand that puts money into the hands of the federal government to mismanage. On the other hand, it helps out Americans and foreigners who are being negatively affected by the government’s antics.

Personally, I’d recommend just ignoring them where possible and avoiding them where necessary.

For people outside the US: find alternatives, especially to products produced in Republican states.

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