• intensely_human@lemm.ee
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    48 minutes ago

    Yes. We will pay for the tariffs.

    American companies will pay for the tariffs, and then we the consumers who buy their products will pay for the tariffs via price increases.

    This is money that we will invest. It is a tax. It is the government causing us to spend more money.

    It is not a usual tax in the sense of money paid to the IRS. But it is an economic cost that we will pay in order to support a government policy.

    The cost is paid to enact a certain outcome. The outcome is less importing of goods, and more of those goods being provided by sources within our borders. It will cost money to make this change. That cost will be paid by us.

    We are being forced to pay money to enact a policy. That’s how it’s essentially a tax.

    Except this policy is basically:

    • More stuff that American consumers consume, will come from American companies
    • There will be more manufacturing capability to meet this demand
    • There will be more demand for American labor, improving the lives of American workers
    • We will be more militarily capable due to being able to build more things in-house

    That is a set of changes being targeted by this policy. We will pay for this policy by paying higher prices. The intention, the hope, is that the policy will pay for itself in terms of the third bullet point: more manufacturing in America means more jobs for Americans. More demand for American stuff means better bargaining position for American workers, means more income.

    In the short term it’ll suck. Just like any other heavy tax can suck in the short term, before the benefits can manifest and make it worth it.

  • archonet@lemy.lol
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    27 minutes ago

    So nice of them to say this after the orange fuck was elected. Heaven forbid they tell their customers that when their customers could actually do something about it.

    • acrayclay@lemmy.world
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      3 minutes ago

      What incentive do they have to tell people that ahead of time? Instead of propping up the prices by 10% to deal with the tariff they can increase it by 20% and pocket the extra, then blame it on China. Worked during the Covid inflation, why wouldn’t it work now?

  • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
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    36 minutes ago

    Don’t worry, at least Americans are, on average, in possession of endless piles of extra money after the last decade. Elon says it’s time for all of us to tighten our belts. We’re just so fat with all that money we’ve all been saving!

    I’m so glad he and the other rich chucklefucks trickled so hard on us.

  • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    48 minutes ago

    idk why anybody is surprised, republicans are still going to lie about it, they will never admit how tariffs work, they are simply incapable.

  • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
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    7 hours ago

    It doesn’t even matter:

    https://www.axios.com/2024/11/18/consumer-confidence-trump-republicans-white-house

    Turns out, a lot of consumer mood is literally just people’s social media feeds. Even if prices go up and QoL goes down, on average, consumers might feel better simply because Trump being in office makes them feel good.

    I am not going to point out how monumentally problematic this is… Nope. There’s definitely no bad precedent for that.

  • JaggedRobotPubes@lemmy.world
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    5 hours ago

    Trump almost has it. If he can just be a slightly bigger ass on a slightly bigger stage, then he’ll be happy.

    Musn’t give up too soon.

  • Revan343@lemmy.ca
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    4 hours ago

    Yes, this is not news. News is supposed to be new information, this is entirely well known information, which stupid people just didn’t care about

    • Jode@midwest.social
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      1 hour ago

      I’m sitting here waiting for black Friday deals on lifep04 batteries for my solar setup. Fuck knows those are going to double in price when ding dong gets his hands on the levers.

    • Revan343@lemmy.ca
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      4 hours ago

      Meanwhile, in Canada, I’ve been meaning to build a raid 6 with 4TB drives. With any luck, as imports into your country drop, prices in my country will drop as well

      • Default_Defect@midwest.social
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        6 hours ago

        I just upgraded my GPU even though I wanted to wait until the new stuff drops, but I can’t risk getting boned by tariffs and/or scalpers.

  • yarr@feddit.nl
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    7 hours ago

    Folks, listen closely, okay? Nobody understands tariffs better than me. Believe me, they’re tremendous, tremendous tariffs. And now Walmart – yes, Walmart, great company, big stores, huge – they’re telling you that YOU, the great American people, will be paying for these tariffs. And you know what? That’s fantastic news. Incredible. Let me tell you why.

    First, it’s about sacrifice. The greatest country in the world doesn’t rise without its amazing, hardworking patriots chipping in a little bit more. And trust me, when you pay a little extra at Walmart for your cheap, uh, Made-in-China toasters, you’re not just buying a toaster. You’re buying FREEDOM, folks. You’re sticking it to the Chinese economy. No one else could get that deal done, okay? Only me.

    Second, we’re BUILDING here, okay? When American families dig a little deeper into their pockets, that’s money going back into our economy. It’s like… MAGA economics, so smart you wouldn’t believe it. All of a sudden, Americans will say, “Hey, why am I buying Chinese stuff? Let’s buy American!” And BOOM – jobs. Factories humming. Steel, coal, maybe even wood, I don’t know. Beautiful stuff.

    Third, let’s talk winning. When we pay these tariffs – our tariffs – we’re showing the world who’s boss. China thinks they’re so smart. So clever. Well, joke’s on them. We’re so good at tariffs, we’re making YOU pay them instead of them. Genius move, right? They won’t even know what hit them. Tremendous strategy. They’re probably shaking in Beijing.

    And look, folks, I hear you. “But sir, sir, what about the prices?” And I say this: are you willing to pay a little more at Walmart to make America the GREATEST it’s ever been? I think you are. And if you’re not, then maybe you like China too much. Sad!

    So remember, every time you spend a little extra at Walmart – and it’s a GREAT store, by the way, I love it, fantastic – just think of it as making a donation to America. To freedom. To ME – your favorite president – who is bringing the best tariffs, the best deals, and the best America you’ve ever seen.

    God bless tariffs. God bless Walmart. And God bless the United States of America. MAGA!

  • cultsuperstar@lemmy.world
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    7 hours ago

    Hearing more and more stories about companies cutting bonuses this year so they can buy more supplies now at cheaper prices. They know the prices will go up and they’ll have to pass the increase to the consumers. But how much you wanna bet these companies will still raise prices even before they have to pay their tariff increases? They’re gonna get extra money on the supplies they paid the lower prices on.

    • h0rnman@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      5 hours ago

      I saw it explained best like this

      Current imported price: $30

      Current locally made price: $35

      New imported price: $70

      New locally made price: $69.99

      • shalafi@lemmy.world
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        2 hours ago

        Locally made still won’t happen.

        Say you’re an businessman who’s been manufacturing in China. Excel shows that you can make the same product in America for less than the post-tariff cost. Sound good?

        But you’re not stupid. You know the tariffs will end up wildly unpopular and fuck up the economy. A) Why keep producing when people won’t be able to afford your goods? And more importantly, you want to be left holding the bag with your shiny new American factory when the tariffs are repealed?

        • h0rnman@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 hour ago

          Oh for sure, I should have clarified that I was really speaking to the products that already have a US-based manufacturing presence and already have to compete with imports. Ramping up domestic production on things that aren’t already manufactured here because of the demented ramblings of a guy who (ostensibly) won’t be around in 4 years is just asking for your business to go under

    • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.world
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      5 hours ago

      …This is just normal basic business economics.

      Your retail price is not predicated on what you paid to produce or obtain the product, it’s based on what you expect to have to pay to produce or procure the next one.