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When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts

(oldvcr.blogspot.com)
320 points goldenskye | 1 comments | 15 Nov 25 23:55 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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JSR_FDED ◴[16 Nov 25 00:41 UTC] No.45941785[source]▶
Tariffs are great. They protect the struggling domestic IT industry and gives it time to ramp up its production of vintage computer parts.
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WillPostForFood ◴[16 Nov 25 02:55 UTC] No.45942380[source]▶
We need manufacturing in the US. The service economy can't survive long term; you have to make things. Tariffs are not fun, but they are an important part of making that happen.

But, tariffs on used cameras or vintage electronics does not help bring manufacturing back. Let's just bring back the de minimis exemption for things like this. More industry targeted tariffs, fewer blanket tariffs.

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bruce511 ◴[16 Nov 25 04:21 UTC] No.45942742[source]▶
No sure why you are being down-voted. Your argument is coherent and correct.

Targeted tariffs on specific goods leads to the development of local production of that good. Lots and lots of countries have these in place.

Blanket tariffs are, of course, useless. The US doesn't have the climate to grown coffee, so tarifing Brazil serves no purpose other than taxing coffee consumption.

A surgeon uses a scalpel, not an axe. Used well, tariffs are a very powerful tool. Used badly they create more harm, and don't achieve the goal of promoting local production.

Tariffs which are here today, but gone tomorrow, don't created the stable environment which long-term investment in local production requires.

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akadruid1 ◴[16 Nov 25 10:27 UTC] No.45944019[source]▶
By themselves even targeted tariffs don't work. Argentina did not become a mobile phone manufacturing hub.

https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/milei-is-scrapping...

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1. dfadsadsf ◴[16 Nov 25 11:12 UTC] No.45944199[source]▶
Scale of the country matters. If Argentina (or any other small to medium size country) require extra work, businesses can just walk away - size of market does not justify extra efforts. Bet is that US market size is big enough that no global business can afford to walk away. At 20% of global GDP, US markets is also big enough to make scaled production feasible.