President Donald Trump says he's imposing a 100% tariff on computer chips— a move that raises the specter of higher prices for electronics, autos, household appliances and other essential goods that depend on the processors.
Not correct. Once again, tariffs only affect imported goods. If you buy an iPhone built in China (assuming you import to the US) you’re going to pay a tariff on the device.
If you buy a phone built in America, with Chinese processors, you only pay tariff on the processor.
He meant that this is a disincentive to manufacture a phone in the USA.
Phone built in china: 30% tariff on the total assembled unit (this week is 30% or it changed again?)
Phone built in USA: 30% tariff on all the components because they’re made in China, 100% tariff on the processor, AND spend 1000% more in assembling the device because finding, training and paying skilled workers is way more expensive
Maybe there might be an incentive to move production to a country different from China, but the situation changes too wildly. The risk of spend millions to move production to Vietnam to get a lower rate, then a week later Trump gets diarrhea from eating a bahn mi and imposes an immediate 50% tariff as revenge
What? Are you putting American chips in these phones manufactured in China? Why would you think they wouldn’t be subjected to the chip tariff?
If you manufactured it in the USA there are no tariffs. I don’t know why this is so hard to understand. Manufactured in the USA = no tariffs. Manufactured outside the USA = tariffs. It’s really that simple.
Labor has always been more expensive in the US, that’s why tariffs exist.
The question comes down to whether a phone with a chip in it is subject to the tariff or just raw chips being imported. No one is putting a US chip in it, because US chips don’t exist. The foundries to make them don’t exist.
If the assembled phone is subject to a “phone” or “general” tariff at 30% and not the 100% chip tariff then it incentivises manufacturing in china vs the US is what I think the OP is saying.
tariffs are over the final product, not the individual components inside that product.
For example Ford was making a cargo van in turkey, but thanks to the chicken tax that they themselves lobbied for, a cargo van made in turkey would have a 25% tariff. Solution: make passenger vans in turkey, import them with 0% tariff, then pay an american to remove and send the passenger seats to the landfill and get a cargo van
Ever wondered why converse shoes have felt on the sole? Because in this way they’re “by tariff definition” slippers, and slippers have less tax than shoes.
Because tariffs are crude pieces of legislation. The US can’t make their own phones anyway, even with 1000% china tariffs, for years. You can’t just click your fingers and have manufacturing at that scale and quality exist.
Well if the US manufacturers need to import chips (read: the item proposed to be subject to a 100% tariff) in order to make their phone with a “competitive advantage”, as you’ve claimed above, then the manufacturers will be impacted by tariffs.
That cost then gets passed onto the consumer.
The phone assembled in the US using imported parts is directly impacted by tariffs. Consumers only care about the end price, not who paid what tariff and at which point of manufacturing.
I don’t know how many ways people can explain this to you and you don’t get it. I’m assuming you’re trolling because this is extremely basic stuff.
there’s a youtube video from “smarter every day” that showed his attempt to make something 100% in the USA.
The item was just a barbecue scrubber, with just a few components.
He needed a simple screw… NOBODY made that in the US…
He needed a simple plastic knob… NOBODY made that in the US (he bought 10k “american” knobs but once arrived there was a MADE IN COSTA RICA sign)
He wanted to make injection molds in the US… NOBODY did that, he had to find some retired expert to help him.
So, if you assemble stuff in US, you still need to import EVERYTHING, paying the same tariff and with more expensive labor. Tariffs need to be carefully considered and target a specific item in order to have some positive effect
God, this response is just fucking lazy and boring. You could at least make interesting when you lob ad hominems because you don’t understand the conversation. We were not discussing the merits of tariffs, we were discussing the facts. And the fact is that tariffs only negatively impact imported goods, by nature of being a tariff…
Right, but this tariff, at least as I understand it, is on chips imported as chips, not on products that contain chips. An iPhone will, of course, be subject to some other damn fool tariff, but not this specific one.
Of course, my understanding of this specific tariff may be wrong.
That’s generally how tariffs work. A tariff on grain is not a tariff on bread. A tariff on steel is not a tariff on knives. A tariff on cotton is not a tariff on clothing.
It can be, of course. A tariff can be on steel and items made with steel. But that’s not usually the case, and it’s usually called out as such. Of course, Trump is not what you’d call the most precise communicator in the world, but all we can do is work with what he says.
What he means is, if I buy an iPhone built in China, this tariff won’t affect the price I pay.
But if I buy a phone built in America, with an imported processer, this tariff will make that phone more expensive.
Not correct. Once again, tariffs only affect imported goods. If you buy an iPhone built in China (assuming you import to the US) you’re going to pay a tariff on the device.
If you buy a phone built in America, with Chinese processors, you only pay tariff on the processor.
He meant that this is a disincentive to manufacture a phone in the USA.
Phone built in china: 30% tariff on the total assembled unit (this week is 30% or it changed again?)
Phone built in USA: 30% tariff on all the components because they’re made in China, 100% tariff on the processor, AND spend 1000% more in assembling the device because finding, training and paying skilled workers is way more expensive
Maybe there might be an incentive to move production to a country different from China, but the situation changes too wildly. The risk of spend millions to move production to Vietnam to get a lower rate, then a week later Trump gets diarrhea from eating a bahn mi and imposes an immediate 50% tariff as revenge
What? Are you putting American chips in these phones manufactured in China? Why would you think they wouldn’t be subjected to the chip tariff?
If you manufactured it in the USA there are no tariffs. I don’t know why this is so hard to understand. Manufactured in the USA = no tariffs. Manufactured outside the USA = tariffs. It’s really that simple.
Labor has always been more expensive in the US, that’s why tariffs exist.
The question comes down to whether a phone with a chip in it is subject to the tariff or just raw chips being imported. No one is putting a US chip in it, because US chips don’t exist. The foundries to make them don’t exist.
If the assembled phone is subject to a “phone” or “general” tariff at 30% and not the 100% chip tariff then it incentivises manufacturing in china vs the US is what I think the OP is saying.
Why wouldn’t the tariff apply to chips already in devices? That’s the way its always been discussed.
tariffs are over the final product, not the individual components inside that product.
For example Ford was making a cargo van in turkey, but thanks to the chicken tax that they themselves lobbied for, a cargo van made in turkey would have a 25% tariff. Solution: make passenger vans in turkey, import them with 0% tariff, then pay an american to remove and send the passenger seats to the landfill and get a cargo van
That’s not correct.
That’s how this import tax work.
Ever wondered why converse shoes have felt on the sole? Because in this way they’re “by tariff definition” slippers, and slippers have less tax than shoes.
https://www.upworthy.com/why-converse-have-felt-lining
Because tariffs are crude pieces of legislation. The US can’t make their own phones anyway, even with 1000% china tariffs, for years. You can’t just click your fingers and have manufacturing at that scale and quality exist.
Whether they can or do make their own chips is irrelevant to who is impacted by tariffs.
Well if the US manufacturers need to import chips (read: the item proposed to be subject to a 100% tariff) in order to make their phone with a “competitive advantage”, as you’ve claimed above, then the manufacturers will be impacted by tariffs.
That cost then gets passed onto the consumer.
The phone assembled in the US using imported parts is directly impacted by tariffs. Consumers only care about the end price, not who paid what tariff and at which point of manufacturing.
I don’t know how many ways people can explain this to you and you don’t get it. I’m assuming you’re trolling because this is extremely basic stuff.
Perhaps somehow we still believe he wouldn’t fuck over Americans that much.
There’s chips in everything and they simply won’t be made domestically any time soon.
there’s a youtube video from “smarter every day” that showed his attempt to make something 100% in the USA.
The item was just a barbecue scrubber, with just a few components.
He needed a simple screw… NOBODY made that in the US…
He needed a simple plastic knob… NOBODY made that in the US (he bought 10k “american” knobs but once arrived there was a MADE IN COSTA RICA sign)
He wanted to make injection molds in the US… NOBODY did that, he had to find some retired expert to help him.
So, if you assemble stuff in US, you still need to import EVERYTHING, paying the same tariff and with more expensive labor. Tariffs need to be carefully considered and target a specific item in order to have some positive effect
I don’t understand what any of that has to do with this discussion.
Serious or trolling?
You said:
Then I explained to you why it works like this:
Manufactured in the USA = tariffs and expensive labor.
Manufactured outside the USA = tariffs and cheap labor.
It’s really that simple.
Tariffs on everything is an incentive on manufacturing outside the USA as the supply chain is missing and all the parts need to be imported too.
The story would be different if those were targeted tariffs on specific products. In that case it would work in the opposite way
God, this response is just fucking lazy and boring. You could at least make interesting when you lob ad hominems because you don’t understand the conversation. We were not discussing the merits of tariffs, we were discussing the facts. And the fact is that tariffs only negatively impact imported goods, by nature of being a tariff…
Right, but this tariff, at least as I understand it, is on chips imported as chips, not on products that contain chips. An iPhone will, of course, be subject to some other damn fool tariff, but not this specific one.
Of course, my understanding of this specific tariff may be wrong.
Where do you see that?
That’s generally how tariffs work. A tariff on grain is not a tariff on bread. A tariff on steel is not a tariff on knives. A tariff on cotton is not a tariff on clothing.
It can be, of course. A tariff can be on steel and items made with steel. But that’s not usually the case, and it’s usually called out as such. Of course, Trump is not what you’d call the most precise communicator in the world, but all we can do is work with what he says.
That’s not how tariffs work. You can’t just circumvent them by packaging them differently.
Packaging, no. But manufacturing it into something else, yes.
Do you think a tariff on copper would apply to an iPhone? Or a tariff on oil?
…of course?
Do your iPhones usually take oil? 🤔
What do you think plastic is made from?