Re: PING! Michael

On Sat, 23 Nov 2024 18:26:57 +0000, dsi1 wrote:

On Sat, 23 Nov 2024 1:49:18 +0000, Michael Trew wrote:
>

On 11/22/2024 12:08 PM, Cindy Hamilton wrote:

On 2024-11-22, Carol <cshenk@virginia-beach.com> wrote:

Michael Trew wrote:

>
I shouldn't think that import tariffs will affect the price of
butter, unless it's butter from Europe, which is already sold at a
premium here.

>
I think the idea is 'buy American'.  Butter is mostly made here for our
markets.

>
Yeah, let us know how 'buy American' goes.  We just don't have factories
making stuff anymore.  People will pay the tariffs and inflation will
rise.

>
I guess the hope is that by making foreign parts unreasonably expensive,
it will become less expensive to start manufacturing them over here
again.  Apparently, since the microchip shortage, new factories are
being built somewhere vaguely near Leo's part of the US so we can make
our own semiconductors.
>
Recently, I bought a 1965 Packard Bell color television console.  It was
all made in the USA, in Los Angeles.  It's a wonder that it found its
way to the east coast all of these years later.  I like the round color
picture tube with the corners cut off, it's so quaint.
>
Sorry for the DSI1 style slide off-topic, but I guess my point is that
we could make our own televisions and electronics in the US again, like
we did in the "good 'ole days".

>
Mahalo for dragging my ass into this discussion. Tariffs make sense for
some items. Electric cars from China, for instance. The cars are so
cheap that they could destroy American car manufacturing. A 20% tariff
would be fine. The money collected by the government could be used to
pay for my SS payments, or education, or to supplement gas taxes. People
would still buy Chinese cars even with a 20% premium. It's a win-win
situation. Of course, you can forget about any notions of this country
being a free market economy.
>
I don't want no stinkin' American made TV. Paying more for a product
that's not made in this county anyway is dumb.

And that crummy ancient Packard - Bell color TV cost at least $5K in
today's money...
This has been explained to Trew several times, but I guess he still
wants to live in 1955 World, where the costs of even basic consumer
items (and food) were sky - high compared to today...
That's why Mom collected Green Stamps for a whole year in order to get a
basic percolator, whereas a decent coffee maker today can be had for
twenty bux or so... that 1955 percolater was like $300.00+ in today's
money...
Peeps don't wanna live in 1955 World - or even 1970 World, it was a
relatively materially poor way to live compared to today...
IIRC the last US - made domestic TV's were made by Sony and RCA c. 1990
or so... then they moved production to Mexico, and then that production
was moved to China...
BTW, the US has paid *more* in tariffs under Biden, than under Trump, as
BIden did not remove the tariffs when he entered office...
" The Biden administration has maintained Mr. Trump’s tariffs, but it
has gradually wound down the exclusions processes for China tariffs,
while continuing to grant them for tariffs on steel and aluminum... "
Also, companies can get tariff exemptions:
Trump’s Trade Agenda Could Benefit Friends and Punish Rivals
Donald Trump has a record of pardoning favored companies from tariffs.
Companies are once again lining up to try to influence him.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/23/us/politics/trump-tariff-
exemptions.html
"The sweeping tariffs that President-elect Donald J. Trump imposed in
his first term on foreign metals, machinery, clothing and other products
were intended to have maximum impact around the world. They sought to
shutter foreign factories, rework international supply chains and force
companies to make big investments in the United States...
But for many businesses, the most important consequences of the tariffs,
enacted in 2018 and 2019, unfolded just a few blocks from the White
House...
In the face of pushback from companies reliant on foreign products, the
Trump administration set up a process that allowed them to apply for
special exemptions. The stakes were high: An exemption could relieve a
company of tariffs as high as 25 percent, potentially giving it a big
advantage over competitors...
The most prolific single requester, Alloy Tool Steel, put in nearly
40,000 requests for exclusions...
In his first term, Mr. Trump imposed tariffs of as much as 25 percent on
more than $300 billion in Chinese goods, and 10 percent to 25 percent on
steel and aluminum from a variety of countries, including Canada, Mexico
and Japan...
This time, Mr. Trump has threatened to impose a 60 percent tariff or
more on China, and tariffs of 10 percent to 20 percent on most other
countries. He has also suggested targeting particular companies or
industries...
It remains unclear which of these plans he intends to follow through on,
and he has not clarified whether he would once again offer companies
exclusions from the tariffs. On Friday, Mr. Trump announced that he had
picked Scott Bessent, a billionaire hedge fund manager, as his Treasury
secretary. Mr. Bessent has described Mr. Trump’s tariffs as a
negotiating strategy to secure better free trade deals, suggesting he
may favor a less aggressive tariff policy...
“It is, in my view, becoming the way you do business,” Ludmilla Kasulke,
a partner at Squire Patton Boggs, said. She said companies were
preparing themselves to make the best of whatever tariffs and exclusions
might be available...
“Businesses and stakeholders are going to be thinking about — should be
thinking about — where those various pivot points are going to be, where
they have an opportunity to make their case,” she said..."
--
GM