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It's wild - tariffs meant to shield U.S. interests end up giving Apple and Foxconn headaches, shifting their entire strategy. Reminds me of closing one door onl

It's wild - tariffs meant to shield U.S. interests end up giving Apple and Foxconn headaches, shifting their entire strategy. Reminds me of closing one door only to notice everyone's sneaking in through the window. Protectionism might feel good, but tech always finds another route around.

brookst 2y ago
I’m skeptical the tariffs were mean to shield US interests rather than just being intended to do exactly what they’re achieving: isolating the US by driving investment and allies away, while contributing to a recession where oligarchs can further consolidate power and wealth. If you look at them as an attack on the US, everything makes a lot more sense.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- __MatrixMan__ 2y ago
  Agreed, it's exactly what I'd do if I wanted the US to withdraw from global relevance.
- 9283409232 2y ago
  This is the correct way of thinking about it. The tariffs aren't meant to drive economic growth, they are meant to tank the economy and drive a wedge between the US and allies. The ultimate goal is to start a recession and an extra bonus goal would be to get US army bases in Europe shut down. That would make Putin extra happy.
- VoodooJuJu 2y ago
  [dead]
- tempodox 2y ago
  Yep, when Trump is through America will lie in ruins.
- oceanplexian 2y ago
  > Isolating the US by driving investment and allies away Foreign government's have an easy solution to solve the problem. Don't unfairly advantage your goods and services against American products and we won't do the same. Free trade shouldn't mean "Free trade for one side". Free trade should be contingent on reciprocity, both in terms of social and economic alignment.
  - BLKNSLVR 2y ago
    Trump signed the trade deal with Canada in his first term. Now he's calling it unfair. Trump stated that the Canadian tariffs were a reaction to fentanyl crossing the Canadian border into the US. That has nothing to do with trade fairness or Canadian protectionism.
  - __MatrixMan__ 2y ago
    ...as mediated by individual buyers and sellers deciding whether they'll pay a price based on the quality of the goods. Not based on some kind of dick waving contest that's happening in the corridors of power. By now it's clear that "fair" in this administration is defined by whoever is the biggest bully in the room, so > unfairly advantage your goods and services against American products is just a fancy way to say: "let us push you around."
  - 3vidence 2y ago
    Ahh yes, America uses tarrifs to force a new trade agreement and then says that trade agreement is bad. The US just isn't planning things anymore and trying to justify it makes people look silly.
- whoisthemachine 2y ago
  I think the idea is definitely to trigger a recession, but I doubt they care about "allies"; this crowd loved the zero-interest rate days. A strong enough recession should bring those back without the drama of the president forcing the fed chief to do so through coercion.
jonplackett 2y ago
They don’t really want to collect tariff $. They want to force production in the US, which the article says is what they are going to do. That’s not a window being jumped through, that’s the intent. Or am I missing something here?
- andrewmcwatters 2y ago
  No, you're not missing anything. That's the intent.
  - 2muchcoffeeman 2y ago
    Is there actually an equitable plan for that? Because everyone I turn around a raid is on then off then on then off.
  - WinstonSmith84 2y ago
    That's the intent ... of the sales pitch, you're meant to believe in, yes. The reality is however quite different. Frankly for tariffs to work, you need a clear battle plan. There isn't any. Chaos has never been good for business and cherry picking one (positive) example isn't statistically relevant either
- tzs 2y ago
  But Trump is also saying that he wants to get rid of income taxes and replace them with tariffs. That suggests that they do want to actually collect tariff dollars long term.
  - c0nducktr 2y ago
    Only if you believe he's being honest.
- Terr_ 2y ago
  > They don’t really want to collect tariff $. [...] Or am I missing something here? You may have missed where Trump and apparatchiks repeatedly stated they want to collect so many billions of dollars from tariffs that it replaces Federal Income Tax. [0] Do they really want that in their souls? With the benefit of the past few years, I say that's the wrong question. Hanlon's Razor [1] fails on some pathological inputs, flavors of bullshit that cause it to time-out and situations where the costly result has no practical value. Sometimes it's just malcompetence. [0] https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/20/economy/trump-abolish-irs/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/20/economy/trump-abolish-irs/ind... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor
m463 2y ago
I think apple still makes the mac pro in the US.

brookst 2y ago

I’m skeptical the tariffs were mean to shield US interests rather than just being intended to do exactly what they’re achieving: isolating the US by driving investment and allies away, while contributing to a recession where oligarchs can further consolidate power and wealth. If you look at them as an attack on the US, everything makes a lot more sense.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
__MatrixMan__ 2y ago
Agreed, it's exactly what I'd do if I wanted the US to withdraw from global relevance.
9283409232 2y ago
This is the correct way of thinking about it. The tariffs aren't meant to drive economic growth, they are meant to tank the economy and drive a wedge between the US and allies. The ultimate goal is to start a recession and an extra bonus goal would be to get US army bases in Europe shut down. That would make Putin extra happy.
VoodooJuJu 2y ago
[dead]
tempodox 2y ago
Yep, when Trump is through America will lie in ruins.
oceanplexian 2y ago
> Isolating the US by driving investment and allies away Foreign government's have an easy solution to solve the problem. Don't unfairly advantage your goods and services against American products and we won't do the same. Free trade shouldn't mean "Free trade for one side". Free trade should be contingent on reciprocity, both in terms of social and economic alignment.
- BLKNSLVR 2y ago
  Trump signed the trade deal with Canada in his first term. Now he's calling it unfair. Trump stated that the Canadian tariffs were a reaction to fentanyl crossing the Canadian border into the US. That has nothing to do with trade fairness or Canadian protectionism.
- __MatrixMan__ 2y ago
  ...as mediated by individual buyers and sellers deciding whether they'll pay a price based on the quality of the goods. Not based on some kind of dick waving contest that's happening in the corridors of power. By now it's clear that "fair" in this administration is defined by whoever is the biggest bully in the room, so > unfairly advantage your goods and services against American products is just a fancy way to say: "let us push you around."
- 3vidence 2y ago
  Ahh yes, America uses tarrifs to force a new trade agreement and then says that trade agreement is bad. The US just isn't planning things anymore and trying to justify it makes people look silly.
whoisthemachine 2y ago
I think the idea is definitely to trigger a recession, but I doubt they care about "allies"; this crowd loved the zero-interest rate days. A strong enough recession should bring those back without the drama of the president forcing the fed chief to do so through coercion.

jonplackett 2y ago

They don’t really want to collect tariff $. They want to force production in the US, which the article says is what they are going to do. That’s not a window being jumped through, that’s the intent. Or am I missing something here?

andrewmcwatters 2y ago
No, you're not missing anything. That's the intent.
- 2muchcoffeeman 2y ago
  Is there actually an equitable plan for that? Because everyone I turn around a raid is on then off then on then off.
- WinstonSmith84 2y ago
  That's the intent ... of the sales pitch, you're meant to believe in, yes. The reality is however quite different. Frankly for tariffs to work, you need a clear battle plan. There isn't any. Chaos has never been good for business and cherry picking one (positive) example isn't statistically relevant either
tzs 2y ago
But Trump is also saying that he wants to get rid of income taxes and replace them with tariffs. That suggests that they do want to actually collect tariff dollars long term.
- c0nducktr 2y ago
  Only if you believe he's being honest.
Terr_ 2y ago
> They don’t really want to collect tariff $. [...] Or am I missing something here? You may have missed where Trump and apparatchiks repeatedly stated they want to collect so many billions of dollars from tariffs that it replaces Federal Income Tax. [0] Do they really want that in their souls? With the benefit of the past few years, I say that's the wrong question. Hanlon's Razor [1] fails on some pathological inputs, flavors of bullshit that cause it to time-out and situations where the costly result has no practical value. Sometimes it's just malcompetence. [0] https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/20/economy/trump-abolish-irs/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/20/economy/trump-abolish-irs/ind... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor

m463 2y ago

I think apple still makes the mac pro in the US.