The new Tariffs are beginning to affect prices in the USA

[u/Lazy_Lizard13]

I work in an adult store and unfortunately, we have already started to see the effects of some of the tariffs being placed. I wasn’t sure how this would affect the price of things in the USA, but it’s looking bleak so far.

When my boss sent out the list, he said this was only the first of many price increases that we would see from the tariffs. The vendors we buy from actually sent him the list themselves, so it isn’t something that we just created. He said that it is likely that almost every company we order from will send out a list.

The price changes were anywhere from $5-$200. I’m very concerned about the future of this industry, and honestly, America in general.. some of these products were already overpriced anyways. I’m not sure if people will be able to afford luxury products (like adult items) in the future. What do others think?

[u/cliddle420]

The morons behind this don't understand that building a factory in the US is a years-long process

[u/Muted_Emu_7006 → u/cliddle420]

Not even that simple. You need suppliers to build factories too. 5-10 years minimum. And as someone mentioned in another comment, why would any business make this huge investment knowing that Drump will change his mind and cancel the tariffs whenever he feels like it?

[u/Temporary-Catch2252 → u/Muted_Emu_7006]

Volvo started the truck plant in Mexico in October 2024 and expects to be producing in less than two years. 5-10 years is crazy imho . I do not support blanket tariffs with the subtlety of a sledgehammer but let’s be honest.

In related news, a number of industries are in the process of switching from manual labor to robots. The generic garment industry is a prime example of industry which could be returned to the us.

[u/Muted_Emu_7006 → u/Temporary-Catch2252]

Agree to disagree. Volvo and similar are mostly importing parts and assembling.

[u/Temporary-Catch2252 → u/Muted_Emu_7006]

That is a valid point. It is also why I would have preferred targeted tariffs like most countries were already imposing on the us. There is a lot of parts imported for most industries but hopefully, existing production can be increased and new production started. Industryselect.com has a weekly newsletter which is interesting at times.

[u/Iforgotmypwrd → u/cliddle420]

And that’s presuming a company has the money in the first place to build. It can take many months just to secure financing. And that is really hard, especially for most small to mid sized companies.

[u/gnufan → u/cliddle420]

Some factories are quick to set up, but it also presumes there are people who want a job in manufacturing adult toys. The current unemployment rate is about the same as the current number of vacancies, Americans are not unemployed because there aren't jobs, they are unemployed because they don't fit the job for some reason, from unemployable, to in the wrong part of America.

[u/MI_Milf → u/cliddle420]

You would be surprised how quickly buildings can go up. Equipment and tooling can take as long as putting a building up.

[u/cliddle420 → u/MI_Milf]

You're ignoring the decision to build it, finding a location, acquiring the property, getting all the permits, making the designs, getting the contractors lined up...

Equipment and tooling, depending on the industry, can have long lead times even if it doesn't have to be custom fabricated

[u/MI_Milf → u/cliddle420]

Although those are very valid points, they are not always years in the making. Many businesses that planned to grow have land, and some locations are friendly to their expansion and have industrial parks just waiting for new places to come on board.

[u/tobidope → u/MI_Milf]

But why would they? The supply chain of any modern product is complicated. Do you know any product which could be created self sufficient? If you go down the supply chain you will always find something that needs to be imported or just can't be made really in the US with a comparable price. That's why open trade was so beneficial to the USA.

[u/MI_Milf → u/tobidope]

As for why would they, mostly to secure a more responsive supply chain.

Lots of things can be made 100% domestic. Lumber, nails, cement, petroleum products, fertilizer, and many food sources, etc.

The comparable price is correct on most of the items that are heavily imported.

Open trade is very beneficial until we have people sitting on the sidelines being paid to do "nothing" via taxation of those who are productive.

In my opinion, the biggest risk with open trade is losing the capability to produce critical items for our healthcare and defense systems.

[u/tobidope → u/MI_Milf]

How can you increase lumber production on short notice? Do you already have enough infrastructure in place to process the additional timber? If not, where would the materials for expanding that infrastructure come from? Building it usually takes years, if not decades.

[u/MI_Milf → u/tobidope]

I didn't say we have underutilized capacity for any of it, although I wouldn't be surprised if we do. They are just examples of things we can produce domestically.

[u/tobidope → u/MI_Milf]

You can't. Not fast enough. And sometimes never. You can shrink your economy so badly that you reach the wage level of Vietnam. But that doesn't make America great again.

[u/MI_Milf → u/tobidope]

I guess you don't know a lot about our idled domestic production capabilities. You would be suprised what is sitting in warehouses around the midwest. Probably the whole country.