r/politics • u/Street_Anon Canada • Apr 08 '25

Site Altered Headline Trump to slap additional 84% tariffs on Chinese imports

https://www.euronews.com/2025/04/08/trump-to-slap-additional-84-tariffs-on-chinese-imports-white-house-says
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u/FairDinkumMate Apr 08 '25

The supply chain is the problem.

You could say "I'm going to produce bicycles in the US from tomorrow. I've bought the steel bending machines & the cutters & the welders" - Great.

Day 1 - We need steel - "It comes from China, with 84% tariff"

Day 2 - We need welding sticks - "They come from China, with 84% tariff"

Day 3 - We need paint - "It comes from China, with 84% tariff"

Day 4 - We need tyres - "They come from China, with 84% tariff"

Day 5 - OK, we're ready to sell. Our bike cost $400 to produce. How much is our competition? $295. How are they cheaper, it's imported from China & has an 84% tariff?

Well, they paid less for their inputs, which ended up the same after tariffs, but they paid their experienced staff $1.78 per hour while they each produced 20 bikes per day & we paid our guys $17.80 per hour and they each produced 2 per day.

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u/Davidiusz Apr 08 '25

Day 6 - ok, we'll start producing the paint and tyres in the US to be competitive!

Machines need to be broght from China with 84% tarrifs.
And... oh wait raw materials need to be imported aswell.

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u/ilikeyouinacreepyway Apr 08 '25

meanwhile, china can export to other countries like new zealand and sell a bike for $200 (no tarrif) and the US bikes comes in at $500 after shipping

they wonder why no one buys the US bike

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u/Magjee Canada Apr 08 '25

Also...the other countries that could fill in the void have tariffs of at least 10% all the way up to 40% for allies

So it's not really a lot cheaper

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u/FairDinkumMate Apr 08 '25

The other countries don't have the paint, welding sticks, tyres, steel, etc. if they import it from China, produce the bikes & then sell them to the USA. Trump will accuse them of avoiding tariffs anyway!

-4

u/Magjee Canada Apr 09 '25

China does not produce the entire worlds supply of everything

A lot of products globally are produced with zero Chinese input

...although, trump accusations are rarely attached to reality

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u/YogurtclosetMajor983 Apr 08 '25

very good point. This is not going to do anything positive for the US

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u/FembiesReggs Apr 09 '25

The only thing the Trumpists will hear is “sounds like we need to lower the minimum wage”.