DigiKey in the news.

[Sorama]

That implies these tariffs were well thought out, or had some official, formal list of products that are or are not exempt.  We all know that isn't the case - its amazing how some still seem to think "these people know what they are doing".

They do - it is just that tariffs aren't their principal objectives. Tariffs are part of Bannon's "flooding the media", i.e. a deliberate distraction.

Tariffs can be reversed instantly, but the other objectives can't.

And those ‘other objectives’ are ?

[Ice-Tea]

The theory is that that racist, bigotted, authoratorian, dictatorial, cold-hearted crap won't get noticed because 'the price of my Shein dress went up'.

I'm not sure if I'd give him enough credit to have that much of a plan, though.

[tggzzz]

That implies these tariffs were well thought out, or had some official, formal list of products that are or are not exempt.  We all know that isn't the case - its amazing how some still seem to think "these people know what they are doing".

They do - it is just that tariffs aren't their principal objectives. Tariffs are part of Bannon's "flooding the media", i.e. a deliberate distraction.

Tariffs can be reversed instantly, but the other objectives can't.

And those ‘other objectives’ are ?

Entirely religious and political, based on the traditional objects of hate of libertarians and religious extremists. Search for MAGA Project 2025 to find assessments like (the BBC's) "It is a 900-page policy 'wish list', a set of proposals that would expand presidential power and impose an ultra-conservative social vision."

Alternatively, watch reliable news reports to see what is being done to health rights and services, scientific research, higher education, and much more.

For one particular part of science that will be unfamiliar to most people here, see Derek Lowe's excellent https://www.science.org/blogs/pipeline , and concentrate on the series marked "The Continuing Crisis". No doubt similar effects are occurring elsewhere.

[tggzzz]

The theory is that that racist, bigotted, authoratorian, dictatorial, cold-hearted crap won't get noticed because 'the price of my Shein dress went up'.

I'm not sure if I'd give him enough credit to have that much of a plan, though.

Trump no. Others, yes.

[EPAIII]

I've said it before. I'll say it again. Trump is a NEGOTIATOR! The tariffs are a NEGOTIATION TACTIC! They are not permanent.

When each of those foreign countries comes to the table and negotiates a DEAL, the tariffs GO AWAY.

First, you gotta get their attention! Even China can't fight it for long. Pure and simple.

[Ice-Tea]

There's two levels to my amazement at people who believe that:

- Firstly, that you believe after this complete clusterfuck there was a well thought out plan
- Secondly, that if this is a negotiating tactic, that he is negotiating for you.

[tom66]

I've said it before. I'll say it again. Trump is a NEGOTIATOR! The tariffs are a NEGOTIATION TACTIC! They are not permanent.

When each of those foreign countries comes to the table and negotiates a DEAL, the tariffs GO AWAY.

First, you gotta get their attention! Even China can't fight it for long. Pure and simple.

China can indefinitely ignore the tariffs, since (a) it's at most 14% of their trade, (b) China thinks long term, POTUS is gone in 4 years if the constitution is to be followed and (c) they have the upper hand here with critical minerals and are not dependent upon America for most technology.

I really don't think it's going to result in manufacturing coming back to the USA.  Those jobs are gone, because China is so much more competitive.  America needs to lower the cost of everything, from rent, to wages, to regulatory expenditure, to compete with China, and I don't think the electorate really wants to deal with those consequences.  It would effectively make the whole country poorer to subside manufacturing.

Still, it's good practice for the US to insist that the capability to do stuff remains onshore, like PCB manufacture.  This can be done by insisting that American defence contractors use American supply chains for instance.  But for consumer goods it's not going to be feasible for all but the most expensive low volume stuff.

[Jeroen3]

What people don't seem to understand is that using tariffs as extortion doesn't work in the long term.
It's not the world of Raymond Reddington.

What should have happened was a certain percentage of tariffs, a reasonable amount so everyone -could- pay that and it doesn't ripple the economy.
That way importing becomes less competitive, either the product is more expensive, or your bottom line gets thinner.
With the income from the tariffs you can fund initiatives for domestic production, eg: startup loans or less taxes.

[watchmaker]

For those who believe Donald is a negotiator, here is a story published by a liberal propaganda rag:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trumps-business-plan-left-a-trail-of-unpaid-bills-1465504454

He is not a negotiator, he is a financial manipulator.

I once hired a landscaper who BRAGGED he was defrauded by Donnie.  Go figure.

[Fflint]

For those who believe Donald is a negotiator, here is a story published by a liberal propaganda rag:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trumps-business-plan-left-a-trail-of-unpaid-bills-1465504454

He is not a negotiator, he is a financial manipulator.

I once hired a landscaper who BRAGGED he was defrauded by Donnie.  Go figure.

He (Trump) said himself he sometimes witholds payments even if the contractors do an ok job. When pressed with specific examples he gave arguments like "they wouldn't have jobs anyway without me" (the Atlantic City project) or when they kept pushing extra undocumented work worth half a million $ onto a Vegas upholstery company and that company later presented bills they tried to weasel out of it with "it's the conttactor's job to have proper receipts". The company was also in tough market position and admitted Trump and Co were their "lifeline". After litigation they got half of the extra money they wanted. Then there is the family run chandelier shop he refused to pay and many others.

There are dozens such stories.

On the other hand he gave 7 examples of vendors "who got paid on time and even got bonuses". Out of these only one company run by a golfing buddy and doing paving on golf courses actually got bonuses and workers got handed extra cash. Others were simply paid on time. 7 companies willing to give you a reference In 50 years in business...

This presents a picture of a man that fucks with people for fun and profit whenever he thinks he can get away with it and occasionally throws someone a bone when it has to do with his hobby (golfing).

There are a lot of nasty fu**ers in construction. I know I've self built my house, half a mile of roadway, and a number of other adjacent buildings from nothing (literally an empty field when I bought it with no services). For the first few months of it I was doing it remotely only visiting once every few weeks. I had quite a few contractors trying to take a piss.

But at the same time one can make great deals without being a scumbag oneself. I'm quite proud that I've probably spent substantially less than half of what a "typical cost"  on labour would be. But I didn't have to defraud anyone to do it. The way I've done it is I took on people that were pretty fresh in their careers or they really needed to be paid throughout the job, they needed accommodation or they needed to work non standard hours etc. It exposed me to slightly higher level of risk. No one wants to be stuck with a job half done having paid for half. It is very hard to get anyone to continue such a thing.

That's where your real business skills come in. To minimise chances you'll be taken on for a ride and to cut off anyone at the slightest sign of it happening. Also to keep notice of what is being done and when even when physically far away to not allow shoddy work to be done and hidden.

[Analog Kid]

I've said it before. I'll say it again. Trump is a NEGOTIATOR! The tariffs are a NEGOTIATION TACTIC! They are not permanent.

When each of those foreign countries comes to the table and negotiates a DEAL, the tariffs GO AWAY.

First, you gotta get their attention! Even China can't fight it for long. Pure and simple.

China can indefinitely ignore the tariffs, since (a) it's at most 14% of their trade, (b) China thinks long term, POTUS is gone in 4 years if the constitution is to be followed and (c) they have the upper hand here with critical minerals and are not dependent upon America for most technology.

A friend recently returned from a trip to China.
Discussing trade and tariffs, he told me, "we're (the US) much more dependent on China than they are on us".
A basic thing the Trump fanbois seem to miss.

[alex843]

Despite how much everyone is complaining about the affect of tariffs on Digikey I expect that the changing tariffs will benefit them greatly in the long run.  Right now some countries are charging up to 90% tariffs on the importation of American made goods from US based companies

Most imports, including big ticket items like cars, computers and electronics have a zero tariff rate in my country, so I don't see how these changing tariffs will benefit us in the long run.

The whole tariff thing is being used to negotiate a fairer* balance of trade for the US.

I'm sure we all want a fairer system. Right now, farmers in my country who receive no subsidies, compete against US farmers who are highly subsidised.
We are all looking forward to fairer trade with no subsidies or tariffs.

[Fflint]

Despite how much everyone is complaining about the affect of tariffs on Digikey I expect that the changing tariffs will benefit them greatly in the long run.  Right now some countries are charging up to 90% tariffs on the importation of American made goods from US based companies

Most imports, including big ticket items like cars, computers and electronics have a zero tariff rate in my country, so I don't see how these changing tariffs will benefit us in the long run.

The whole tariff thing is being used to negotiate a fairer* balance of trade for the US.

I'm sure we all want a fairer system. Right now, farmers in my country who receive no subsidies, compete against US farmers who are highly subsidised.
We are all looking forward to fairer trade with no subsidies or tariffs.

As an European ... In a country that would have half of its farming gone overnight if not for subsidies (both national and EU) I think subsidies to local industry and farming have nothing to do with fairness. Also subsidies on their own are definitely not enough. It is too big of a subject to explain here.

Historically we always had lots of small farms and small farms are not very profitable. A large percentage are run by people like my neighbours that have 10ha of hay and a normal job in the city. They do farming as a hobby of sorts. The subsidies they get (couple of hundred Eur per hectare per year) make them basically break even or have a tiny profit.

Here a 100ha is a big farm. And 300ha+ farms are heavily regulated so they don't cause environmental issues. At the same time food prices and quality is good enough for me.

I fully support a portion of my taxes supporting beneficial local farming practices so if another pandemic or war happens we have continued food security and good quality. But they must be beneficial and impossible to game.

As for the Chinese. I also have zero problems with them supporting their industry or putting barriers on foreign ownership of business. What I do have a problem with is stealing IP which they did a lot of.

If we are stupid enough to elect politicians that don't work to preserve our industry it is our fault, not countries that subsidise theirs. And no, tarrifs are not an answer. What is? Preferential treatment of local companies and products in government procurement (including the military). And I don't mean companies that slap "Made in X" where X is their home country on stuff they got built in China for them. No I mean true local manufacturing.

Historically after the initial industrial revolution, there wasn't much industry that just "appeared" thanks to market forces. In my own country all the biggest mines, ports, steel mills and such were all created directly or heavily promoted by the state (including decades before the communism). 90% of them were sold for scrap or destroyed during a brief time of truly free market conditions that happened in early 90s when the state was essentially bankrupt and couldn't support them. Also people were sold the idea of "privatisation" that basically meant selling everything to foreign competition that immediately liquidated everything. The result? Mass unemployed and destruction of industry.

In modern times take a country like Taiwan. Do you think they could become a global leader in semiconductors without their government subsidising it a lot? No way.

We need smart long term policy not "I'm gonna fix it in one day" recipes.

[SiliconWizard]

True, but again, weren't semiconductors supposed to be exempted anyway?

That implies these tariffs were well thought out, or had some official, formal list of products that are or are not exempt.  We all know that isn't the case - its amazing how some still seem to think "these people know what they are doing".

That's an opinion, but that doesn't answer my question.
Tariffs are applied in practice according to strict written rules. They are not applied at random when a product is imported. Whether you find that those rules are stupid is another matter.

So, are semiconductors currently exempted or not?

My point was - there are no "strict written rules".  Sure, historically that has been the case, but its pretty clear the current aministration makes things up as they go along, unaware of they are actually doing, or the consequences. What makes you think there exists a nice neat, clear list of products that are exempt?

But that's an opinion again. You decided that the US have no rules or no law? I don't know.

Maybe you can have a look there:
https://hts.usitc.gov/

[UnijunctionTransistor]

First, you gotta get their attention! Even China can't fight it for long. Pure and simple.

Is that a fact? Or is that only your MAGA-influenced opinion? Answer: it is only an opinion. Other people above have explained the reasons.  But the most important is that in this high stakes poker game, China is holding a better hand. Trump is bluffing, China knows that.

[KE5FX]

I've said it before. I'll say it again. Trump is a NEGOTIATOR! The tariffs are a NEGOTIATION TACTIC!

Exactly.  Just like preparing multiple variants of a proposal to help frame and anchor the discussion, taking the time to understand the stakeholders' interests, motivations, and expectations, placing a box of fresh donuts and coffee at your adversaries' end of the table, and a live grenade at your own end.  They are all NEGOTIATION TACTICS. 

That last NEGOTIATION TACTIC will make everyone else gang up against you the moment your back is turned, of course.

[themadhippy]

Appears trumps  tariffs are really hitting china hard ,exports to the usa fell by 20% compared to a year ago, and its total exports ROSE by 8.1%.

[UnijunctionTransistor]

20% of 14% of its total exports, is exactly how much, 2.8% of China’s total exports?

Yeah, they are really hurting. Big time.