Tariffs

[EEVblog]

You may well be right, that this is simply (another) fuck-up by the Trump admin.
But since the net effect of this is probably nil, maybe not anything to get one's knickers in a twist about.
There are bigger fish to fry, as they say ...

Arguing about tariffing Heard Island was never about the financial net effect, it was always about the incompetence of the current administration for making such a dubious decision in the first place.
In other words, if tariffing Heard Island was an obvious stupid idea, what other obvious stupid ideas abound, and more dangerously, what other less obvious stupid ideas have been implemented.
This is not a politics forum so such discussion is beyond the scope of this forum. Nevertheless, such stupidity is surely only the tip of the stupidity iceberg.

Did it ever occur to you that such islands can be used as loopholes to get around tarrifs?
Maybe it's not such a dumb decision, it's just closing a possible loophole. The opposite of dumb, it's very smart, someone was thinking ahead.

Reminds of how the tiny island nation of Tuvalu (population<10k) issues a metric crap ton of official currency numismatic coins (through the Perth Mint mostly). So coins are marked offically in dollars, but they are Tuvalu dollars instead of Australian dollars, and the Tuvalu dollar is pegged to the Australian Dollar.
So it's a neat trick to use Tuvalu as a front for coinage.

[Smoky]

Apple is going to be shipping their phones to India in an attempt to avoid the higher Chinese percentage.

[tggzzz]

You may well be right, that this is simply (another) fuck-up by the Trump admin.
But since the net effect of this is probably nil, maybe not anything to get one's knickers in a twist about.
There are bigger fish to fry, as they say ...

Arguing about tariffing Heard Island was never about the financial net effect, it was always about the incompetence of the current administration for making such a dubious decision in the first place.
In other words, if tariffing Heard Island was an obvious stupid idea, what other obvious stupid ideas abound, and more dangerously, what other less obvious stupid ideas have been implemented.
This is not a politics forum so such discussion is beyond the scope of this forum. Nevertheless, such stupidity is surely only the tip of the stupidity iceberg.

Did it ever occur to you that such islands can be used as loopholes to get around tarrifs?
Maybe it's not such a dumb decision, it's just closing a possible loophole. The opposite of dumb, it's very smart, someone was thinking ahead.

Why pick on that island and not many of the others in a similar (non-geographic) position?

Or maybe it just is very dumb. That would fit in with President Chamberlain's other actions. Occam's Razor applies.

Reminds of how the tiny island nation of Tuvalu (population<10k) issues a metric crap ton of official currency numismatic coins (through the Perth Mint mostly). So coins are marked offically in dollars, but they are Tuvalu dollars instead of Australian dollars, and the Tuvalu dollar is pegged to the Australian Dollar.
So it's a neat trick to use Tuvalu as a front for coinage.

Er, Tuvalu is a nation state with people living in it. Not quite the same as an uninhabited island that is part of a nation state (Australia). Why aren't there especially high tariffs on Rockall?

Here's something that surprised me: Trump appears to be functionally illiterate!

1:50 Karmer pulls an envelope from his pocket. The envelope has already been opened, which is strange since an invitation from King Brian should be delivered unopened. We can infer that the contents has been seen and is known, i.e. no surprises.

2:23 Trump stares at it for a long while. I thought he was reading it.

2:50 Trump comments on the picture, saying the signature is beautiful

3:04 Trump ask Karmer to "say" what's in the letter, and hands it to Karmer to read. Why on earth couldn't Trump read it?!



A quick search indicates many people comment that Trump has difficulty assimilating written information - which is very close to being functionally illiterate.

Gobsmacking. Never thought I'd see that.

[Dundarave]

Did it ever occur to you that such islands can be used as loopholes to get around tarrifs?
Maybe it's not such a dumb decision, it's just closing a possible loophole. The opposite of dumb, it's very smart, someone was thinking ahead.

This is hands down the most hilarious apology for the wackos in the Trump administration that I’ve ever heard.  I suppose discussing war plans in public might also be “not such a dumb decision”, lol.

If the brain trust was that thorough, why didn’t they tariff Russia as well?

[Marco]

I suspect the vast majority of Vietnam's paper exports are Chinese with origin fraud ... came back to bite them.

[EEVblog]

Did it ever occur to you that such islands can be used as loopholes to get around tarrifs?
Maybe it's not such a dumb decision, it's just closing a possible loophole. The opposite of dumb, it's very smart, someone was thinking ahead.

This is hands down the most hilarious apology for the wackos in the Trump administration that I’ve ever heard. 

Do you not understand how loopholes work?
I'm just pointing out it's a possible loophole, and how shutting down a possible loophole could easily be a viable explanation.

[Smoky]

I like the transparency of Trump. I'd like to see live video feeds of the bombings of the Houthis with all of the decision making real-time. Pay-per-view comes to mind except the subscription should be free of charge to American taxpayers

[EEVblog]

Reminds of how the tiny island nation of Tuvalu (population<10k) issues a metric crap ton of official currency numismatic coins (through the Perth Mint mostly). So coins are marked offically in dollars, but they are Tuvalu dollars instead of Australian dollars, and the Tuvalu dollar is pegged to the Australian Dollar.
So it's a neat trick to use Tuvalu as a front for coinage.

Er, Tuvalu is a nation state with people living in it. Not quite the same as an uninhabited island that is part of a nation state (Australia).

It's just a interesting non sequitur that popped in my mind, chill out.

[Smoky]

Starmer, now there's a piece of work, and then there's Rachel from Accounting. Is it really true that the Brits need a license to watch TV?

https://x.com/WallStreetApes/status/1908349090334925126?

[Someone]

Did it ever occur to you that such islands can be used as loopholes to get around tarrifs?
Maybe it's not such a dumb decision, it's just closing a possible loophole. The opposite of dumb, it's very smart, someone was thinking ahead.

This is hands down the most hilarious apology for the wackos in the Trump administration that I’ve ever heard. 

Do you not understand how loopholes work?
I'm just pointing out it's a possible loophole, and how shutting down a possible loophole could easily be a viable explanation.

So more of your guessing (hoping) that there might be something to support your position, but without actually checking the facts?

Australian federal government has specifically worked to not have outlying islands used as tax havens or loopholes. There is no significant trade or holdings in the jurisdictions of the Australian outlying territories.

I did check this, prompted by all the cookers claiming otherwise recently and pointing to the tariffs as "proof" of their unhinged conspiracies.

Or perhaps next you'll tell us there are might be kids in schools using kitty litter? Post truth society where the politics are louder than the facts.

[Analog Kid]

You may well be right, that this is simply (another) fuck-up by the Trump admin.
But since the net effect of this is probably nil, maybe not anything to get one's knickers in a twist about.
There are bigger fish to fry, as they say ...

Arguing about tariffing Heard Island was never about the financial net effect, it was always about the incompetence of the current administration for making such a dubious decision in the first place.

In other words, if tariffing Heard Island was an obvious stupid idea, what other obvious stupid ideas abound, and more dangerously, what other less obvious stupid ideas have been implemented.

Exactly.
Which is the "other fish to fry" to which I referred earlier.

[bdunham7]

Did it ever occur to you that such islands can be used as loopholes to get around tarrifs?
Maybe it's not such a dumb decision, it's just closing a possible loophole. The opposite of dumb, it's very smart, someone was thinking ahead.

That may have been the thought process that led to tariffs on penguins, but I have no idea whether it was smart, dumb or just underinformed.  However, I'm pretty sure it is of very little consequence.  Perhaps it was intended as a distraction, something for the chattering classes to natter about while the world order burns down.

[Andy Chee]

Did it ever occur to you that such islands can be used as loopholes to get around tarrifs?

As I said, the lack of shipping infrastructure at Heard and McDonald means any deliveries purporting to have originated from there, should immediately be flagged as tariff evasion.

Tariff evasion should attract a penalty, NOT merely let through to market with tariff added.

[Andy Chee]

Also in case anyone missed it, Matt Parker's take on the tariff formula:

[TimFox]

I suspect the vast majority of Vietnam's paper exports are Chinese with origin fraud ... came back to bite them.

Most of Nike's shoes are made in Vietnam.

[coppercone2]

we will go back to making shoes in new hampshire like in the jumanji reference material (citation [112])

[Psi]

I'm still waiting for the first complaints to come in.
My website says tax and duty are buyers responsibility but that isn't going to help much.

[sleemanj]

Did it ever occur to you that such islands can be used as loopholes to get around tarrifs?
Maybe it's not such a dumb decision, it's just closing a possible loophole. The opposite of dumb, it's very smart, someone was thinking ahead.

This is hands down the most hilarious apology for the wackos in the Trump administration that I’ve ever heard. 

Do you not understand how loopholes work?
I'm just pointing out it's a possible loophole, and how shutting down a possible loophole could easily be a viable explanation.

If products started arriving "Made by penguins on an uninhabited island" it would be rather obvious that it was fraudulent and denied entry or have penalty rates applied.  Claiming "it's a loophole" is almost as much nonsense as the rates to begin with.

Tariffs are applied based on the country the item was made/assembled in, not from where it was shipped.

Maybe I should shut up and go displace some seals to setup a shipping outpost on Enderby Island to take advantage of the "loophole" left by Trump not listing New Zealand's various uninhabited southern islands.

[tggzzz]

Starmer, now there's a piece of work, and then there's Rachel from Accounting. Is it really true that the Brits need a license to watch TV?

https://x.com/WallStreetApes/status/1908349090334925126?

Americans either pay lots of money to watch TV or watch lots and lots of adverts in programmes controlled by the advertisers.

It is the same in the UK, except we pay less and have some indirect control over the organisation creating the programmes.

The UK has the better deal.

[tom66]

Starmer, now there's a piece of work, and then there's Rachel from Accounting. Is it really true that the Brits need a license to watch TV?

https://x.com/WallStreetApes/status/1908349090334925126?

Americans either pay lots of money to watch TV or watch lots and lots of adverts in programmes controlled by the advertisers.

It is the same in the UK, except we pay less and have some indirect control over the organisation creating the programmes.

The UK has the better deal.

Also, you don't need to pay if you use streaming services (except the BBC's own).  I personally think the BBC should move to a Netflix-type model as broadcast television is 'dying off' - but like everything in politics, these things move slowly.

[tggzzz]

Reminds of how the tiny island nation of Tuvalu (population<10k) issues a metric crap ton of official currency numismatic coins (through the Perth Mint mostly). So coins are marked offically in dollars, but they are Tuvalu dollars instead of Australian dollars, and the Tuvalu dollar is pegged to the Australian Dollar.
So it's a neat trick to use Tuvalu as a front for coinage.

Er, Tuvalu is a nation state with people living in it. Not quite the same as an uninhabited island that is part of a nation state (Australia).

It's just a interesting non sequitur that popped in my mind, chill out.

Nowadays that is an insufficient response, unfortunately and remarkably The problem is that you get too many zealots that latch onto falsehoods and propagate them to the foolish and unwary.

Classic current one in the UK is a religious zealot breaching laws about harassing women outside abortion clinics. She claims denial of free speech, despite being free to do exactly the same a couple of hundred yards up the road. The US Veep and others have amplified the false assertions to whip up unrest.

[Zero999]

Reminds of how the tiny island nation of Tuvalu (population<10k) issues a metric crap ton of official currency numismatic coins (through the Perth Mint mostly). So coins are marked offically in dollars, but they are Tuvalu dollars instead of Australian dollars, and the Tuvalu dollar is pegged to the Australian Dollar.
So it's a neat trick to use Tuvalu as a front for coinage.

Er, Tuvalu is a nation state with people living in it. Not quite the same as an uninhabited island that is part of a nation state (Australia).

It's just a interesting non sequitur that popped in my mind, chill out.

Nowadays that is an insufficient response, unfortunately and remarkably The problem is that you get too many zealots that latch onto falsehoods and propagate them to the foolish and unwary.

Classic current one in the UK is a religious zealot breaching laws about harassing women outside abortion clinics. She claims denial of free speech, despite being free to do exactly the same a couple of hundred yards up the road. The US Veep and others have amplified the false assertions to whip up unrest.

Err she wasn't harassing anyone, but standing quietly. It wasn't as though she was displaying any placards or approaching anyone.

Starmer, now there's a piece of work, and then there's Rachel from Accounting. Is it really true that the Brits need a license to watch TV?

https://x.com/WallStreetApes/status/1908349090334925126?

Americans either pay lots of money to watch TV or watch lots and lots of adverts in programmes controlled by the advertisers.

It is the same in the UK, except we pay less and have some indirect control over the organisation creating the programmes.

The UK has the better deal.

I don't think so.

A good number of Brits also pay more of subscription channels, which are required to watch most live sport.

The problem is the TV licence only pays for the BBC, yet everyone who watches or records TV live, as it's being broadcast, has to pay it. This akin to shopping at Tesco, yet having to pay a government run supermarket for the privilege.

[tggzzz]

Reminds of how the tiny island nation of Tuvalu (population<10k) issues a metric crap ton of official currency numismatic coins (through the Perth Mint mostly). So coins are marked offically in dollars, but they are Tuvalu dollars instead of Australian dollars, and the Tuvalu dollar is pegged to the Australian Dollar.
So it's a neat trick to use Tuvalu as a front for coinage.

Er, Tuvalu is a nation state with people living in it. Not quite the same as an uninhabited island that is part of a nation state (Australia).

It's just a interesting non sequitur that popped in my mind, chill out.

Nowadays that is an insufficient response, unfortunately and remarkably The problem is that you get too many zealots that latch onto falsehoods and propagate them to the foolish and unwary.

Classic current one in the UK is a religious zealot breaching laws about harassing women outside abortion clinics. She claims denial of free speech, despite being free to do exactly the same a couple of hundred yards up the road. The US Veep and others have amplified the false assertions to whip up unrest.

Err she wasn't harassing anyone, but standing quietly. It wasn't as though she was displaying any placards or approaching anyone.

That's the kind of "justification" made by militant Islamists (e.g. Anjem Choudary) preaching their hate in/near mosques.

Both are false, and both need to be stopped before they destroy what we hold dear in the UK.

[Zero999]

Reminds of how the tiny island nation of Tuvalu (population<10k) issues a metric crap ton of official currency numismatic coins (through the Perth Mint mostly). So coins are marked offically in dollars, but they are Tuvalu dollars instead of Australian dollars, and the Tuvalu dollar is pegged to the Australian Dollar.
So it's a neat trick to use Tuvalu as a front for coinage.

Er, Tuvalu is a nation state with people living in it. Not quite the same as an uninhabited island that is part of a nation state (Australia).

It's just a interesting non sequitur that popped in my mind, chill out.

Nowadays that is an insufficient response, unfortunately and remarkably The problem is that you get too many zealots that latch onto falsehoods and propagate them to the foolish and unwary.

Classic current one in the UK is a religious zealot breaching laws about harassing women outside abortion clinics. She claims denial of free speech, despite being free to do exactly the same a couple of hundred yards up the road. The US Veep and others have amplified the false assertions to whip up unrest.

Err she wasn't harassing anyone, but standing quietly. It wasn't as though she was displaying any placards or approaching anyone.

That's the kind of "justification" made by militant Islamists (e.g. Anjem Choudary) preaching their hate in/near mosques.

Both are false, and both need to be stopped before they destroy what we hold dear in the UK.

That's the kind of justification made by totalitarian regimes.

Seriously, have you looked into the story and I mean both sides, not just the Guardian? She was silently praying. It would be different if she she had been approaching women or displayed messages, but no, she wasn't harassing anyone.

The dangerous thing about this law is it affects private property i.e. if ones' house is inside an exclusion zone, then one can be guilty of an offense, even if they're silently in prayer inside their own house.

There was no need for any new laws. Harassment is already illegal.

[PlainName]

She was silently praying.

Wrong:

"Tossici-Bolt had stood with a sign reading: “Here to talk, if you want” facing the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) clinic, which was previously targeted by anti-abortion activists who had gathered nearby before Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council put the order in place."

if ones' house is inside an exclusion zone, then one can be guilty of an offense, even if they're silently in prayer inside their own house.

Wrong:

"Under the Public Order Act 2023, it is an offence for someone to, within this area, do anything that intentionally or recklessly influences someone’s decision to use abortion services, obstructs them, or causes harassment, alarm or distress to someone using or working at the premises."

Trying not to stray into politics, but letting falsehoods go is exactly how conspiracy shit propagates and becomes 'truth'.