Tariffs

[tautech]

I'm sure the tariffs will all get sorted eventually. So far, the media FUD that we'd be deep in recession by now hasn't come to fruition.
As of today, the news says the US economy is going great.  I'm sure there will remain media that say "But but, it won't last.", and maybe that's true.

I don't see any relevance to the current US work on adjusting trade to enhance the global stance of any other nation. Those ships sailed a long time ago, and the US isn't alone in putting the wind in those sails.

How many nations stand up to OPEC nations on anything enough to stop importing oil?  Or should we stop buying anything from China due to human rights or other issues?

As far as the politics in the US. Both political parties are responsible for the vast swings between proposed leaders.

The conversations continue, and people continue to talk past each other. No one seems to be interested in the facts about why President Trump was elected.
Those were: Immigration, economy, security, and can easily be represented by the price of eggs and a gallon of gasoline, and the availability of housing. Eggs and gas are now nearing new lows, and the latest news shows housing prices are coming down.

These things have enormous and outsized impacts on the budgets of vast numbers of Americans, and you can bet they are pleased with the results so far.  They also couldn't care less about buying some trinket from another nation, and the shipping or import tariffs that they aren't paying.

Nearly every "trinket" the US consumer might buy is made in another country, in most cases, China.
Such "trinkets" include microwave ovens, phones, TVs, & almost every other non-consumable thing a household might want.
Back in the day, the USA made all those things, but most of the grand old company names that made them have disappeared, with their brands whored off to China!

I have a different view in that the production was shifted offshore for namely just one thing, PROFIT !
The US made their own bed and now don't wanna lie in it.

Profit yes, just as you do in your business. The world lies in this offshoring dynamic together. Let’s not selectively blame the US.

I'm not, only pointing out history and the Gubbermint decisions that allowed it to happen at the cost of local employment vs keeping shareholders happy whereas investment in new technologies could have stemmed the tide along with local protection from cheap imported products decades ago.

Many western countries have followed this sad road for the cost of jobs.
My situation is somewhat different in that no local equipment is produced therefore we must import it all and our NZ Tariff rates reflect there is no local business to protect and sets a 0% tariff on the range of goods we import.
Not all imports are 0% and indicate which local business requires protection for one reason or another.

We are fortunate not to have a rogue bull in a china shop smashing policy that has been decades in the making.

[Monkeh]

Duties are to be collected prior to goods entering the US

Unwilling to accept the cost of collecting their own taxes, they pass it on to other countries.. who will, of course, simply pass it back to the customer in the US.

[Cyclotron]

These issues around shipping are due to the elimination of the de minimis exemption.

I’m what many may call affluent. This issue sucks for me and those like me. I enjoy getting a luxury item from overseas. I liked that I could find chips not readily available in the US and import them cheap. But again, these are luxuries for me and many others I’m sure. The vast majority of the US do not do these things or have not previously till some online shops popped up.

This issue around the de minimis exemption will impact sellers like Dave, buyers like me. But most of the US will remain completely oblivious to it.

[floobydust]

We are so dumb, just be a parasite and reap rewards:

"When you use your Zonos Verified account, you can expect the following:
$1.99 remittance fee: A flat charge for transferring the duties and taxes you collect to CBP.   
10% of calculated duties (disbursement and bond fee): A service fee based on the total duties owed. This covers the cost of advancing the duties on your behalf and providing the required customs bond.  "

edit: Canada Post is advocating Zonass as well as Australia

[Cyclotron]

[
My situation is somewhat different in that no local equipment is produced therefore we must import it all and our NZ Tariff rates reflect there is no local business to protect and sets a 0% tariff on the range of goods we import.
Not all imports are 0% and indicate which local business requires protection for one reason or another.

We are fortunate not to have a rogue bull in a china shop smashing policy that has been decades in the making.

The choices are yours and I’m not sitting in judgement. There was this argument in this thread recently that the US actions were enabling “China”. The choices in businesses to purchase from such places can be convicted no matter the lack of local competition. If we all used our wallets where we often find our moral compasses pointing we all might not be here.

[vk6zgo]

Nearly every "trinket" the US consumer might buy is made in another country, in most cases, China.
Such "trinkets" include microwave ovens, phones, TVs, & almost every other non-consumable thing a household might want.
Back in the day, the USA made all those things, but most of the grand old company names that made them have disappeared, with their brands whored off to China!

I have a different view in that the production was shifted offshore for namely just one thing, PROFIT !
The US made their own bed and now don't wanna lie in it.

Indeed they did, as did Australia & most other Western countries.

[vk6zgo]

[
My situation is somewhat different in that no local equipment is produced therefore we must import it all and our NZ Tariff rates reflect there is no local business to protect and sets a 0% tariff on the range of goods we import.
Not all imports are 0% and indicate which local business requires protection for one reason or another.

We are fortunate not to have a rogue bull in a china shop smashing policy that has been decades in the making.

The choices are yours and I’m not sitting in judgement. There was this argument in this thread recently that the US actions were enabling “China”. The choices in businesses to purchase from such places can be convicted no matter the lack of local competition. If we all used our wallets where we often find our moral compasses pointing we all might not be here.

Unfortunately, we often have no choice. The decision to outsource is made at management level in those companies which previously manufactured.

[tautech]

[
My situation is somewhat different in that no local equipment is produced therefore we must import it all and our NZ Tariff rates reflect there is no local business to protect and sets a 0% tariff on the range of goods we import.
Not all imports are 0% and indicate which local business requires protection for one reason or another.

We are fortunate not to have a rogue bull in a china shop smashing policy that has been decades in the making.

The choices are yours and I’m not sitting in judgement. There was this argument in this thread recently that the US actions were enabling “China”. The choices in businesses to purchase from such places can be convicted no matter the lack of local competition. If we all used our wallets where we often find our moral compasses pointing we all might not be here.

Unfortunately, we often have no choice. The decision to outsource is made at management level in those companies which previously manufactured.

Yes but there are always choices and the right ones for any country need be set in place by Gubbermints for the good of the ppl, not just the corporates driven by profit.

If we are to look close at local manufacturing the tax take is much higher with all the snips at the manufacturing chain not just the one on corporate profits.

[wilfred]

If we all used our wallets where we often find our moral compasses pointing we all might not be here.

Morality has nothing to do with it. It might have if we were talking about under-the-counter tax-free cigarettes smuggled into the country by organised crime syndicates or stolen goods. But consumers exercising their free right to by goods at a price that suits them is an economic, not moral choice.

Business responds to consumer sentiment and the desire to increase profit for shareholders. They have no other reason to exist. Sure they can exercise some social discretion but even that will not go beyond what shareholders will accept. It will still have to have some offsetting benefit to the business in terms of community goodwill and profits.

If the community wants more then they can pressure their elected representatives to legislate for it.

But these days a fair proportion of the community has superannuation retirement funds that benefit from profitable businesses.

We are were we are in Australia, America Canada, Europe and every other western country over the past 50 years precisely because we took choices we thought were sensible at the time. America could've tariffed TV imports in the seventies to protect it's domestic manufacturing from cheap imports being dumped into the market. That would have been a good use of tariffs. But they didn't. American auto manufacturers could've have made cars at higher quality that consumers wanted to buy but they didn't. The Japanese did and then the Koreans and now the Chinese are doing it.

[Cyclotron]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cnv7l575lgeo

Somewhat balanced article. The de minimis exemption allowed sellers to import goods into the US without the duties and fees that domestic sellers have to deal with when importing the same goods.

Companies like Temu that recently sprang up were killing even the mega retailers like Walmart. The exemption elimination goes some way to solving this by making both Temu and Walmart pay the same duties and fees. These mega retailers like Temu are the reason for the elimination of the loophole. Can some sort of rule eventually be crafted to allow de minimis exemptions, given some quantity levels?  Probably too complex.

Most of these goods are non-essentials. It will have an outsized impact on boutique and small companies outside the US trying to capitalize on what was a duty-free market. I'm not even sure how taxes were handled in some of those cases or even if they were.

[Cyclotron]

If we all used our wallets where we often find our moral compasses pointing we all might not be here.

Morality has nothing to do with it. It might have if we were talking about under-the-counter tax-free cigarettes smuggled into the country by organised crime syndicates or stolen goods. But consumers exercising their free right to by goods at a price that suits them is an economic, not moral choice.

I believe you've missed the point. People claim that the orange guy has done "X", and this has enabled China to be more successful. This implies that China's prosperity is wrong. The articles suggest that China's influence in LATAM is bad. The majority of the reason I read that people think China is bad is due to their politics, treatment of humans, and various activities over time that are less than acceptable to people's moral views. 

This is the source of my statement about using your wallet aligned with these moral beliefs.

[tggzzz]

Update on Australia Post US tariff shipments:
...
    Once postal services resume, you will need to set up a Verified Account with Zonos®
...

I suspect the "verified" will have some possible unpleasant side effects. A very quick glance reveals a "Zonos Tax Id", and in the UK that requires having a business VAT number.

If someone sells something on fleabay using GSP, I wonder whether the individual or fleabay has to have that account.

[tom66]

I have a different view in that the production was shifted offshore for namely just one thing, PROFIT !
The US made their own bed and now don't wanna lie in it.

Profit, maybe, but also consumer demand.  There are some made-in-USA appliance brands, but when you can ship something from China and get it into a big box store for 25% less than the American-made competitor then you're going to struggle as that native manufacturer to compete with the offshored brands. 

You could ban those or tariff those competitors, but the other countries that want to access your market won't like that, and so they will probably respond in kind by blocking your imports too.  And that will hurt your native suppliers even more. 

Really, there is no good outcome in that tit for tat kind of trade policy, if you want to maintain these skills and a native engineering/manufacturing industry, either people must value your home-made brands more ("I'm buying an American pick up truck instead of a Japanese one because 'murica, better build quality, and it suits my needs more", etc.)

...or you subsidise those industries, e.g. CHIPS Act, or insist that products that get subsidies are made wholly or partially in the USA, like the Fed tax credit on EVs for instance, which had at one point a requirement for (IIRC) 66% of the battery to be made in the USA, which functionally meant only Tesla and some GM vehicles got it, or things like requiring gov't contractors to build x% inside the USA.

I don't really think T understands this, though.  He's playing the game like a mobster, not a businessman.

[tautech]

I have a different view in that the production was shifted offshore for namely just one thing, PROFIT !
The US made their own bed and now don't wanna lie in it.

Profit, maybe, but also consumer demand.  There are some made-in-USA appliance brands, but when you can ship something from China and get it into a big box store for 25% less than the American-made competitor then you're going to struggle as that native manufacturer to compete with the offshored brands. 

You could ban those or tariff those competitors, but the other countries that want to access your market won't like that, and so they will probably respond in kind by blocking your imports too.  And that will hurt your native suppliers even more. 

Really, there is no good outcome in that tit for tat kind of trade policy, if you want to maintain these skills and a native engineering/manufacturing industry, either people must value your home-made brands more ("I'm buying an American pick up truck instead of a Japanese one because 'murica, better build quality, and it suits my needs more", etc.)

...or you subsidise those industries, e.g. CHIPS Act, or insist that products that get subsidies are made wholly or partially in the USA, like the Fed tax credit on EVs for instance, which had at one point a requirement for (IIRC) 66% of the battery to be made in the USA, which functionally meant only Tesla and some GM vehicles got it, or things like requiring gov't contractors to build x% inside the USA.

I don't really think T understands this, though.  He's playing the game like a mobster, not a businessman.

Consumers typically want just one thing, cheaper but not always given a choice.

Trade and local production tariff protectionism can be at loggerheads with one another but with care they don't have to be. One can easy clip the ticket to keep offshore and local goods price differential low yet still protect local and give buyers choice.

On a Shenzhen trip 1 year ago we were amazed to see the prevalence of EV's which according to statistics are 53% of Chinese cars yet 1 in 10 was a Tesla...yes apparently they have an assembly plant in China yet with the tariff burden their exports now have, I wonder how popular they might be now.

Tit for tat tariffs is one thing but when you hurt the ppl that are shelling out coin for your country's product it's hardly surprising Musk has broken close ties with the bull in the china shop.

[wilfred]

If we all used our wallets where we often find our moral compasses pointing we all might not be here.

Morality has nothing to do with it. It might have if we were talking about under-the-counter tax-free cigarettes smuggled into the country by organised crime syndicates or stolen goods. But consumers exercising their free right to by goods at a price that suits them is an economic, not moral choice.

I believe you've missed the point. People claim that the orange guy has done "X", and this has enabled China to be more successful. This implies that China's prosperity is wrong. The articles suggest that China's influence in LATAM is bad. The majority of the reason I read that people think China is bad is due to their politics, treatment of humans, and various activities over time that are less than acceptable to people's moral views. 

This is the source of my statement about using your wallet aligned with these moral beliefs.

With what I hear of late about goings on in America there seems to be a rapidly diminishing gap between how China conducts its affairs and how America is. If America can deport one citizen without due process they can not lay claim to a firm stance on the moral high ground.

China became more successful through American policies long before Trump. That was not an accident. America is ruthless in developing policies that suit its own interests. Just because what once suited the purpose  no longer does is not the fault of China. China is not without blame for doing the same either. China has structural problems which will slow its growth in the near future. Namely a rapidly aging population much as Japan has gone through in the last twenty years. Declining birth rates in the first world countries is putting the brake on growth and will continue to do so. Immigration was one way for countries to bolster the younger demographics and attempt to forestall the effect of a declining working age populace. Trump's immigration policies suit his support base now but will come back to bite them for sure.

Trump is merely accelerating the decline of the American Empire. Comparing to historical timeframe for prior empires to collapse I have heard 80 years quoted. How much quicker it actually happens is going to be something to watch. Whether it is debt or internal conflict or the rise of an external power who can say.

[Zero999]

If you read the article you linked to, you'll find it's not just the current administration who have made mistakes: "In Guyana, the world’s newest petro state, the Biden administration blocked $180 million in infrastructure financing through the Inter-American Development Bank." I could mention other things such as pushing US liberal values onto socially conservative countries, but it's off topic.

Yes tariffs are bad and the rhetoric doesn't help, "Shit hole countries" but it's more complicated than that.

Good. We agree.

I don't know why you hallucinated I thought other US administrations hadn't caused problems; I implicitly implied they had. But T'rump has exacerbated the problems, and now the Chinese give T'rump nicknames indicating he is building the Chinese nation.

  Writing T’rump is a symptom of TDS, hence why it seems as though you’re just blaming the current administration.

[krish2487]

The majority of the reason I read that people think China is bad is due to their politics, treatment of humans, and various activities over time that are less than acceptable to people's moral views. 

This is the source of my statement about using your wallet aligned with these moral beliefs.

Well, clearly such people would not ever elect a convicted rapist, cheat, tax dodger, insurrectionist, fascist, authoritarian, dictatorial, mud slinging turd and more to power now would they... (twice)

(to say nothing about the way immigrants are being treated and how their rights and due process are thrown out of the window by ICE... you know.. treatment of humans as you put it)

gasp!!!

What does that say about the wallets and the moral compass of those who elected him to power? and which of them is skewed?

Also, Trump has had very very little to do with China's growth till he came into power for the second time. Those are the results of decades of west outsourcing to China.
Thats is the point others were making elsewhere in the thread.

What Trump is definitely responsible is for the consolidation of their (China's) soft influence in the east by alienating every other country with these stupid tariffs.
Whats the saying.. the enemy of my enemy is my friend...

[tom66]

Writing T’rump is a symptom of TDS, hence why it seems as though you’re just blaming the current administration.

No, it's not.

Trump derangement syndrome is the attitude that everything Trump or his administration does is somehow harmful.  I may not like Trump but even I can admit some of his actions have been positive, in a sea of otherwise bad decisions.

Merely refusing to spell his name correctly simply shows a lack of respect for the man... and given he seemingly has an utter lack of respect for nearly everyone but him, I think it's pretty fair.

[tggzzz]

Well, clearly such people would not ever elect a convicted rapist, cheat, tax dodger, insurrectionist, fascist, authoritarian, dictatorial, mud slinging turd and more to power now would they... (twice)

...

What Trump is definitely responsible is for the consolidation of their (China's) soft influence in the east by alienating every other country with these stupid tariffs.
Whats the saying.. the enemy of my enemy is my friend...

You omitted "draft dodger". T'rump used the traditional "bone spurs" excuse.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/26/politics/trump-bone-spurs-vietnam-war
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/02/27/trumps-lawyer-no-basis-for-presidents-medical-deferment-from-vietnam/

[Zero999]

Writing T’rump is a symptom of TDS, hence why it seems as though you’re just blaming the current administration.

No, it's not.

Trump derangement syndrome is the attitude that everything Trump or his administration does is somehow harmful.  I may not like Trump but even I can admit some of his actions have been positive, in a sea of otherwise bad decisions.

Merely refusing to spell his name correctly simply shows a lack of respect for the man... and given he seemingly has an utter lack of respect for nearly everyone but him, I think it's pretty fair.

When someone starts flinging around terms like T'rump and big orange man, it gives the impression they're being overly emotional, rather than objective.

fascist, authoritarian, dictatorial, mud slinging turd and more to power now would they... (twice)

What a load of nonsense. There are valid criticisms of Trump but being fascist is not one of them. He's said he's fine with same sex marriage, which is not a fascist position.

The Biden regime was quite authoritarian, the way they censored social media, much more so than Trump.

Objectively speaking, the Chinese government are far more far more fascist, authoritarian.

I can definitely see why they voted for Trump, rather than Kamala Harris who just came across as a complete idiot with no redeeming factors. The Democrats seriously messed up by putting forward such a poor candidate.

Well, clearly such people would not ever elect a convicted rapist, cheat, tax dodger, insurrectionist, fascist, authoritarian, dictatorial, mud slinging turd and more to power now would they... (twice)

...

What Trump is definitely responsible is for the consolidation of their (China's) soft influence in the east by alienating every other country with these stupid tariffs.
Whats the saying.. the enemy of my enemy is my friend...

You omitted "draft dodger". T'rump used the traditional "bone spurs" excuse.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/26/politics/trump-bone-spurs-vietnam-war
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/02/27/trumps-lawyer-no-basis-for-presidents-medical-deferment-from-vietnam/

Maybe, maybe not. I wouldn't be surprised if it's misinformation. On the other hand, if it's true, he's not the only one who avoided the draft. Many people opposed the Vietnam war, for valid reasons.

I don't like Trump, but can see why people respect him. He could be living a nice, sheltered life now, but decided not to. His opponents tried to pin all sorts of dirt on him and two attempts were made at killing him, yet he persevered.

[PlainName]

Merely refusing to spell his name correctly simply shows a lack of respect for the man...

Often, yes. But this is different. You can have no respect for the man, think him a complete jerk, whatever, and call him a silly name. That's normal an usually temporary. What we see here, though, is an inability to use his name at all. It is a mental inability to bring oneself to utter the name regardless of circumstance.

Why does that matter? Well, obviously, if one cannot say something without beating about the bush or taking the piss or however you want to describe this affliction, what else cannot be said? How can anything to do with Trump be discussed logically or seriously? If it were wilful and intentional then it shows a disrespect for the other participants, but I don't think it is intentional.

[krish2487]

What a load of nonsense. There are valid criticisms of Trump but being fascist is not one of them. He's said he's fine with same sex marriage, which is not a fascist position.

The Biden regime was quite authoritarian, the way they censored social media, much more so than Trump.

Objectively speaking, the Chinese government are far more far more fascist, authoritarian.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism
Fascism is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived interest of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.

Change "Fascism" to "Trump" and the sentence makes as much sense as before.
1. MAGA call
2. Sending in National Guard under the pretext of national security and increased crime
3. Gerrymandering to maintain a supposed victory in the senate
4. Literally detaining immigrants without any due process
5. Holding military parades to sate his ego

This is just off the top of my head...

What part of this do you disagree with?? and where the hell did same sex marriage come into the definition of Fascism?
It might be hard to wrap your head around this concept.. but non overlapping idealogies can coexist without conflict.
A fascist can be anti gay marriage, vice versa and any combination of the two ideas..

And all you have to say is "what about..."
Yes Biden was crap, China is worse - granted.
How the hell does that excuse this turd being worse?

[Zero999]

What a load of nonsense. There are valid criticisms of Trump but being fascist is not one of them. He's said he's fine with same sex marriage, which is not a fascist position.

The Biden regime was quite authoritarian, the way they censored social media, much more so than Trump.

Objectively speaking, the Chinese government are far more far more fascist, authoritarian.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism
Fascism is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived interest of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.

That doesn't apply to Trump. He wasn't the one who censored social media: look up the Twitter files. Yes, he wants to redraw funding from universities who oppose him, but try being a Republican in a top university and see where that gets you, hence the retaliation. Yes, there was 6th January, but then BLM supported by the Democrats claimed more lives. He's not the only one to challenge the results of electrons. Remember the conspiracy theory of Russian collusion which turned out be false.  I could go on.

Change "Fascism" to "Trump" and the sentence makes as much sense as before.
1. MAGA call
2. Sending in National Guard under the pretext of national security and increased crime
3. Gerrymandering to maintain a supposed victory in the senate
4. Literally detaining immigrants without any due process
5. Holding military parades to sate his ego

This is just off the top of my head...

What part of this do you disagree with?? and where the hell did same sex marriage come into the definition of Fascism?
It might be hard to wrap your head around this concept.. but non overlapping idealogies can coexist without conflict.
A fascist can be anti gay marriage, vice versa and any combination of the two ideas..

And all you have to say is "what about..."
Yes Biden was crap, China is worse - granted.
How the hell does that excuse this turd being worse?

The above have been done in countries who are not fascist in any meaningful sense of the term.

[tggzzz]

Well, clearly such people would not ever elect a convicted rapist, cheat, tax dodger, insurrectionist, fascist, authoritarian, dictatorial, mud slinging turd and more to power now would they... (twice)

...

What Trump is definitely responsible is for the consolidation of their (China's) soft influence in the east by alienating every other country with these stupid tariffs.
Whats the saying.. the enemy of my enemy is my friend...

You omitted "draft dodger". T'rump used the traditional "bone spurs" excuse.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/26/politics/trump-bone-spurs-vietnam-war
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/02/27/trumps-lawyer-no-basis-for-presidents-medical-deferment-from-vietnam/

Maybe, maybe not. I wouldn't be surprised if it's misinformation. On the other hand, if it's true, he's not the only one who avoided the draft. Many people opposed the Vietnam war, for valid reasons.

The usual "valid reason" was that they didn't want to be killed/injured in action.

We realise that it is uncomfortable for you to acknowledge that T'rump was a draft dodger, but it isn't misinformation. It looks like the information comes from the (authoritative) National Archives and the (less than authoritative!) Trump campaign. Apparently he avoided the draft 5 times.

https://www.snopes.com/news/2016/08/02/donald-trumps-draft-deferments/
https://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/donald-trump-evades-specifics-on-his-draft-deferment-120330
https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-avoided-the-military-draft-which-was-common-at-the-time-vietnam-war-2018-12?op=1
https://factually.co/fact-checks/politics/donald-trump-bone-spurs-228f60

[Cyclotron]

The majority of the reason I read that people think China is bad is due to their politics, treatment of humans, and various activities over time that are less than acceptable to people's moral views. 

This is the source of my statement about using your wallet aligned with these moral beliefs.

Well, clearly such people would not ever elect a convicted rapist, cheat, tax dodger, insurrectionist, fascist, authoritarian, dictatorial, mud slinging turd and more to power now would they... (twice)

(to say nothing about the way immigrants are being treated and how their rights and due process are thrown out of the window by ICE... you know.. treatment of humans as you put it)

gasp!!!

What does that say about the wallets and the moral compass of those who elected him to power? and which of them is skewed?

Also, Trump has had very very little to do with China's growth till he came into power for the second time. Those are the results of decades of west outsourcing to China.
Thats is the point others were making elsewhere in the thread.

What Trump is definitely responsible is for the consolidation of their (China's) soft influence in the east by alienating every other country with these stupid tariffs.
Whats the saying.. the enemy of my enemy is my friend...

You mean like Denmark's policies designed to reduce asylum applications to zero and to facilitate the return of individuals, including the option to send asylum seekers to third countries for processing, such as the proposed arrangement with Rwanda. The government has also targeted Syrian refugees, stripping some of their temporary residence permits and creating conditions to pressure them to return to Syria.