You own a business. You sell imported goods. You also use imported parts to service and repair those goods. Now tariffs raise your cost for it all by 30%.
What do you do?
For a while you pay the added cost, but sooner or later that eats into your profits. If you are a public company that means your stock price goes down and all investors are adversely affected – including workers saving for their retirement.
If you are a private company your ability to keep things running, to provide pay raises, to grow your business is impaired.
If you raise prices the full 30% customers may buy less or not at all. You look for alternatives which may include more automation, cutting back on spending in areas such as employee benefits and community support activity and you may be forced to reduce your workforce.
Or, maybe you just bite the bullet and raise prices.
In any case, it’s people living within the the United States that pay the price one way or another.
Wait‼️ American consumers may just buy American made goods. That begs the question if these goods provide what Americans want, at the price they want to pay with equal quality, why didn’t they buy American made goods before tariffs?
Without the availability and affordability of goods from around the world. Without that competition driving innovation and quality, YOUR SCREWED‼️
America is settling for a participation award.
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
I didn’t hear folks complaining about the deficit 4 years ago.
I didn’t hear an outcry about Epstein files 4 years ago.
Who complained about NATO members not paying their fair share?
So tariffs were basically used against the United States and Trump decided to act. I have issues with programs raising costs as, like a tax, they have, in my opinion negative effects.
Those suffering from TDS will find any excuse for negativity. The hypocrisy is quite glaring.
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my first comment got clipped – I wasrepeating President Obama … your business, you didn’t build that.
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kinda like making a” livable wage” increasing to up to $30 making a small ship or café owner to either reduce workforce or increase costs….but that is ok since it is a liberal position…
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You don’t include all the other alternatives that could happen. Your hypothetical factory owner could appeal the rate and maybe it will be reduced or taken off entirely or postponed. There seems to be a lot of 90 day suspensions and reductions announced in the news and there is always the likelihood that Trump will get tired of it, pronounce victory and walk from the tariff bit altogether. He doesn’t seem to have a long attention span on these matters. Have you heard him mention DOGE lately?
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President Obama. How soon we forget.
so, as my father would say quit chur bellyachin
why didn’t you complain when Reagan, and most every subsequent president used tariffs on steel, trucks, certain autos and other stuff over the past 45 years?
that’s the reason so many car companies, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes, VW, Nissan, Kia, and others build here.
or do you only support tariffs when they protect union jobs?
And, how about stupid limits on imports – sugar, etc. or limits on transportation – Jones Act?
why only now, today?
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As far as I see past tariffs in the 20th century we quite targeted, sometimes limited and nothing like the irrational behavior we see now with poorly or not defined purposes other than getting even.
I would suggest that the interconnections in the world today is quite different than 1920 or even 1980s
Regardless, tariffs are a two edged sword and in the extreme application are a net negative for consumers. That IMO is 2025.
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agree, very different. Trying to reverse 40-60 years of offshoring to secure cheap labor. Need to wait for final outcome before complaining.
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Cheap labor benefiting American consumers directly and indirectly. Try finding any clothes not made in SE Asia. Walk in any parking lot and see the brands Americans prefer to buy.
I don’t recall complaints about foreign goods before Trump turned trade into chaos in a quest for revenue at citizens expense to offset tax cuts.
Hey, he even told us China would pay the tariffs.
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well, as we saw during COVID, first Trump, we are very exposed when it comes to many raw materials, certain manufacturing, drugs, etc. have no doubt that shoes, clothes, etc will still be made elsewhere. So much more needs to be done here from a national security and defense perspective.
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I agree, but we don’t need helter skelter application of tariffs to do it.
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My hat is off to you Jack. An exceptional response to the topic.
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