Will tariffs make America great?

Good video on a little noticed Trump EO scrapping the 'De Minimus' exemption on imported goods.
Up until now anything worth less than $800 had no tariff on it.
From the end of August the rule is scrapped.

 
Andy_Ross said:
Good video on a little noticed Trump EO scrapping the 'De Minimus' exemption on imported goods.
Up until now anything worth less than $800 had no tariff on it.
From the end of August the rule is scrapped.

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If China would like to off load some guitars over here at a discount there's a Harley Benton and a Hartwood I've got my eye on...
 
I have a Harley Benton Les Paul. It's brilliant. I got it off ebay. I usually don't buy a guitar without playing it but I know it's a good model and has been upgraded with Gibson Burstbucker pickups and associated 'plug and play' controls. My 'Black Beauty'

 
Puppycow said:
Wondering whether there will be a deal with Japan or not.

Trump warns ‘spoiled’ Japan may not get a US trade deal (CNN)

Well, technically 16,707 cars in one year isn't "one car in 10 years." WTF?
Also I just bought 5 kilos of US rice at the grocery store this week.

As a US expat, I sort of understand why Japan is sensitive on rice. They want to protect Japanese rice farmers. The US, by the way, has long practiced its own version of protectionism for certain farm products. This is one example:

U.S. Sugar Program - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

Rice has long been a politically sacrosanct industry in Japan. If it comes down to choosing between Japanese automakers and Japanese rice farmers, the government is likely to side with the rice farmers. There's more of them and they have more political clout.

I also have to mention that most US-made cars are designed for the US market, not the Japanese market. The Japanese drive on the left, unlike the US, so the steering wheel should be on the other side.

You can buy a Jeep in Japan with a steering wheel on the right side apparently:

American cars still a tough sell in Japan
9,000 of those US vehicles sold last year in Japan were Jeeps in fact. It's a niche market, but that's apparently more than any other US automaker.

Anyway, I just wanted to set the record straight. When Trump claims that Japan doesn't buy "any" US rice or cars, that's simply not true. And tariffs don't apply either. Rather there is a "mismatch with Japanese market needs."
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The reason no-one in Japan buys USAian cars is that they're terrible; difficult to get right-hand drive, not nimble enough for Japanese roads, awful fuel efficiency, poor reliability, difficult to get spares, et cetera. Also nothing for the kei-jidosha market.
 
Andy_Ross said:
I have a Harley Benton Les Paul. It's brilliant. I got it off ebay. I usually don't buy a guitar without playing it but I know it's a good model and has been upgraded with Gibson Burstbucker pickups and associated 'plug and play' controls. My 'Black Beauty'

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There's some incredible low cost ("cheap" with it's negative conitations would be the wrong word) guitar equipment coming out of China at the moment. I've recently been sent a Valeton GP-5 to review and it's incredible, fully customisable effects, amp and cab sims, neural amp model loading, audio interface, Bluetooth, midi controllable, tuner, drum machine all in one nano pedal.. For 65 quid! It's a game changer for kids especially who want to play but don't have the budget or space for loads of equipment but sticking tariffs on will take it out reach of those who might have benefited the most. And the same will be true of many other hobbies and activities, frivolous or worthy that have become much more affordable thanks to the scale of Chinese manufacturing. Trump won't notice if his next golf club costs 50% more, but those who struggle to afford leisure equipment will.
 
P.J. Denyer said:
There's some incredible low cost ("cheap" with it's negative conitations would be the wrong word) guitar equipment coming out of China at the moment. I've recently been sent a Valeton GP-5 to review and it's incredible, fully customisable effects, amp and cab sims, neural amp model loading, audio interface, Bluetooth, midi controllable, tuner, drum machine all in one nano pedal.. For 65 quid! It's a game changer for kids especially who want to play but don't have the budget or space for loads of equipment but sticking tariffs on will take it out reach of those who might have benefited the most. And the same will be true of many other hobbies and activities, frivolous or worthy that have become much more affordable thanks to the scale of Chinese manufacturing. Trump won't notice if his next golf club costs 50% more, but those who struggle to afford leisure equipment will.
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Over on Andertons TV, Lee 'The Captain' Anderton thinks the Velaton GP-5 is the bees knees.
 
There was a whole thing with the tariffs on Switzerland 39% which would mean gold from Switzerland would also be tariffed and the gold market freaked out and taco is tacoing

Donald J. Trump
@realDonald Trump
A Statement from Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America:
Gold will not be Tariffed!
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Andy_Ross said:
Over on Andertons TV, Lee 'The Captain' Anderton thinks the Velaton GP-5 is the bees knees.
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I think it's amazing, I'm putting the time and effort into the review I normally reserve for £250 3D printers and I've already ordered a 4 footswitch midi controller to pair with it and make patch switching more convenient. Valeton seems to be part of Hotone who do some nice, and really different, kit. I've got couple of their 5w nano amps that impersonate the valve amps most of us can't dream of affording (I know, we've been over this ground before) and they're really good at this. I've been sticking mine through a Samsung SBR-510 30w speaker and it sounds at least as good as my pedal board through a practice amp, but with hundreds more options and set up by someone who knows what they're doing rather than, well, me. And for the price of a half decent tuner or a half decent copy of a single effect pedal.

ETA:: Actually, it sounds better.
 
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A few years ago, when my hands and arms were getting more creaky, I bought myself an SWB-1 short scale bass.
I bought it direct from Scott Whitley. It was when he was just branching into luthiery. Made in China, put together and set up by Scott.
It is ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊ woderful. The only mod i have made is to swap the original pick-ups out for some EMG ones and I much prefer playing it than my lovely 1969 P-Bass that I've owned since 1971.
They're now available from Chowney.

/end of derail]
 
Well, guitars made in China that are very inexpensive and of excellent construction (that are perfect for beginners and upwards) ain't gonna be such an amazing bargain from now on, what with the tariff terms on China.
 
sinnikal said:
Well, guitars made in China that are very inexpensive and of excellent construction (that are perfect for beginners and upwards) ain't gonna be such an amazing bargain from now on, what with the tariff terms on China.
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Only for US customers, of course.

Now there may well be an indirect cost coming later to everyone else as US sales drop and production reduces, which will likely put the unit price up for everyone. Though right now there may briefly be a small bonanza for other countries, buying up stock which would have gone to the US, before production settles to a new lower level.

Not just guitars of course.
 
sinnikal said:
Well, guitars made in China that are very inexpensive and of excellent construction (that are perfect for beginners and upwards) ain't gonna be such an amazing bargain from now on, what with the tariff terms on China.
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Of course China also makes some ridiculously overpriced guitars, but they're easily identified and avoided thanks to the "Trump" branding.
 
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