<story><title>New US Tariffs are Anti-Maker and Will Encourage Offshoring</title><url>https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=5349</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dalbasal</author><text>Out of all possible trade barriers, I think tariffs are generally the better option.&lt;p&gt;The alternative is subsidies, quotas or &amp;quot;unofficial&amp;quot; barriers like product safety rules or other burry-you-in-bureaucracy setups. Tariffs bring in taxes (as opposed to costing the public) They&amp;#x27;re easier to understand. This one makes Chinese microwaves x% more expensive. It&amp;#x27;s clearer who is paying for it (consumers) and who benefits, as opposed to pretending a policy is intended to protect consumers. Importantly, they are easier to change. Politicians can make a decision and do it. With other options, it&amp;#x27;s harder to implement patches or predict the results of any change.&lt;p&gt;Basically, they&amp;#x27;re simpler, more explicit and more honest than any other approach. ..if you&amp;#x27;ve already decided to have trade barriers.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>imgabe</author><text> &amp;gt; This one makes Chinese microwaves x% more expensive.&lt;p&gt;Except that&amp;#x27;s not what the article says. The tariffs in question don&amp;#x27;t apply to finished products. So it wouldn&amp;#x27;t make a Chinese microwave more expensive.&lt;p&gt;However, if you want to import components to build a microwave and hire US workers to put it together, &lt;i&gt;that&lt;/i&gt; is what these tariffs make much more expensive. So instead of hiring US workers to assemble it in the US, you do the whole thing in China and import it with no tariffs.</text></comment>
<story><title>New US Tariffs are Anti-Maker and Will Encourage Offshoring</title><url>https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=5349</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dalbasal</author><text>Out of all possible trade barriers, I think tariffs are generally the better option.&lt;p&gt;The alternative is subsidies, quotas or &amp;quot;unofficial&amp;quot; barriers like product safety rules or other burry-you-in-bureaucracy setups. Tariffs bring in taxes (as opposed to costing the public) They&amp;#x27;re easier to understand. This one makes Chinese microwaves x% more expensive. It&amp;#x27;s clearer who is paying for it (consumers) and who benefits, as opposed to pretending a policy is intended to protect consumers. Importantly, they are easier to change. Politicians can make a decision and do it. With other options, it&amp;#x27;s harder to implement patches or predict the results of any change.&lt;p&gt;Basically, they&amp;#x27;re simpler, more explicit and more honest than any other approach. ..if you&amp;#x27;ve already decided to have trade barriers.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>maxerickson</author><text>People buying products subject to tariffs (or products made with materials subject to tariffs) pay the majority of the tariff.&lt;p&gt;So they do cost the public.&lt;p&gt;In a functioning market, local suppliers are likely to &lt;i&gt;raise&lt;/i&gt; prices in response to the tariffs, as they face less competition.</text></comment>