Mike (He/Him)
Jef PoskanzerWrong: "Trump imposed a 39% tariff on Switzerland." Right: "Trump imposed a 39% tariff on Americans who buy from Switzerland." Every time you see this mistake, correct it. Every. Time.
Joe Woke@jef Swiss watches are going to get v expensive in the US
Le Néandertal se sent las, las
Okuna
DJGummikuh@jef I actually don't think that's true, though. Tariffs are always imposed on the Vendor side of a transaction AFAIK, even if they are eventually paid by the buying side. And the resulting chilling effect also is going to reduce either revenue or margin (or both), also (mainly) hurting the vendor, given that alternatives exsist for the customer. "Imposed tariffs are most directly felt by US citizens" would however be a claim I would rally behind. 🤔
RejZoR@DJGummikuh @jef I mean, do you think the seller is just going to eat the difference to keep the same price? Nope, the price will just go up for that amount and that amount will be paid by American people.
The idea behind tariffs is that domestic products wouldn't face this price increase and would thus be more competitive.
Reality however is that domestic products get jacked up in price as well so in the end consumers are the ones at loss. Trump lives in lalaland and doesn't understand this.
@rejzor @jef there are more moving parts to this. local competition, dependance of the vendor on the market and margins just to name three. But I believe we actually miss the point that tariffs as they currently stand flow into the executive's purse, giving trump financial clout without supervision from congress. I firmly believe that to be the main motivator, with the question WHO actually pays being sidelined.
@DJGummikuh @jef I mean, just look how absolutely shamelessly greedy American corporations are. Of course they'll jack up the prices just to keep execs and investors happy. Coz cash must flow and it must only flow upwards year over year to infinity. They don't care about competitiveness, they'll just buy their way there when time requires it... And now, back to profits.
@rejzor @jef as said, that only works when your product cannot be substituted. Otherwise you will face declining sales when prices hike
Edit: I mean you will face decline anyways, since every hike is going to out-price your product for some, but these are normally compensated by overall higher revenue. It's all a balancing act
Hippo 🍉@DJGummikuh he's also using this as a coercive tactic to get countries to give him better deals.
For example, by imposing 25% tariff on Americans who buy from India, he encourages Americans to buy from Bangladesh or Myanmar instead. This hurts Indian traders due to losing (numerous, rich) customers thereby pressurising India to give Trump other concessions such as agreeing to buy more things from the US. Not sure how effective this is (probably varies by country) but yeah
(India is an ongoing example so we don't know what'll happen yet, but we'll find out eventually 👀)
Ysegrim@DJGummikuh @jef No. Tariffs are always paid by the importers of goods. If a US-American flies to Switzerland, buys things, and brings them into the US, the US-American pays. If they order via mail from Switzerland, the US-American pays. If they buy at Walmart, and Walmart gets it shipped from Switzerland, Walmart pays (and you can be sure they add this to their retail price, so again it's the American who pays).
The only effect tariffs have on the Swiss here is that in cases where there is another country that produces comparable goods. For example, if Kazakh and Swiss chocolate are produced at the same price, Swiss chocolate will now be 35% more expensive for US consumers, so they will sell less into the US (and more into the rest of the world). Unless Kazakh manufacturers increase their prices for US consumers themselves and thus their revenue by up to 35% to match the Swiss (assuming Trump imposed 0% Tariffs on Kazakhstan).
Alan Clifford 🏌️♂️🦈 📷@ysegrim @DJGummikuh @jef
The effect is supposed to be, or so we are told, is that U.S.Americans buy U.S.American chocolate instead. Which ignores what I vaguely remember as "comparative advantage" such that U.S.American companies should be manufacturing corn syrup cookies for export to Switzerland.
The effect is supposed to be, or so we are told, is that U.S.Americans buy U.S.American chocolate instead. Which ignores what I vaguely remember as "comparative advantage" such that U.S.American companies should be manufacturing corn syrup cookies for export to Switzerland.
Coolcoder360@DJGummikuh @jef
The US customs and border protection website states: when you order goods online you become the importer and you become responsible for paying the import duty (that's the tariff) and making sure that the proper rules are followed.
And in big bold letters it says:
"Reminder: U.S. Customs and Border Protection holds the importer - YOU - liable for the payment of duty not the seller."
https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/internet-purchases
@coolcoder360 @jef huh. interesting
@DJGummikuh @jef yeah, I ordered stuff from AliExpress a couple months ago and spent the 2-3 weeks that the stuff was in customs inspection reading the CBP website trying to figure out if I had to do anything to get my stuff.
Luckily when AliExpress said that import duty was included they weren't lying, but their support system was telling me that I had to contact customs... Who in fact have no clear way on their website to actually contact them about a package...
@coolcoder360 @jef I don't envy you for your country of residence, ngl
TornaxO7@jef I find this video very enjoyable to watch about tariffs: https://youtu.be/lRV6U82vgjI?si=ExQGRHuquOouwfmS
Tariffs Explained with Bananas
Corey Taylor@jef Sad to see how often the media gets these very basic concepts wrong in their headlines, which is essentially doing the administration's bidding by falsely framing who pays tariffs, all the while repeating Trump's own propaganda about them. 🤦🏽♂️
xs4me2Exactly…
revenge of the boltzmann brain@jef Does google have to pay tariffs on using stuff engineered in their swiss subsidiary? That would be fun.
Nazani
Rastal
Hans-Martin Münch@jef I'm definitely not a Trum fan, but unfortunately that's not entirely true. One of the largest product groups that Switzerland exports to the USA are pharmaceutical products, which were previously traded duty-free. Pharmaceutical companies have contracts with the health insurance companies about the price at which a drug is sold. These contracts are still valid, so for the next 1-2 years the customs duties in this area will largely be deducted from the companies' margins.
retsel
alejandro
Stephan Eggermont
Estarriol, Terrorist Dragon@jef Trump increased the price of Rolexs to b/millionaires by 39%....
Alessandro@jef the point Is to artificially increase the price of the foreign product to give home products an advantage.
If Swiss cheese will cost 30% Americans will buy less swiss and more American.
That's the point, not philosophical stuff
Snuffleupadon@jef why not leave the word tariff out completely? "Trump imposed a 39% tax for Swiss goods on Americans."
roland@jef Trump illegally imposed a 39% tariff on Americans who buy from Switzerland.
Deborah Rose ❌👑@jef This will have an impact on pharmaceuticals and medical devices manufactured in Switzerland. Trump has been pushing for drugmakers to move manufacturing back to the U.S..
Drugmakers are pouring billions of dollars into new US manufacturing. It still won’t achieve all of Trump’s tariff goals | CNN Business
https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/02/business/drug-prices-trump-us-manufacturing
Drugmakers are pouring billions of dollars into new US manufacturing. It still won’t achieve all of Trump’s tariff goals
Ever since President Donald Trump started promising to slap tariffs on pharmaceutical imports, drugmakers have unveiled a flurry of commitments to build or expand US manufacturing operations in the coming years.