#manufacturing #USmanufacturing #iPhones #Apple #tariffs
More domestic manufacturing may be a desired goal, but it’s not as easy to pull off as it sounds.
Tariffs are designed to bring more manufacturing to the U.S., but it can’t happen overnight.
Take the idea of putting a tariff on an iPhone, which is now made in China.
To make an iPhone here, Apple would have to create enough capacity to fulfill the demand . As iPhones change and are upgraded, the manufacturing will have to change with it.
It probably means Apple would have to build all new factories. That alone would take years.
It would have to build them so they can be easily retooled as the iPhone evolves.
Then, there is the job of finding enough workers, which has not been easy for any employer recently.
What would Apple have to pay these workers to entice them to work in an iPhone factory?
If the tariffs go away BEFORE Apple can finish building the factory, would the whole idea be moot? Certainly, the Chinese-made iPhones would always be cheaper to make than the ones made here.
Now, let’s talk about how often iPhone users trade in their phones.
Are you the type of user that trades his or her phone every time a new iPhone comes out?
Or, do you hold on to your iPhone for as long as it works for you, or until Apple decides it no longer will support your old phone? (Such forced obsolescence is a debate for another day).
How will those decision-making patterns affect factory construction?
What about all the accessories – cases, holsters etc. – that go with iPhones. Do the companies that make those make them in the U.S.? If not, and they are tariffed, will a case cost more than a phone, or will those companies also have to create factories here?
The tariffs are being assessed without regard for any of this. It’s nice to wish for more domestic manufacturing, but it’s hard to achieve, considering the facts on the ground.
Most companies would gladly make more things here, if they could do it for the same price as they pay to make them elsewhere.
But labor, materials and everything else used to make things are usually more expensive here.
Those who wish to create more manufacturing jobs here learn quickly that Americans will not work long hours in a factory for minimum wage.
Americans are having enough trouble affording to live here, never mind having to be forced into an income that will not cover their bills.
In short, domestic manufacturing may be a great goal. But, not everything can be made here for the price that can make what we need affordable.
International trade should be as free of tariffs as possible to allow the markets to be stable, affordable and make products of the best quality and price.
Peter
Tag Archives: tariffs
UNCERTAINTY, OR UNPREDICTABILITY?
#uncertainty #unpredictability #investing #tariffs #InvestmentClimate
How does one invest in a time of uncertainty, as we are in now?
Betsey Stevenson, economics and public policy professor at the University of Michigan, and former chief economist at the U.S. Labor Department, discussed this on MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes on May 15, 2025.
She basically said it was difficult for investors and businesses to plan when things change so frequently.
She and other economists consider this time “uncertain,” as tariffs are implemented, adjusted and/or paused almost daily.
In fact, most investment climates, save for mattress money or insured bank accounts, are “uncertain.” Investors do not know for sure whether the risk(s) they are taking will pan out. They can judge, based on fundamentals and research, the likelihood of an investment panning out.
They also can judge the economic climate to see whether their decisions are more or less likely to pay off.
But, as with all risks, there is always a chance of an investment not proving worthy.
A pandemic, a natural disaster or other unanticipated circumstances could suddenly affect the investment performance.
Or, the company or venture in which one is investing could fail because of human error or mismanagement that one may not foresee.
So, all investments, no matter the climate, are uncertain.
What is happening today makes investing more unpredictable.
Investors are unable to forecast, even if the entity is a good risk on its face, whether the investment pays off.
The purpose of tariffs, essentially, is to urge companies to import less, and make more things in the U.S.
There are myriad problems with that. First, it takes many years for a company, if it were to decide to make more things here, to set up the capacity to do it – build or convert a factory, hire the right people, buy the needed equipment (perhaps from a foreign maker) etc.
Who knows what would happen to the tariffs during that conversion period.
Secondly, there are things that we just can’t grow in the U.S. Bananas are tariffed, yet we do not have the climate to grow them. Coffee is tariffed, but Hawaii is the only state that grows coffee, and it doesn’t grow enough to satisfy nationwide demand.
Thirdly, other countries can make many things better and cheaper than we can here, no matter what we do. We do things well, they do things well, and that’s why we trade.
So, the next time an economist calls these times “uncertain,” they’d be more precise to call these times “unpredictable,” because the “uncertainty” is deliberately created by one person – who is unpredictable.
Peter
How does one invest in a time of uncertainty, as we are in now?
Betsey Stevenson, economics and public policy professor at the University of Michigan, and former chief economist at the U.S. Labor Department, discussed this on MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes on May 15, 2025.
She basically said it was difficult for investors and businesses to plan when things change so frequently.
She and other economists consider this time “uncertain,” as tariffs are implemented, adjusted and/or paused almost daily.
In fact, most investment climates, save for mattress money or insured bank accounts, are “uncertain.” Investors do not know for sure whether the risk(s) they are taking will pan out. They can judge, based on fundamentals and research, the likelihood of an investment panning out.
They also can judge the economic climate to see whether their decisions are more or less likely to pay off.
But, as with all risks, there is always a chance of an investment not proving worthy.
A pandemic, a natural disaster or other unanticipated circumstances could suddenly affect the investment performance.
Or, the company or venture in which one is investing could fail because of human error or mismanagement that one may not foresee.
So, all investments, no matter the climate, are uncertain.
What is happening today makes investing more unpredictable.
Investors are unable to forecast, even if the entity is a good risk on its face, whether the investment pays off.
The purpose of tariffs, essentially, is to urge companies to import less, and make more things in the U.S.
There are myriad problems with that. First, it takes many years for a company, if it were to decide to make more things here, to set up the capacity to do it – build or convert a factory, hire the right people, buy the needed equipment (perhaps from a foreign maker) etc.
Who knows what would happen to the tariffs during that conversion period.
Secondly, there are things that we just can’t grow in the U.S. Bananas are tariffed, yet we do not have the climate to grow them. Coffee is tariffed, but Hawaii is the only state that grows coffee, and it doesn’t grow enough to satisfy nationwide demand.
Thirdly, other countries can make many things better and cheaper than we can here, no matter what we do. We do things well, they do things well, and that’s why we trade.
So, the next time an economist calls these times “uncertain,” they’d be more precise to call these times “unpredictable,” because the “uncertainty” is deliberately created by one person – who is unpredictable.
Peter
ECONOMY IN PERIL
#economy #government #GovernmentEmployees #tariffs #inflation #eggs
Egg prices are soaring because of the bird-flu spread.
That is likely to affect prices diners will pay in restaurants.
If the market doesn’t bear those higher prices, restaurants could go out of business.
Then, if a number of federal employees lose their jobs, unemployment could go way up.
If those workers do not have paychecks, they won’t spend as much. It could put other stores out of business.
Will those furloughed federal workers find private-sector jobs? Perhaps some will. Perhaps others may have to take jobs that don’t pay as well as their government jobs, or do not have the same benefits they had with the government.
That will affect their spending, which could trickle down to other businesses.
When tariffs are added to the mix, they will raise the cost of many other goods. Most, if not all, of those increased costs will be passed on to consumers.
Much of this economic turmoil is government inflicted. Much of it is unnecessary.
Most people want to see government run as efficiently as possible. Many want to see less government overall.
Almost no one wants to see a broken government – particularly one that was broken deliberately.
The act of breaking government eventually will affect most, if not all, U.S. citizens and residents.
Even if you believe government needs to be overhauled, there are ways to do it that are both legal, humane and proper. They do not involve potential invasions of individual privacy.
Objections to what is going on are largely not objections to efficiency and lowering costs. They are over the manner in which they are being accomplished.
Perhaps some good will come from this turmoil. Perhaps we will be in a better place after the operatives are finished.
But, in the meantime, the economy – and the personal wealth and well-being of many individuals—could be adversely affected.
If you don’t like what’s going on, tell your representatives. Their jobs are on the line if the outcome is not good.
It’s easy to be frustrated, exhausted and demoralized by what is happening.
But, as with most adversity, one has to look for what is good in one’s life, what can’t be taken away and what each person can do to improve his or her own future.
It takes great personal strength to do that during these times.
Here’s hoping that everyone finds that strength and uses it to better his or her own life, and the lives of others.
Things are what they are, but they don’t have to be this way.
Peter
Egg prices are soaring because of the bird-flu spread.
That is likely to affect prices diners will pay in restaurants.
If the market doesn’t bear those higher prices, restaurants could go out of business.
Then, if a number of federal employees lose their jobs, unemployment could go way up.
If those workers do not have paychecks, they won’t spend as much. It could put other stores out of business.
Will those furloughed federal workers find private-sector jobs? Perhaps some will. Perhaps others may have to take jobs that don’t pay as well as their government jobs, or do not have the same benefits they had with the government.
That will affect their spending, which could trickle down to other businesses.
When tariffs are added to the mix, they will raise the cost of many other goods. Most, if not all, of those increased costs will be passed on to consumers.
Much of this economic turmoil is government inflicted. Much of it is unnecessary.
Most people want to see government run as efficiently as possible. Many want to see less government overall.
Almost no one wants to see a broken government – particularly one that was broken deliberately.
The act of breaking government eventually will affect most, if not all, U.S. citizens and residents.
Even if you believe government needs to be overhauled, there are ways to do it that are both legal, humane and proper. They do not involve potential invasions of individual privacy.
Objections to what is going on are largely not objections to efficiency and lowering costs. They are over the manner in which they are being accomplished.
Perhaps some good will come from this turmoil. Perhaps we will be in a better place after the operatives are finished.
But, in the meantime, the economy – and the personal wealth and well-being of many individuals—could be adversely affected.
If you don’t like what’s going on, tell your representatives. Their jobs are on the line if the outcome is not good.
It’s easy to be frustrated, exhausted and demoralized by what is happening.
But, as with most adversity, one has to look for what is good in one’s life, what can’t be taken away and what each person can do to improve his or her own future.
It takes great personal strength to do that during these times.
Here’s hoping that everyone finds that strength and uses it to better his or her own life, and the lives of others.
Things are what they are, but they don’t have to be this way.
Peter