I saw three ducks in the park the other day. The female was having a hell of a bad time. Ducks get a surprisingly good press!
US President Donald Trump's administration has exempted smartphones, computers and some other electronic devices from "reciprocal" tariffs, including the 125% levies imposed on Chinese imports. In a notice, US Customs and Border Patrol said that the goods would be excluded from Trump's 10% global tariff on most countries and the much larger Chinese import tax. It marks the first significant reprieve of any kind in Trump's tariffs on China, with one trade analyst describing it as a "game-changer scenario". Late on Saturday, while travelling to Miami, Trump said he would give more details of the exemptions at the start of next week. "We'll be very specific," he told reporters on Air Force One. "But we're taking in a lot of money. As a country we're taking in a lot of money." The move came after concerns from US tech companies that the price of gadgets could skyrocket, as many of them are made in China. Exemptions - backdated to 5 April - also include other electronic devices and components, including semiconductors, solar cells and memory cards. "This is the dream scenario for tech investors," Dan Ives, who is the global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, posted on X. "Smartphones, chips being excluded is a game-changer scenario when it comes to China tariffs." Big tech firms such as Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft and the broader tech industry can breathe a huge sigh of relief this weekend, he added. The White House indicated the exemptions were made to ensure companies had more time to move production to the US. Why Trump is hitting China on trade - and what might happen next Was Trump's 90-day tariffs pause really a grand plan? "President Trump has made it clear America cannot rely on China to manufacture critical technologies such as semiconductors, chips, smartphones, and laptops," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. "At the direction of the president, these companies are hustling to onshore their manufacturing in the United States as soon as possible." Trump, who is spending the weekend at his Florida home, told reporters on Friday he was comfortable with the high tariffs on China. "And I think something positive is going to come out of that," he said, touting his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping. These electronic goods are still subject to the 20% tariff on China related to fentanyl, White House Deputy Chief of Staff on Policy Stephen Miller posted on X. Some estimates suggested iPhone prices in the US could have as much as tripled if costs were passed on to consumers. The US is a major market for iPhones, while Apple accounted for more than half of its smartphones sales last year, according to Counterpoint Research. It says as much as 80% of Apple's iPhones intended for US sale are made in China, with the remaining 20% made in India. Like its fellow smartphone giant Samsung, Apple has been trying to diversify its supply chains to avoid an over-reliance on China in recent years. India and Vietnam emerged as frontrunners for additional manufacturing hubs. As the tariffs took effect, Apple reportedly looked to speed up and increase its production of India-produced devices in recent days. Trump had planned for a host of steep tariffs on countries around the world to take effect this week. But on Wednesday he announced he would implement a 90-day pause for countries hit by higher US tariffs - except China, whose tariffs he raised to 145%. Trump said the tariff increase for China was because of the country's readiness to retaliate with its own 84% levy on US goods. In a dramatic change of policy, Trump said all countries that had not retaliated against US tariffs would receive the reprieve – and only face a blanket tariff of 10% – until July. The White House then said the move was a negotiating tactic to extract more favourable trade terms from other countries. Trump has said his import taxes will address unfairness in the global trading system, as well as bring jobs and factories back to the US.
In another move, President Trump is adding a 80% levy on all grated cheese, and removing any tariff on all block cheeses from anywhere in the world. President Trump said “It is time we made America grate again”
I am sure China could impose some kind of sanction on the companies exporting the tech stuff to America, that would push prices up, should they want to, just to hurt the American consumers. I don’t understand how anyone can think that moving the production of tech stuff to the USA would keep prices down, rather than send the prices up. The price of land, building a new factory or renting and refurbishing an old building must be considerably higher than anything in China or other Far Eastern countries and then there’s the matter of wages for the workers, which will also be far greater than the far east. And then, in 4 years, you may well have an intelligent president, who is the opposite of Trump and who will remove tariffs, if they are still in place which would allow cheap imports that would undercut the American made products.
Exactly this ^^^ In 3 ½ years a new President may say scrap the tariffs as they they are ridiculous and then all these companies are stuck with plant and machinery in the US on expensive land with expensive workers. I cannot see any winner in this. The idea of trade is just that, I trade you something you need and can't make, you trade me back something I need and can't make. EDIT: In simple terms a few years ago I did the same. I did some private IT work for a company that manufactured decking (normally for caravan parks etc). I did loads of work that was probably worth £800 for me and in return he installed a deck for me. I thought I was the winner as i got a deck for £800 (free really as was my 'spare time' and he thought he was a winner as he got all this IT work for the cost of labour to fit a small for his team deck (he manufactured the deck - high quality plastic deck, looks like wood).
As well as the above there's a skilled blue collar staff shortage. Who is going to staff these new production facilities Trumpenomic tariffs are supposed to generate? Could there be a surge in immigration?
On the topic of the decking, my dear wife used to be a manager for Robert Dyas and she would always ask a customer the same question, when they asked about rat/mouse traps etc. That question was “Do you have decking?” Her mini survey seemed to indicate that people with decking noticed rodents more frequently than before they had the decking installed.
I agree that the only possible justification for HoL is that it seems to work. It is a lot less partisan than the HoC, and depends on members making sensible collective decisions regardless of party loyalty.
Don't want to jinx it, but we have been lucky. Our neighbour not so much as he had a fox and her cubs under theirs! It has been there now about 11 years. The base it is on is wood, but the decking non wood. No one can tell and it still looks like new 11 years later.
Exactly. I think it could be streamlined but actually I don’t want it to become more of a political body.
Yes it's true, decking does attract vermin. It's a well known fact that rats and mice like to assemble on sunny days with drinks and cheese nibbles while watching the kids play in the garden. Quite often the neighbours come round too. The conversation is stereotypical of middle class rat culture like "did you know that you are rarely more than 10 feet away from a human" or "what compost heap have you been eating at lately? We've discovered a lovely little out-of-the-way heap behind no 3. It does the most divine kitchen waste. Very exclusive, very bijou." That sort of thing. A lot of people don't realise the implications of installing decking in their garden.
"It’s time to end this rotten system of patronage and replace the unelected Lords with a smaller elected chamber, where the people of this country - not former prime ministers - choose who shape the laws we all live under." "For far too many of its members, the second chamber of our parliament is a cosy club for the privileged few. But this is not just another private members’ club – it is one which has real powers over the law of the land." "We’re basically alone in Europe for having a fully-unelected revising chamber. And no other country in the democratic world has a second chamber bigger than ours. Globally, only Communist China has a bigger body, and they merely meet to rubber stamp government policies. France manages on 348 members. Spain with 265. India, with over a billion people, and Japan have just 245 members each." "It’s time to abolish the bloated House of Lords and create a new chamber to revise our legislation – one where the public picks the members, and can hold them accountable." https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/campaigns/elected-house-of-lords/
I think @Osvaldorama has lots of worthwhile ideas, and a far better understanding of the real world than the rest of us. Will this do the trick?
