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What cracks me up about this whole tariff trade war drama is that people (mainly republicans) have no idea what they are, how it works, how flawed it is and all they hear is china bad and they support it.

I wonder why the guy who made the "tiny screws" comment (maybe he was thinking of the Simpsons episode) doesn't just go to China and see for himself. I'm sure the Chinese would welcome it. I haven't been there myself but I'm pretty sure it's a little bit more complicated than that. No reason for people setting these policies to not see it firsthand.
 
Someone else may have posted this already in a different thread BUT:
Steve Jobs told Barack Obama years ago, "The jobs aren't coming back."
Where does Trump got off thinking he is a freaking know it all?
He says, "Drill Baby Drill" and wants to keep using coal.
Destroy the World just for the sake of the almighty dollar.
"Stop the World I want to get off."

If the US doesn't have any manufacturing jobs, and you purchase all your energy from foreign countries so you have no production jobs, and you've got millions of illegal aliens doing agriculture jobs, what do you think happens when AI replaces all the 'college' level office jobs?

I'm sincerely asking. The US spends $7tn a year but only has $5Tn in tax revenue. What do you think happens to the global economy, when the US can't pay back it's debts and can't generate tax revenue because there are no jobs and no companies because they've all moved off shore?

That's the reality of the current global economic system that prioritises short term profits over long term outcomes. How would you solve the problem?
 
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They have a plant. In Austin. Mac Pros are made there. Trump knows this because he visited it during his first term. They even gave him one!
Yes, and if he had looked around while in the plant, he would have seen "dozens" of employees working in the factory. You can bring manufacturing to the US, but it does not bring jobs. The factories are automated.

Trumpo's fixation with manufacturing was odd to me at first. Why would he promise people jobs in iPhone factories and coal mines? Who would want that? Why not promise design, marketing and engineering jobs that pay 4X more? It is because his base does not see themselves are ever doing anything like that. It is sad to have such low goals that you think working in an iPhone factory or a coal mine is "having it made".

Germany has it right. They offer free university education to ANYONE, even if you are not German, just go there and it's free. You can continue clear to the PhD level. If they are lucky Germany will have those engineering, science, marketing and design jobs and all the unskilled jobs will be in the US. This seems to be what everyone wants.
 
If the US doesn't have any manufacturing jobs, and you purchase all your energy from foreign countries so you have no production jobs, and you've got millions of illegal aliens doing agriculture jobs, what do you think happens when AI replaces all the 'college' level office jobs?

I'm sincerely asking. The US spends $7tn a year but only has $5Tn in tax revenue. What do you think happens to the global economy, when the US can't pay back it's debts and can't generate tax revenue because there are no jobs and no companies because they've all moved off shore?

That's the reality of the current global economic system that prioritises short term profits over long term outcomes. How would you solve the problem?
The US does have manufacturing jobs though. Not as much as the past but they do have them. We make most of our energy in country. AI is far from replacing jobs. Currently many companies are struggling to find enough workers (note that's changing due to the tariffs with some companies being forced to layoff some, but that might improve again). The future may hold some big changes and we can tackle them as they come but we aren't there yet and aren't steamrolling towards it either. Meanwhile, work on your skills. Make sure it's the other guy that can't find a job because you are uniquely valuable. As for AI, be the person that is great at making AI do good and you will be in demand.
 
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This is nepotism. You can not apply tarifs on businesses then exempt few. You either apply to all or apply to none, or in sepcific case scenarios to a specific industry.

It really is mad that this guy of all guys has managed to manoeuvre himself into a position whereby so many people around the world have no choice but to pay attention to absolutely everything he says lol

he didnt maneuver himself. Americans chose him to gain this political power.
 
Yes, and if he had looked around while in the plant, he would have seen "dozens" of employees working in the factory. You can bring manufacturing to the US, but it does not bring jobs. The factories are automated.

Trumpo's fixation with manufacturing was odd to me at first. Why would he promise people jobs in iPhone factories and coal mines? Who would want that? Why not promise design, marketing and engineering jobs that pay 4X more? It is because his base does not see themselves are ever doing anything like that. It is sad to have such low goals that you think working in an iPhone factory or a coal mine is "having it made".

Germany has it right. They offer free university education to ANYONE, even if you are not German, just go there and it's free. You can continue clear to the PhD level. If they are lucky Germany will have those engineering, science, marketing and design jobs and all the unskilled jobs will be in the US. This seems to be what everyone wants.

the labour jobs are the ones that increase employment. Think of a building, it might be 1-5 engineers that designed it but the builders are 50-100 workers. Further more, sad to say, not every one has the intelligence and dedication to make it all the way to "science" degree job. What will those "average" joe will do for work?
 
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If Trump gives Apple tariff exemptions, then why would Apple (or any company) bring manufacturing back to the U.S.? Exemptions take away the incentive to do so.
Because it's impossible for some companies to manufacture in the US.
Say - and this would take decades - they do successfully import all the technology know-how and build dedicated factories to produce all the iPhone parts, do you have any idea how much it would cost an iPhone entirely made in USA?
 
Exactly. If this was anything sensible it would be a case of giving something like 2yrs notice. You can either plan and relocate production within the US, else face taxes (as esentially that is what they are) on imports.

Right now we are either seeing corruption, or incompetance.
Can it not be both?
 
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This is remarkable. Just seen this reported:



It's such disgusting behaviour from the supposed leader of the free world.
So here is where we are.
The US has been an economic bully for decades, Trump has just ripped off the mask.
People will work with bullies that much is obvious but it would pay to remember that they only do it for as long as necessary. There is always that straw that breaks the back of the camel.
Apple have some very careful business and diplomatic decisions to make. They had stuff manufactured in Chine because and let's be honest, they wanted to take advantage of their cheap labour.
What remains to be seen now is do other countries abandon their new negotiations and appear as unreliable as Trump or will the US now have to sit out of these new alliances for the foreseeable?
 
Trump appears to perceive the global market as synonymous with the US market, which comprises a mere 340 million individuals. He may hold the view that the US constitutes the centre of the world. However, the US has already alienated its only two neighbours, at least in terms of tariffs, and it is widely acknowledged that the populations of neither country hold a particular fondness for the US historically. The European Union, with a population of approximately 540 million, includes only one nation—or at least its leader—that has demonstrated any notable interest in aligning with Trump. Trump seeks to engage China in an economic confrontation, yet the US is likely to falter in this endeavour. Whilst he might exert pressure on US companies to withdraw from China, such actions would likely prove detrimental to those companies, some of which may not endure in the long term. Nations such as Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and Bangladesh are unlikely to oppose China in an economic conflict by siding with the US, nor will India. This scenario presents a mutually beneficial outcome for Asia, and indeed for the continent as a whole.
 
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I think that trump is talking about things such as Chinese nationals being captured in Ukraine etc. and people like Apple further strengthening china’s manufacturing by their continuing investment.

As for the west using china as their workshop - it would be like ford moving all of their production to Russia in the 1930s.

I don’t think that the historians of the future will look back kindly on what western companies have done (with the support of their governments) in the past 30 years re this.
 
Even Trump himself uses Chinese products daily. His social media platform, Truth. It's hosted by 1623 Farnam, the data center is built by Vertiv, which has offices in China and import networking equipments to use in the U.S.

If he wants to bring the works back in U.S., he should shutdown the Truth platform first.
 
If Trump gives Apple tariff exemptions, then why would Apple (or any company) bring manufacturing back to the U.S.? Exemptions take away the incentive to do so.

Maybe because Apple actually employs many people in the USA and could make a commitment to keep employing more people in the USA, instead of keep outsourcing jobs like other companies are doing?

If Apple is going to fire their American workers in the USA and rehire them in Eastern Europe or India (like what some companies in the USA are doing), Apple might be in trouble.

If a company has everything in Eastern Europe, India or China with very little to no American workers, I'd say f*ck them and they pay insane tarrifs and go sell their products in Europe or China.

Oh wait, they can't sell their products in China at these prices as it costs peanuts to make, and Chinese competitors destroys them.
 
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They have a plant. In Austin. Mac Pros are made there. Trump knows this because he visited it during his first term. They even gave him one!

Apple doesn't actually manufacture computers there. It assembles them. The parts are still made in China etc.
 
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Trump is trying to undo the capitalist crazed profit chasing obsession of business of the last few decades, which he himself has made billions from. Isn't going to happen any time soon. Companies will always manufacture parts outside the US as it is far far far cheaper to do so.
 
If Trump succeeds in bringing back some manufacturing will American consumers be willing to pay higher prices for American made products?
I would definitely pay more if I knew it was made here with America made components. I do not want to pay more if it’s just assembled in America but it’s made with Chinese or other countries components.
 
Apple, Dell, and similar companies don't have to close factories in China; rather, they could simply reduce sales in the US. Google, Facebook, and other such firms have established their “global” headquarters in Ireland, with the majority of their users residing outside the US. These companies have already incurred significant financial losses this year, despite contributing to Trump’s inauguration. Moreover, the US companies with manufacturing operations in China can redirect their products to other nations, and subsequently to the US. The sanctions imposed by Biden against Russia proved ineffective, a lesson Trump might heed. However, given the arrogance of Trump and his team, a promising future for the US appears unlikely.
 
Well, Trump has a point in that the current setup is really unsustainable in the long term - but on-shoring iPhone production and the whole supply chain around it is an endeavor as complex, difficult and expensive as the Manhattan project, if not more so.

Not only does Foxconn employ, house and feed a quarter million plus employees at their factory in Shenzen, but it relies on a large number of suppliers that are also located in the surroundings of the factory.

Re-building that ecosystem somewhere in the US is going to be incredibly hard and expensive. And I'm not sure anyone is willing to pony up for that.
 
Companies are not gonna make less profit since most will pass that to the consumer. Maybe they would absorb a small percentage. Your approach sounds nice but that approach would take a long time with not much of a guarantee. Plus that’s asking a LOT of people from big businesses and other countries to play nice by asking pretty please with sugar on top. What Trump is doing is very risky but if it works it will pay off much quicker and be more efficient. If it doesn’t, we will know very quickly. It would be THE definition of “ripping off the bandage”.
We know already because Trump blinked first. He has been busy shouting his mouth off at the world. Meanwhile, Japan expressed its disappointment at the betrayal rather quietly and with none of the fanfare emanating from the White House while calmly dumping its long-term US bonds. This made Trump's policy, if you can call it that, untenable. When even Trump's public mouthpiece, Fox News, is dumping on Trump and denying that countries were lining up to "make deals" then you know that there is no "wait and see" worth considering.

As far as toxic and damaging scenarios I point to record high inflation that took place the last 4 years. Homes, cars, energy, ALL life’s essentials went through the roof in real time and there was nowhere near the hysteria there currently is over toys, video games, sneakers and yes, iPhones. Owning a home is out of reach for the vast majority of younger people in the country. But …..iPhone prices 😂. Now, what Trump is doing is extremely risky. If it works, we will know very quickly within the coming months. If not, we will know equally as quick.

Perspective is very important in times like this. Let keep perspective and have intelligent debate and discussion.
Perspective is great. Context is better. That record inflation took place as a result of both Covid and Trump's very good friend's insane invasion of Ukraine. One upended world supply chains severely. The other disproportionately affected those economies trading with Russia, which was pretty much everyone. That was why there was no hysteria as you put it. Because everyone got hit. This time around, it is all down to the capricious fancies of a felon sitting in the White House. Note also, that Ukraine, which has cooperated with the US was hit with tariffs, while Russia which has stalled on the permanent ceasefire (which it broke in double quick time, by the way) and is planning a large offensive near Lyman, was spared even the 10% lowest tariff, although the US still actively trades with Russia despite sanctions. You cannot defend this.
 
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