Trump tariffs: President to hit Canada, Mexico and China with tariffs
www.bbc.com
Canadian oil will be hit with a lower levy of 10%, likely by mid-February, President Trump says.

Summary

Trump announced that 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico will take effect on February 1, though a decision on including oil remains pending.

He justified the move by citing undocumented migration, fentanyl trafficking, and trade deficits.

Trump also hinted at new tariffs on China.

Canada and Mexico plan retaliatory measures while seeking to address U.S. concerns.

If oil imports are taxed, it could raise costs for businesses and consumers, potentially contradicting Trump’s pledge to reduce living expenses.

  • ricecake@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    1·
    12 hours ago

    Video game consoles are sold at a loss on occasion because the marginal cost of game sales is extremely high. There’s no associated product to pair with cement that would drive you to sell it at a loss.

    My point was that yes, it will drive people to local businesses, because they will be cheaper. Local businesses have no reason to keep their prices the same if the competition just got more expensive however.

    I’m glad you found my comment informative. I’d hate to think I was talking to someone who wanted to say their opinion and then got defensive if someone disagreed with them. It’s a sign of someone with at least a wrinkle or two that they’re open to discussing their thoughts.

    For more insight from people even more knowledgeable than me:

    https://www.businessinsider.com/what-are-tariffs

    https://www.businessinsider.com/krugman-trump-tariffs-immigration-deportation-grocery-prices-wealth-taxes-policy-2025-1

    https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the-end-of-north-america

    https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/federal/trump-tariffs-trade-war/

    • bradd@lemmy.worldEnglish
      13·
      8 hours ago

      Well the console example demonstrates long term payout strategies. Another example is in free to play games with microtransactions. You develop a game at a cost, you give it away for free, and you hope that it’s good enough to hook people and get them to spend on “hats”. It’s a lot of money up front to make more later.

      • ricecake@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        1·
        1 hour ago

        So do either of those strategies apply to the manufacturing of physical goods as are being tarifed?

        Do you think that Ford is going to sell cars at a loss to make money on service contracts now that their costs are rising because some parts are fabricated in Detroit, assembled in Windsor, and then shipped back for installation in Flint? If it didn’t make sense to sell at a loss before, why would it make sense to do so now?

        Do you think that there’s money to be made on getting people hooked on buying wheat perks?

        We’re not talking videogame DLC, we’re talking about food, manufacturing materials, electrical power, and physical goods. The price of these things are going up, just like they went up with previous tariffs. This is a super easy case, because he did it to a lesser extent before, and it didn’t do what he’s saying it will. There’s no reason to believe that making the bad choice more vigorously will make it suddenly have a different outcome.