Everyone needs a lesson in how tarrifs work. Tarrifs are a tax on thing that US companies buy. They are intended to make foreign products more expensive to protect domestic producers. So, the American company pays the tariff. They then pass that tariff on to their customer, either another company or an American consumer. Then, the country that the tariff had been applied to applies offsetting tarrifs on American goods.

When the product that the tariff is applied to can't be produced in the US, think advanced microchips or Canadian softwood lumber, Americans pay more but still have to buy the foreign product. With the softwood lumber tarrifs the cost of building a home with Canadian softwood lumber went up by tens of thousands of dollars and Canadian companies laughed all the way to the bank. American consumers paid more and Canadian companies made record profits because the US can't produce enough softwood lumber to meet its needs.

So, the price to American companies and consumers goes up and the cost of American goods overseas goes up. Americans pay the tarrifs and American companies sell less goods overseas.

America loses.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

What I love... what I really love... is that this happened during the administration of Trump's favorite president (other than himself), Andrew Jackson:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariff_of_Abominations

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Hadn't heard of this one, thanks. Americans are pros at not learning from history.

I thought this part was particularly funny/familiar:

It was a bill designed to fail in Congress because it was seen by free trade supporters as hurting both industry and farming, but it passed anyway.

Edit: That article lead me to this one, which gave me a good chuckle. How quaint: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petticoat_affair

these women, dubbed the "Petticoats", socially ostracized Secretary of War John Eaton and his wife, Peggy Eaton, over disapproval of the circumstances surrounding the Eatons' marriage and what they deemed her failure to meet the "moral standards of a Cabinet Wife".

After further reading about Peggy Eaton's childhood, kind of a bummer. Also, John Eaton pulled a King David/Bethsheba on her first husband, quite literally... That's wild.

Once Timberlake told Eaton of his financial troubles, Eaton unsuccessfully attempted to have the Senate pass legislation that would authorize payment of the debts Timberlake had accrued during his Naval service. Eventually, Eaton paid Timberlake's debts and procured him a lucrative posting to the U.S. Navy's Mediterranean Squadron; many rumormongers asserted that Eaton aided Timberlake as a means to remove him from Washington, in order for Eaton to socialize with Peggy.

What a shithead. Literally sent him to fight pirates so he could bang the dude's wife hahah

[–] Oaksey@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

So in your example, I guess the tariffs don’t apply to Canada? Because the proceeds of tariffs go to the government of the country charging them.

[–] MapleEngineer@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

I'm not sure what you're asking. If you're referring to softwood lumber the profits of Canadian lumber companies were at record levels because the US needs Canadian softwood lumber with or without tarrifs. The tarrifs didn't affect sales at all so with the increased demand despite the tarrifs Canadian companies didn't suffer at all. US consumers spent more and the money went to the US government which presumably gave some of the money to uncompetitive US softwood lumber companies to subsides their unprofitable operations. It's a tax on US consumers.

Canadian softwood lumber companies pay a stumpage fee to sustainably harvest softwood on public land. US softwood lumber companies pay much higher prices to harvest lumber mostly on private land. It's all about extracting the highest profit for the most wealthy people. Canada has a better system and the US is salty about it. The US has lost at the WTO every time but refuses to accept the result so it ignores its treaty obligations and just forges ahead with the illegal tarrifs which hurt US consumers.

[–] Mushroomm@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

But think of all the failing business that will be super cheap to aquire! /s

[–] RangerJosie@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Oh I have no doubt that the Blackrocks and Birkshire Hathaway's of the nation are absolutely throbbing at the prospect. Literally diamonds. Those dusty old corpses won't need their hourly viagra until 2030.

[–] GiveMemes@jlai.lu 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Lol the stock market went up by like 15% since he won or something like that. The big banks and holdings groups are wayyy up, same for tesla which just broke 1 trillion.

[–] RangerJosie@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

As it always does. In case you missed it all those things were hitting records all the way through Biden's 4 years.

It's a giant casino. And the only time real people feel it is when it crashes and suddenly shit costs way more than it did last week. It doesn't matter to anyone worth less than 8 or 9 figures.

[–] GiveMemes@jlai.lu 2 points 6 days ago

Yes. I was agreeing with you in the first place.