Tariffs Are Proving 'Big Headache' for Tech Giants, Says Foxconn
25 comments
·March 14, 2025standardUser
Everyone hates tariffs because everyone hates taxes. If a government uses protectionism for a specific policy goal, like developing a domestic auto industry, that can be very effective and we've seen that work lots of times in lots of countries. The US may have recently managed to achieve this with microchip production.
But when tariffs are applied broadly we all pay more in taxes. And it's worse than a more familiar increase in sales or income tax because it can absolutely wreck supply chains.
unavoidable
If tariffs work at all (which is doubtful), they're supposed to be part of an overarching plan with a long-term strategy in coordination with industry so that they can actually invest in creating new manufacturing. It certainly isn't going to work when tariffs are going on-off-on-off-25%-200%-10%-off-on-sometimes-off-on again. How in the world is _anyone_, American or otherwise, supposed to plan around this?
Terr_
[delayed]
pjc50
Chip on shoring may lose its subsidy: https://www.reuters.com/technology/trump-wants-kill-527-bill...
skylurk
Offshoring to stable countries is looking really smart now.
sourtrident
It's wild - tariffs meant to shield U.S. interests end up giving Apple and Foxconn headaches, shifting their entire strategy. Reminds me of closing one door only to notice everyone's sneaking in through the window. Protectionism might feel good, but tech always finds another route around.
jonplackett
They don’t really want to collect tariff $. They want to force production in the US, which the article says is what they are going to do. That’s not a window being jumped through, that’s the intent. Or am I missing something here?
andrewmcwatters
No, you're not missing anything. That's the intent.
brookst
I’m skeptical the tariffs were mean to shield US interests rather than just being intended to do exactly what they’re achieving: isolating the US by driving investment and allies away, while contributing to a recession where oligarchs can further consolidate power and wealth.
If you look at them as an attack on the US, everything makes a lot more sense.
oceanplexian
> Isolating the US by driving investment and allies away
Foreign government's have an easy solution to solve the problem.
Don't unfairly disadvantage your goods and services against American products and we won't do the same. Free trade shouldn't mean "Free trade for one side".
I'd really like to see the US leverage them for a broader array of issues. How can folks in the US complain about things like the minimum wage, but then support free trade with a country where the minimum wage is less than $1 a day. Oppression is OK as long is it's abstracted away from you by a container ship? Free trade should be contingent on reciprocity, both in terms of social and economic interests.
__MatrixMan__
Agreed, it's exactly what I'd do if I wanted the US to withdraw from global relevance.
tempodox
Yep, when Trump is through America will lie in ruins.
null
9283409232
This is the correct way of thinking about it. The tariffs aren't meant to drive economic growth, they are meant to tank the economy and drive a wedge between the US and allies. The ultimate goal is to start a recession and an extra bonus goal would be to get US army bases in Europe shut down. That would make Putin extra happy.
VoodooJuJu
[dead]
skybrian
Maybe the tariff should be a separate line item, like sales tax?
mastax
That’s how it is at DigiKey and some other B2B focused distributors.
wenwolf
Sounds like airline bills.. I don't really see how that has worked out for them.
daveguy
At least you specifically see what each charge is costing you.
NullPrefix
Only at the last second of the purchase, when you're already mentally commited to buy at a lower previously advertised price
null
Trasmatta
Maybe tech giants shouldn't have been so quick to trip over themselves to kiss the ring
wenwolf
I like even less how they use slander lawsuit settlements to achieve bribes. I imagine it would be hard for anyone else who would have to counter evidence that they raped their ex-wife to sue people because more recent sex crimes were not rapes.
I can't imagine someone as rich as Bezos doesn't have expensive advisors who have told him the patterns suggest that his best move for his businesses is to at least fake that he can get in a testosterone war with Trump through his paper.. So the likely explanations for why he hasn't that I can think of are not kind.
The reason manufacturing left the US is because of the American dollar's status as the world's reserve currency. Because of this status the dollar is over-valued and local manufacturing is extremely expensive. Offshoring makes things cheaper for the Americans, not more expensive. Tariffs make things more expensive. I bet this ends up making American companies less globally competitive in the long run. If the tariffs do end up actually going towards paying off US debt maybe it will be worth it, but that is a big if.