Tractors and (upcoming) tariffs?

[ultrarunner]

I was about 10 at the dealership and a man walked up with a briefcase, handed me his card and asked to speak with the person in charge... I asked if he wanted to buy a car and he said he was from the government...

He was there to do an audit of the books and spent 2 full days in one of the offices with the door closed going over the business records...

On the third day he said he was done and had uncovered a discrepancy and then went on to say we had overpayed and a refund would be coming in 30 days...

I just remember I was not to bother the man from the government and he never smiled...

I did ask him if he was coming back and he said no...

 

[Rdrcr]

The American people say they’ve unhappy with Congress, but keep re-electing the same people. Everyone says the problem is the members of Congress from other districts/states.

True. And it is very very unfortunate.

Mike

 

[rumwrks]

Back to tariffs, I guess I'm a touch baffled that so many folks don't believe people are going to do exactly what they said they are going to do. The "10% on china" was "10% on top of the initial proposal of 60% increase across the board" which means 70% total if that lands (so 60% increases for anything from China across the board is currently best case). Maybe the 25% on Canada and Mexico will happen up front.. maybe it'll only be 10% and then ramp up as the retaliatory tariff war lands. I dunno.. but when someone says they're going to do something.. my first tendency is to go ahead and take them at their word.

I'm personally planning on basically everything to get 25-50% more expensive at a minimum and probably closer to double or more for a lot of things (especially any fresh food and most hard goods) in the next couple of years (not just due to tariffs, but other policies as well)

Because of this I've moved up a lot of purchases I was previously putting off, especially of anything that smells of imported goods (but also domestic maintenance items, etc.. because if it hits raw materials as hard as I think it will all that will have some harsh ripple effects). I'm planning on moving into hunker down and survive mode for the duration, I have a garden so can at least get fresh produce. I have some funds if necessary but will probably need a decent chunk of them to support elderly relatives as they get cut off from the various support systems (again.. that is literally what they said they were going to do.. and I have so far zero reason to disbelieve them). At this point I've written off ever getting Social Security and figure medical support is best case pay out of pocket until that's gone and then end it because there's zero chance ACA survives. Worst case I'm wrong and pre-spent a bit I didn't need to just yet (and a few businesses got some advantage out of that so good for them).

Will a lot of companies figure out how to evade and skirt the tariffs? Sure, they already are (how isn't hard to find if you look). Most of the ways that's happening are also detrimental to the domestic economy as well so .. shrug not much I can do about it except what I've always done.. survive.

I'm pretty sure I'm not alone on this one as I personally know a bunch of folks who are not getting their usual x-mas bonuses because businesses owners are stockpiling goods ahead of the expected changes to try to buffer out the cost increases and that has consumed the available capital that would normally have been used to fund those.

 

[Duds13]

Back to tariffs, I guess I'm a touch baffled that so many folks don't believe people are going to do exactly what they said they are going to do. The "10% on china" was "10% on top of the initial proposal of 60% increase across the board" which means 70% total if that lands (so 60% increases for anything from China across the board is currently best case). Maybe the 25% on Canada and Mexico will happen up front.. maybe it'll only be 10% and then ramp up as the retaliatory tariff war lands. I dunno.. but when someone says they're going to do something.. my first tendency is to go ahead and take them at their word.

I'm personally planning on basically everything to get 25-50% more expensive at a minimum and probably closer to double or more for a lot of things (especially any fresh food and most hard goods) in the next couple of years (not just due to tariffs, but other policies as well)

Because of this I've moved up a lot of purchases I was previously putting off, especially of anything that smells of imported goods (but also domestic maintenance items, etc.. because if it hits raw materials as hard as I think it will all that will have some harsh ripple effects). I'm planning on moving into hunker down and survive mode for the duration, I have a garden so can at least get fresh produce. I have some funds if necessary but will probably need a decent chunk of them to support elderly relatives as they get cut off from the various support systems (again.. that is literally what they said they were going to do.. and I have so far zero reason to disbelieve them). At this point I've written off ever getting Social Security and figure medical support is best case pay out of pocket until that's gone and then end it because there's zero chance ACA survives. Worst case I'm wrong and pre-spent a bit I didn't need to just yet (and a few businesses got some advantage out of that so good for them).

Will a lot of companies figure out how to evade and skirt the tariffs? Sure, they already are (how isn't hard to find if you look). Most of the ways that's happening are also detrimental to the domestic economy as well so .. shrug not much I can do about it except what I've always done.. survive.

I'm pretty sure I'm not alone on this one as I personally know a bunch of folks who are not getting their usual x-mas bonuses because businesses owners are stockpiling goods ahead of the expected changes to try to buffer out the cost increases and that has consumed the available capital that would normally have been used to fund those.

Do you watch CNN and/or MSNBC?

 

[Fishin-4-a-Livin]

Back to tariffs, I guess I'm a touch baffled that so many folks don't believe people are going to do exactly what they said they are going to do. The "10% on china" was "10% on top of the initial proposal of 60% increase across the board" which means 70% total if that lands (so 60% increases for anything from China across the board is currently best case). Maybe the 25% on Canada and Mexico will happen up front.. maybe it'll only be 10% and then ramp up as the retaliatory tariff war lands. I dunno.. but when someone says they're going to do something.. my first tendency is to go ahead and take them at their word.

I'm personally planning on basically everything to get 25-50% more expensive at a minimum and probably closer to double or more for a lot of things (especially any fresh food and most hard goods) in the next couple of years (not just due to tariffs, but other policies as well)

Because of this I've moved up a lot of purchases I was previously putting off, especially of anything that smells of imported goods (but also domestic maintenance items, etc.. because if it hits raw materials as hard as I think it will all that will have some harsh ripple effects). I'm planning on moving into hunker down and survive mode for the duration, I have a garden so can at least get fresh produce. I have some funds if necessary but will probably need a decent chunk of them to support elderly relatives as they get cut off from the various support systems (again.. that is literally what they said they were going to do.. and I have so far zero reason to disbelieve them). At this point I've written off ever getting Social Security and figure medical support is best case pay out of pocket until that's gone and then end it because there's zero chance ACA survives. Worst case I'm wrong and pre-spent a bit I didn't need to just yet (and a few businesses got some advantage out of that so good for them).

Will a lot of companies figure out how to evade and skirt the tariffs? Sure, they already are (how isn't hard to find if you look). Most of the ways that's happening are also detrimental to the domestic economy as well so .. shrug not much I can do about it except what I've always done.. survive.

I'm pretty sure I'm not alone on this one as I personally know a bunch of folks who are not getting their usual x-mas bonuses because businesses owners are stockpiling goods ahead of the expected changes to try to buffer out the cost increases and that has consumed the available capital that would normally have been used to fund those.

Dang, I hate that you feel like you have to go into “hunker down and survive” mode.

Just about everyone I know feels exactly the opposite. Like a weight has been lifted.

My suggestion would be to turn off the television and don’t believe anything that the “news” media tells you to believe.

 

[Hay Dude]

Dang, I hate that you feel like you have to go into “hunker down and survive” mode.

Just about everyone I know feels exactly the opposite. Like a weight has been lifted.

My suggestion would be to turn off the television and don’t believe anything that the “news” media tells you to believe.

Agree.
I think the road ahead will be difficult a little while longer, especially if you are trying to buy a home or finance a big ticket item. Houses are out of control and interest rates are stoopid high.
But if we can flood (literally) the markets with fuel and get the supply to exceed the demand and get fuel costs down, the prices of everything will drop.

 

[bdhsfz6]

My take on this so far is, many of these tariffs are proposals used as threats against other countries. Instead of getting upset and discussing what MAY happen, let's wait and see what actually DOES happen.

Sure, if you're currently in the market for an expensive foreign made product, it might pay to buy now. On the other hand, buying something you might need in the next few years is foolish IMO.

YMMV.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

I mean, Joe B said he would raise min wage to $15/he when he pushed Bernie out of the race in 2020.

That didn't happen. That's why I don't believe all things. And I also understand the context of the tariffs. I don't ignore the context of them and blindly say they will be implemented. That's intellectually dishonest

 

[newkiotiguy]

Back to tariffs, I guess I'm a touch baffled that so many folks don't believe people are going to do exactly what they said they are going to do. The "10% on china" was "10% on top of the initial proposal of 60% increase across the board" which means 70% total if that lands (so 60% increases for anything from China across the board is currently best case). Maybe the 25% on Canada and Mexico will happen up front.. maybe it'll only be 10% and then ramp up as the retaliatory tariff war lands. I dunno.. but when someone says they're going to do something.. my first tendency is to go ahead and take them at their word.

I'm personally planning on basically everything to get 25-50% more expensive at a minimum and probably closer to double or more for a lot of things (especially any fresh food and most hard goods) in the next couple of years (not just due to tariffs, but other policies as well)

Because of this I've moved up a lot of purchases I was previously putting off, especially of anything that smells of imported goods (but also domestic maintenance items, etc.. because if it hits raw materials as hard as I think it will all that will have some harsh ripple effects). I'm planning on moving into hunker down and survive mode for the duration, I have a garden so can at least get fresh produce. I have some funds if necessary but will probably need a decent chunk of them to support elderly relatives as they get cut off from the various support systems (again.. that is literally what they said they were going to do.. and I have so far zero reason to disbelieve them). At this point I've written off ever getting Social Security and figure medical support is best case pay out of pocket until that's gone and then end it because there's zero chance ACA survives. Worst case I'm wrong and pre-spent a bit I didn't need to just yet (and a few businesses got some advantage out of that so good for them).

Will a lot of companies figure out how to evade and skirt the tariffs? Sure, they already are (how isn't hard to find if you look). Most of the ways that's happening are also detrimental to the domestic economy as well so .. shrug not much I can do about it except what I've always done.. survive.

I'm pretty sure I'm not alone on this one as I personally know a bunch of folks who are not getting their usual x-mas bonuses because businesses owners are stockpiling goods ahead of the expected changes to try to buffer out the cost increases and that has consumed the available capital that would normally have been used to fund those.

Why are you people still here then? If it's going to be so bad leave now while you still can. Everyone will be broke or dead in a few months, according to your news that you are addicted to. The less of you people around the better

 

[square1]

My take on this so far is, many of these tariffs are proposals used as threats against other countries. Instead of getting upset and discussing what MAY happen, let's wait and see what actually DOES happen.

Sure, if you're currently in the market for an expensive foreign made product, it might pay to buy now. On the other hand, buying something you might need in the next few years is foolish IMO.

YMMV.

Yes, 45 huffed & puffed a lot, but really did very little beyond golfing. 47 will be be 45 redux. He's quite predictable.