Trump exempts phones, computers, chips from ‘reciprocal’ tariffs

Posted by tosh 4/12/2025

Trump exempts phones, computers, chips from ‘reciprocal’ tariffs(www.bloomberg.com)

408 points | 884 commentspage 10

codesun99 4/13/2025|

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BuckRogers 4/13/2025||

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greatgib 4/12/2025||

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safgasCVS 4/13/2025||

May I propose a tinfoil hat perspective on tariffing China: America is prepping the ground for a full war with China. That's the only position that make sense to me other than the obvious "these guys are all corrupt idiots". I don't know which is which but at least the war perspective makes more sense to me. I believe we are at the propaganda stage where allies will be 'encouraged' into adopting similar positions and portraying China as a global threat. Nations such as India, Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea and Australia are already encouraged to act highly aggressively towards China whenever possible. Given most of those countries political elite worship America and long to send their kids to Harvard they will comply and willingly allow their countries to be used as cannon fodder to maintain Western hegemony. The sweet-talking of Russia is an attempt to recreate the Sino-Russian split during the cold war and at least ensure Russia doesn't fight alongside China in a war. None of this is related to bringing jobs back, nation building or caring one bit about blue collar workers. its an attempt to maintain the American global hegemony that China very clearly threatens. If Trump and his close supporters can get filthy rich from this then all the better.

grey-area 4/13/2025||

There is no grand geopolitical strategy here. Trump and his advisors really are this stupid and think that huge worldwide tariffs are a good idea. That they have kept 10% worldwide tariffs (also insane) shows they still think they are a good idea that will bring back manufacturing to the US. The damage to US soft power is irreversible unfortunately and the trust of former allies will never return. I suspect you’ll find as the empire declines people no longer aspire to send their kids - would you if they might be detained for weeks in inhumane conditions and deported for having opinions or a skin colour the regime doesn’t like?

Yes China is the current rival and thus was hit hardest, but they’ve already had to retract a lot of tariffs days after introduction simply because they had no idea what impact it would cause on borrowing costs.

Yes if Trump sees an opportunity to demand fealty from anyone with power or money he will take it, and enjoy it, but he genuinely thinks that is his due anyway.

You could say they have a plan in project 2025, but that’s more about destroying the US government and retaining power. If it were a functioning democracy he’d be removed after the damage he’s done.

safgasCVS 4/13/2025||

My view is a more charitable one assuming there is some grand strategy going on but I think you are more on the money. It's just hard to accept that the administration really is so comically corrupt and incompetent

randoomed 4/13/2025|||

Unfortunately if this was the plan it massively backfired. By imposing a global tariff the US also hit its allies in the region. This in turn causes these allies to look for trade deals with others in the region, like China.

We have already seen South Korea and Japan announce new trade deals with China. So the US is actually pushing away its allies in the region (which doesn't sound ideal when trying to start a war).

Ylpertnodi 4/13/2025||

From my conversations with Europeeps...we'll side with China.

throw0101d 4/12/2025|

There are valid reasons for tariffs:

* https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/when-are-tariffs-good

Especially when it comes to certain areas of the economy:

> Democratic countries’ economies are mainly set up as free market economies with redistribution, because this is what maximizes living standards in peacetime. In a free market economy, if a foreign country wants to sell you cheap cars, you let them do it, and you allocate your own productive resources to something more profitable instead. If China is willing to sell you brand-new electric vehicles for $10,000, why should you turn them down? Just make B2B SaaS and advertising platforms and chat apps, sell them for a high profit margin, and drive a Chinese car.

> Except then a war comes, and suddenly you find that B2B SaaS and advertising platforms and chat apps aren’t very useful for defending your freedoms. Oops! The right time to worry about manufacturing would have been years before the war, except you weren’t able to anticipate and prepare for the future. Manufacturing doesn’t just support war — in a very real way, it’s a war in and of itself.

* https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/manufacturing-is-a-war-now

> China has rapidly established itself as the world’s dominant shipbuilding power, marginalizing the United States and its allies in a strategically important industry. In addition to building massive numbers of commercial ships, many Chinese shipyards also produce warships for the country’s rapidly growing navy. As part of its “military-civil fusion” strategy, China is tapping into the dual-use resources of its commercial shipbuilding empire to support its ongoing naval modernization

* https://www.csis.org/analysis/ship-wars-confronting-chinas-d...

But none of the current "reasons"—which may simply be rationalizations / retcons by underlings for one man's fickle will—really make much sense:

* https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/all-the-arguments-for-tariffs-...