Christmas shortages due to tariffs:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/o...ump-voter.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/b...mas-china.html
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Christmas shortages due to tariffs:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/o...ump-voter.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/b...mas-china.html
Ports waiting for the fallout on west coast.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/b...e=articleShare
By way of anecdote, from my living room I can see cargo ships as they come and go through the Strait of Juan de Fuca. They generally, once through, head south to Seattle/Tacoma, or north up to Vancouver BC and the cargo handling facilities there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tradd
They mostly seem to be heading north these days.
The vessel-tracking tools I use show the Port of Seattle with very few ships at the cargo facilities. Almost empty compared to normal, it seems. Maybe it's seasonal, but...
Whereas Vancouver's ports look quite busy.
I guess this is one way to decrease the commercialization of Christmas.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tradd
right! And reduce the amount of cheap crap from China, I mean stuff that no one needs.Quote:
Originally Posted by rosarugosa
my main source of doll clothes is China vendors. They design and sell nice quality clothes and they are not cheap, but I won’t be paying 145% more.
I see IL has bought into the fiction that cheap crap is the only stuff China exports.
No, not at all! But all of the cheap crap I am thinking of is not made in the U.S. It may not all beQuote:
Originally Posted by Tradd
china-made but it comes from that part of the world.
On the other hand, the aforementioned doll clothes I buy from China are Artisan because they are designed with imagination and made by hand with meticulous attention to detail. These are not doll clothes from a giant Mattel factory. They remind me of Barbie doll clothes from the early 1960’s when real fabrics like cottons and velvets were used with buttons and lace in scale.
The news I've seen says that the turnaround time from loading in China to arrive on US shelves is about 6 or 8 weeks. So tariffs went into effect on 4/2 for many things...
It's too bad the idea of Amazon showing the tariff amount of a selling price was somehow nixed. I thought the press secretary Leavitt was going to blow a cortex talking about how it was some sort of vicious political plot. It would be nice if some of the big box stores would take up on the idea, although they are probably cowering in fear over retribution and law suits. It's not just plastic toys, but washer and driers and other major purchases.
I really liked this idea of Amazon's.
I did, too! So, do you think Bezos was planning to do that company-wide and folded after the call with Trump, or do you think it really was just meant for the smaller cheap spinoff sites?Quote:
Originally Posted by Tybee
I read Amazon had only intended to show the tariff cost on Haul, their pretty new Temu-type section. This section is only on their app, not on website.Quote:
Originally Posted by catherine
I was curious. On the Amazon site on my computer where it says Search Amazon, there is a dropdown arrow next to that window that says All as a default. You can drop down to Amazon Haul there. It's really cheap stuff.
I'd think Bezos would know that if he did this site wide it would raise the ire of his pal Trump. Seems like people should have visibility to the tariff charges, although maybe the empty selves and high prices will say enough. It's sort of like a sales tax, but they are hiding how much it is.
Ah, OK. I had heard that Haul was only on the Amazon app. Maybe that was just during the original rollout.
It’s apparently a separate entity from regular Amazon. At least they have separate shopping carts.
It’s REALLY cheap stuff.
Yea, it’s supposed to compete with Temu and Shein.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogar
So if I need even cheaper, crappier, crap, I could get it there?Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogar
My customers who import toys and furniture from China are now investigating Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, India, Indonesia. The toy company had already brought in occasional shipments from Indonesia, but are seeing about bringing in more from Indonesia to replace China. The problem is that these other countries don’t have the factory capacity or infrastructure to deal with a ton more manufacturing at this time.
I’m amazed at the number of people I’m seeing online who are cheering for American small businesses to go under because they imported from China. These people are generally rural or small town, in the south/Great Plains, and not educated.
My take was that it's the same cheap stuff as regular Amazon, but it's all in one place and on markdown. Like Trump said, kids will have to make due with 2 Barbies instead of 30 and they might cost a little more.Quote:
Originally Posted by rosarugosa
The investment gurus on network TV were also recommending Indonesia for those wanting to play the market.
Sold all shares in Dollar Tree today. Can’t imagine they will continue to be profitable with the tariff debacle!
From an environmental point of view, I will not weep at drying up the supply of cheap disposable imported crap that ends up in landfills.
For sure.Quote:
Originally Posted by frugal-one
I just bought a few shares of EBAY. It isn't doing very well right now, but we'll see--I just bought my granddaughters 1966 Barbies and a lot of 60-s and 70's Barbie clothes on Ebay. My son just bought bikes on Craigslist for them. Maybe the future is like Cuba, everyone recycling the same things with different owners.
I wouldn't buy a big position in either stock, that's for sure.
Explains the de minimis well
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...e=articleShare
Another article.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/b...e=articleShare
What about the stuff already in the country?Quote:
Originally Posted by frugal-one
I have heard about at least three more Amazon package stores opening around my travel ground. Sounds like the stores are just changing and the thrift stores will be back to doing better c type of sales, soon.
What about the stuff already in the country? It’s only going to last so long. My estimates are we’ll maybe start seeing shortages late May at the earliest. It really depends on how much retailers brought in before the tariffs took effect.Quote:
Originally Posted by ToomuchStuff
Announcement on WH website about China. Sounds like it's more of a plan of a plan, than an actual plan. Announcement tomorrow.
Here's something on it from Bloomberg via Wallstreetbets:
US, China to Cut Some Tariffs for 90 Days: Live News on Trade Talks - Bloomberg
Woke up at 2:40 am. Heard it on the BBC I was listening to then went to NYT. Surprised!
I just read it in the paper. For better or worse, I still feel that this was all part of Trump's plan. A risky game, but a potentially lucrative one for those on the inside. Am I crazy?Quote:
Originally Posted by Tradd
You crash the market, your friends buy. You pump the market, your friends sell. You keep repeating.
Exactly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tybee
ETA: Paul Krugman had a good headline for his substack on this topic: "When an Arsonist Poses as a Firefighter."
Someone on the MMM forum made reference to a "chaos monkey" running the show in the US, and I thought that was such a perfect descriptor for DJT.
George Saunders (Lincoln at the Bardo) had a moving op-ed in the Times today about the dismissal of the head of the Library of Congress. Like many firings this administration has executed, that dismissal was so stupid and unnecessary and based on (surprise, surprise) lies or complete ignorance about what the Library of Congress is.
Maybe kids can have 15 dolls now?
Other than Trump throwing his weight around, it doesn't look like the China tariff threat has accomplished much. Local news featured a small business owner depending on imports who had laid off a few long time employees anticipating the more drastic traffic rate. It's probably all causing a huge headache for the port authorities.
The doll thing sort of put me in mind of Bernie’s complaint that we had too many choices of underarm deodorant and sneakers. In terms of the economy, we might as well have elected one of the more reality-challenged Democrat.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogar
Very interesting NYT article that breaks down the customs form that shows how crazy the China tariffs have gotten. Surprised to see the 7501/entry summary in the NYT!
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...e=articleShare
Went to our local library today and there was a handout asking us to write our representatives. The illegal withholding of Maine's funding by the Institute of Museum and Library Services approved by Congress for 2025 has resulted in the closing of the Maine State Library to the public, along with the loss of 13 Maine State Library staff. (We tend to be a small state, and that's a lot.) This will affect things like interlibrary loan services, digital resources, internet access for libraries, and support services.Quote:
Originally Posted by catherine
So yes, the harm done to the IMLS is already impacting our local, tiny library along with shuttering our state library.
How have we come to the point where a state library is dependent on federal whims for its very survival? At what point does federal funding become a means to subvert state sovereignty? The problem’s been there all along, but Trump is highlighting it for our brethren on the left. A central government that could pressure universities to dispense with due process for students accused of sex crimes can just as easily crack down them for failing to restrain their more enthusiastically antisemitic students.
I don't have a problem with governments endorsing and helping to support libraries, public broadcasting, ie culture. Things that enlighten and promote culture enrich a society IMO.
I had no clue that states get that much money from the feds.