Trump tariffs result in 10% laptop price hike in U.S. says Acer CEO
-
IT'S OFFICIAL, FOLKS! Trump thinks he can just slap tariffs on our friends abroad and watch us 'compete' again? Newsflash: this only hurts the little guy (and the planet). Just got word from Acer CEO that those tariffs have already led to a 10% price hike for laptops in the US. That's right, we're paying more for the very devices that are supposed to help us succeed in an era of 'American greatness'. Meanwhile, Trump is too busy coddling his corporate pals to care about the real American people. Wake up, sheeple! It's time to stop voting for politicians who only look out for their buddies on Wall Street.
-
T [email protected] shared this topic
-
lol great
-
How exactly does this hurt the planet? If the United States imports fewer laptops, then that means there are less laptops coming over on ships from China which saves fuel. If tariffs cause a rise in US production, then the production of the product is closer to the end consumer, again saving fuel.
-
The same amount of laptops will come over, we’ll just be paying more for them.
-
If they cost more, it would also disincentivize spending on the laptop unless it's necessary. So theoretically fewer laptops should come over. If you don't buy a laptop because your laptop isn't really in need of replacement, then you just saved 100%. Or you could also buy a used laptop that's newer than the one you have from somebody else in good condition and save some percentage of what you would have paid for the new one anyway.
Just as an example, I'm rocking a laptop from 2014 with an Intel 3rd generation Core i7. Obviously the newest Intel is the 13th generation, but you can find Intel 7th and 8th generation laptops which are much newer than mine for decent prices.
-
the majority of laptops dont come from companies like acer. the majority of them are leased by dell/lenovo/hp to businesses. all this does is hurt acer. and businesses require the laptops to function so the major total of laptops isnt changing much.
also tariffs doesnt automatically create rise of US production. it can also have the opposite effect. E.g during trumps last term, boutique case maker CaseLabs went out of business due to tariffs on aluminum prices. You know which case companies survived? the ones that kept production in asia.
-
Correct, except that more people buying used laptops will incentivize people to upgrade more often as they can depend on a strong secondhand market to recoup some of the cost of the new one by selling the old one.
-
No one buys an Acer laptop because they want it like a new iPhone. They buy it because they have to.
-
That's a fair point. The way I see it, it's similar to buying a car. If you buy a new car, as soon as you drive it off the lot, it loses $3,000 in value and depreciates quite a bit within the first year. If you buy a one-year-old used car, it's still in pretty good condition and has had the "new" tax deducted already.
-
I'm not totally sure how those lease programs to companies work. Once the laptops are replaced, I know some of them will obviously be unusable and have to be destroyed. But there should be laptops that are in perfectly fine condition. And what happens to those if they get put on the second hand market you could buy them from their and the company paid the "new" tax. Now to make up for that, the company could either raise their prices on their items or if they don't want to lose sales, they could eat it.
-
Guess I'm 10% less likely to buy one then. If crashing consumer confidence is the goal you're well on your way Mr President.
-
Obviously the newest Intel is the 13th generation
-
LOL, just goes to show. I don't keep up with processors close enough, apparently.
-
A lot of those lease programs also re-lease used stock. Also yes, often you can buy previously leased machines second hand from them.
-
If tariffs cause a rise in US production
This is one of the problems with the Trumpian approach to tariffs. I don't know if you hadn't noticed, but there's remarkably little manufacturing in the USA for quite some time now, but let's play this out.
The cost to set up a laptop manufacturing firm in the US is anywhere from $50,000,000 to $200,000,000. Then, you've gotta acquire all the raw materials and components to assemble the laptops, let's call that another $500,000,000. Then, of course, you've gotta staff the place, and this is in a country where we do not have a lot of people that are experienced in manufacturing. Let's call that another $100,000,000. By the time you add in R&D, logistics costs, legal and compliance (because the US is a bit more stringent than China in this area), you're talking about $1 - $3 BILLION in costs.
Now, out of the few people / companies that have enough money to actually set up a laptop manufacturer in the USA, think about how confident they'd have to be to pull this off. The largest problem is, if you spend your billion dollars and build this factory and then the next week Trump removes the tariff, you're instantly competing with foreign firms again, and you're going to be going under pretty fast.
I'd say this tariff would have to be in place at LEAST 10 years before anyone gets confident enough to spend the massive amount of money and effort quoted above. When you think about how many millions of laptops are going to get sold between now and then, it's pretty clear the American consumer is going to take a huge bath in the meantime.
Like so many things Trump is doing, this tariff is supposed to piss off China but just ends up fucking the consumer. Trump and his billionaire friends don't care if a laptop is an extra $200. That's change they can find under the couch. For your average American trying to make ends meet, that $200 sure as fuck would be useful.
So go ahead, vote Republican to "own the libs". Just don't be surprised when the sudden pain you feel in your wallet is very real.
-
That 10-year time horizon is a very good point. And it's not likely that the tariff would stick around that long since every four years has a changing administration who can do whatever they please in those regards.
Personally, for me anyway, I am a Monero holder and am seeing prices fall fairly rapidly. For example, a thing of beard oil in October of 2024 was 72.9mXMR and is now 61.11mXMR (-16.2%).
-
The thing is, tariffs aren't new. Manufacturing (or the lack thereof) in the US isn't new... the only NEW thing appears to be voters that can be led around by the nose and lacking any kind of critical thought altogether. What % of people that voted for tariffs thought that China'd be paying for them? Probably the same folks who thought Mexico was going to build the wall and pay for it. Last time I checked, I don't think we've received any money from Mexico for this.
-
We're not the consumers Trump cares about
-
That 10-year time horizon is a very good point. And it's not likely that the tariff would stick around that long since every four years has a changing administration who can do whatever they please in those regards.
Lol, you guys are hilarious. I keep seeing these comments.
Fascists don't allow fair elections.
The only way the magats are leaving office is mass insurrection / mass protests & strikes or revolution.
It most certainly won't happen at the ballot box
-
Follow the money. Where do the tariffs end up?
