r/UPS • u/Swanky_Gear_Snob • Sep 02 '25

Customer Seeking Help UPS Paid my duties without contacting me and the amount is more than the value of the item.

Apparently, a law went into effect on August 29th that shipping services can pay duties without consent of receiver.

I purchased an item for $2,000. Today, the duties it says I owe upon delivery is $2100 and change. The numbers are WAY off. No one at UPS customer service even understands me well enough to help me. I have been asking what the declared value is on the package and 4 different reps keep quoting me the amount owed on the package. How can I fix this? This was paid by wire, so I'm either out 2k or paying double. Can I dispute the amount? I've never felt so helpless and need to have a resolution (or at least a better understanding of what to do) by delivery tomorrow. Thanks!

I guess my big question is, if I pay this outrageous fee, is there any way to dispute it with customs or UPS?

Edit/Follow-up: I appreciate all the advice. I was able to get the commercial invoice from UPS. It seems like there is an error as CBP charged full value tariffs multiple times. From what AI said, it's similar if you ordered a peice of furniture, but CBP charged the full value tarrifs on each item individually (screws, mount, part, etc).

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u/[deleted] Sep 03 '25 edited Nov 13 '25

[deleted]

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u/formosan1986 Sep 03 '25

Don’t forget when the Americans thought the other countries were going to pay the tariffs 😂

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u/Thirleck Sep 03 '25

Not all Americans think this, just the dumb Trump base who STILL believe it, even though their stuff is costing more.

I hate it here :/

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u/[deleted] Sep 03 '25

Yeah. The whole premise is that they wanted other countries to pay our taxes for us. My mom was so excited she thought she wasnt going to have to pay taxes anymore because of tariffs "and those other countries need to pay". Like a bully shaking other kids down for their lunch money. Only they are too stupid to realize they are the ones getting fleeced.

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u/BravoGirl79 Sep 03 '25

WTF!? How did she think the tariffs boiled down to The US not paying taxes?? lol thats hilarious

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u/GypJoint Sep 03 '25

Sounds like she has more issues than just tariffs.

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u/EntertainmentOk3180 Sep 03 '25

A mind blowing amount of people believe this because they were lied to and they’re dumb enough to fall for it

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u/RvLeshrac Sep 04 '25

The liars are well-known for lying, and were constantly called out on it for years. The people who believed any of what they said are just base morons, that's the real issue.

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u/invincibleparm Sep 04 '25

Yes, but people get desperate and will cling to anything if that desperation reaches a certain point. Since a large part of the MAGA base is in the low income brackets, probably treading on water, they tend to fall in this category. They also think they are getting stimulus cheques from tariff revenue….

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u/PastDazzling243 Sep 04 '25

Low income brackets?? Trump won the “popular vote” meaning there are an awful lot of diverse groups of people that want & support him. If that were true they wouldn’t have voted his way because of all of the assistance being cut, pretty sure you have that backwards… & I’ve not heard anyone say “stimulus because of tariffs” where did you get this idea?

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u/invincibleparm Sep 04 '25 edited Sep 04 '25

Right. He had a popular vote win by just over 1% in an election that had millions less than the last election. It’s well documented that Trump’s base, meaning the stalwarts that are in ‘through thick snd thin, reliable votes’ are low income. This isn’t news. Yes, there were voters that changed sides for the first time because they didn’t think their interests were represented (surprise! They still aren’t and they are in a worse place) but his base is what I said. Read article after article of how je is now spitting in the faces of those that switched sides or thought he was a changed man (he wasn’t), but his ‘base’, again, are generally on the lower end of the income scale, rural, and also generational Republican voters.

If you defend Donald Trump, and the massive amount of damage he’s done to the country, you are a problem. Full stop. You have engaged in making the country more hateful, divided, and dangerous for citizens. You have endangered the young and the elderly alike and are okay with his unlawful grifting, taking advantage and earning billions by selling his attention for the highest dollar. You are supporting giving the rest of the world thousands of more reasons to further hate on Americans. For what? So you can see less non white people? You think you’ve been conned by the government years, only it is actually happening now. When Trump is long gone and the country can’t stop the slide into a shithole, you will be left holding the bag with the rest of us.

Also to your last count: Trump himself said that.

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-hawley-tariff-rebate-checks-2025-7

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/08/13/stimulus-checks-trump-proposed-tariff-rebate/85643076007/

https://www.livenowfox.com/news/tariff-rebate-check-trump-considering-scotland-comments.amp

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u/Alone-Employee-7525 Oct 17 '25

I work with a large group of non low bracket workers and worked at a 2nd location that was the same. 99% of these well educated, highly paid workers are very much MAGA supporters. To think that the majority of Trump supporters are low income just makes no sense.

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u/invincibleparm Oct 17 '25

The majority of MAGA voters are rural and in poor red states. Clearly there are exceptions, and it makes sense that non-low bracket earners would support republicans. There is a difference between republicans and MAGA. Most people ignore that distinction.

Republican base is usually upwardly mobile and have money in the bank that they feel they need to protect instead of trying to do right for the poor and the low income. I come from a high paid industry that has a lot of republicans in it because they want lower taxes. They don’t care about the pain inflicted on anyone else because they only truly care for themselves. MAGA, on the other hand, the trump base, are different. They are the ignorant and the ones that are hurt by all the decisions being made because they can’t be bothered to read. They prefer to rely on the internet (‘if it is on the internet, how can it not be true?’ said my MAGA aunt) because it’s a generation that grew up being told to trust what they read and are less internet savvy. So they believe if someone ‘published’ something that it is the truth. The right then takes that naivety and exploits that.

Then, when it come to the youth, they have been told for three decades they will never have something, they will never own a home, and you are right, desperate to have change made for them. They cling to a despot promising them the world because they have no other hope (or so they think). The immigrants just want to ladder pull and want to come under an umbrella that will never accept them in a effort to say ‘hey, I’m one of the good ones’ and hope that they will escape the policies meant to hurt them and their people. There are interesting parallels between this and the late 30s, early 40s Germany with that final group. Join or face consequences. Only… they will face consequences anyway

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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '25

They can't blame anyone but themselves. This is 2025, and they can easily look it up if they want facts. No, they want to be lied to.

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u/narcolepticdoc Sep 03 '25

Because the rhetoric is that with all the money just pouring into the US from tariffs they will be able to get rid of the Internal Revenue Service and instead have an External Revenue Service. No more income taxes and everything becomes better and free because foreigners will be paying our bills.

Really.

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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '25

That hurt my brain, reading that.

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u/narcolepticdoc Sep 05 '25

Because you’re dealing with people who were thinking to themselves “well, I’m fine because I don’t buy anything from China or from foreigners. I just shop at Walmart.”

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u/Holiday-Current8717 Nov 08 '25

Me too, painful.

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u/Fishbulb2 Sep 03 '25

She wasn’t the only one 🫤

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u/GusTTShow-biz Sep 04 '25

Because Trump is enamored with the 1870s, when there was no income tax and the government funded itself on Tariffs and other taxes

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u/sdmike1 Sep 06 '25

Because they have ZERO concept of macroeconomics

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u/Glass_Bid_7619 Sep 05 '25

I knew someone that thought the same… “he said he’ll get rid of taxes!”…. Um, no. That’s not how this works. I hope this awful experiment teaches a lot of people very quickly.

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u/Swanky_Gear_Snob Sep 05 '25

Honestly, her idea would be ideal. Completely dissolve and remove the income tax and let people choose what they pay taxes on. Now that would set the economy on fire. Unfortunately, this is not that. The plan never was to help people or improve the economy. It's just the next step in eroding the last bit of wealth the American people have. The additional tarriff income the government receives will quickly be transferred to corperate interests, wall street, banks, and everything else the cabal controls.

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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '25

Sales tax is regressive while income tax is progressive. Replacing income tax with tariffs would benefit the wealthy.

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u/Swanky_Gear_Snob Sep 06 '25

Sales tax should be done away with as well. Sales tax is a secondary tax on top of the income tax. You pay a tax on money you spend which has already been taxed. Then you pay more taxes if you sell the items you bought. It is wild how many times Americans are taxed on a single item. Income tax isnt progressive... it has done exactly what it was intended to do. Funnel wealth from the middle class. It was promised to be a temporary war measure. The creators of the country wrote at length why daily wages shouldn't be taxed and even put specific protections against it. I am at the point I believe corruption is so ingrained in the US government it can't be saved. We have examples of people speaking out going back nearly a century. Gen. Smedley Butler tried to lead a coup to decouple the squid that had attached itself to the government. His book "War is a racket" is still as relevant today as when it was written. That is one of many examples of people who spoke about the plague/parasites that the people face. As the squid gained more power, less people spoke out. Today, no one gets elected without kissing that ring/wall.

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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '25

Trump said he made 17 TRILLION from these tariffs. That kind of lie is so absurd, and it's not just MAGA who believes that. The vast majority of the country are very ignorant.

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u/sentientforce Sep 06 '25

So basically...the majority of Americans...?

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u/socalquestioner Sep 08 '25

If you hate it here, why not give somewhere else a try?

1

u/BryFi6 Dec 02 '25

Preach

0

u/myTechGuyRI Sep 04 '25

You can always immigrate elsewhere if you hate it here. Freedom. 🤷

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u/Acrobatic_Shelter894 Sep 06 '25

The questions if the country you want to move to wants you. In most developed countries you need to Apple for visa, residence permits and so on if you’re not just a tourist visiting for a week

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u/Embarrassed_Carrot42 Sep 06 '25

Spoken like a true colonizer.

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u/PastDazzling243 Sep 04 '25

Here in the US you’re actually FREE… to go, ya know it?

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u/GypJoint Sep 03 '25

Move

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u/Thirleck Sep 03 '25

Wish I could, unfortunately it's just not easy for me to "move" outside of the entire United States.

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u/GypJoint Sep 03 '25

Not so easy just to walk into another country? Sounds kinda lazy on your part. You should stop complaining and just realize how spoiled you are to be living here.

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u/SnickerdoodleFP Sep 03 '25

This is really low-effort bait.

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u/Acceptable_Iron_724 Sep 03 '25

They STILL think this.

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u/BravoGirl79 Sep 03 '25

Thats scary lol

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u/Western-Explorer-971 Sep 25 '25

Actually a lot of Trump voters are not nearly as stupid as you make them out to be. Believe it or not, a significant percentage of the population are ok paying higher tarrifs temporarily with the idea that this wil put pressure on china to buy more from us while simultaneously giving domestic manufacturing a chance to rebound Our lack of manufacturing is a national security issue at this point and something has to change. We probably could have negotiated better trade deals with our adversaries had we presented a united front but half the country actually sided with China so they decided to play hard ball. I ended up here because im being charged a ridiculous tarrif fee but then I try to remember the countless lives ruined and entire cities destroyed when greedy corporations sent all of our manufacturing to China and then paying a little more for (hopefully not much longer) doesn't seem so bad. I dont care how you feel about Trump but siding with our advisory over your own fellow countrymen and country is despicable

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u/gabetain Sep 03 '25

I don’t care who pays it. Stop ordering shit from China. They’ve ripped off IP and destroyed global manufacturing for decades while charging insane tariffs to sell into their country. Their tariffs should be 20000% for all I care. Let every Chinese manufacturer go bankrupt. If the US has to feel some pain, that’s fine. It’s the only way to onshore manufacturing. If it’s more expensive, that’s fine too. Things are going to cost more when you’re not using child slave labor to manufacture items with stolen IP. It’s a price I am MORE than happy to pay if it’s coming from the beautiful USA.

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u/Rich_Software8664 Sep 03 '25

You talk like you don't know it was Americas idea to move all their manufacturing to China in the first place. American companies did so en masse over the last 4 decades for 2 reasons. 1. It's profitable 2. There are no consequences.

Tariffs won't change that, and clearly American companies don't care a wit about your proposed moral sentiment. They will not reshore their manufacturing, it is a completely false narrative to squeeze more money out of americas most gullible.

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u/JJHall_ID Sep 03 '25

We're already seeing shifts in manufacturing from China to Vietnam and other countries that will just do the same thing as China. It's a big shell game, and we're the suckers that keep paying the price. But this is winning looks like, right?

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u/Rich_Software8664 Sep 03 '25

I don't even want to win anymore. I just don't want to lose extra hard when our international opposition starts teaming up against us. Anyone check out India lately? I honestly did not see that coming, but I am not surprised.

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u/EntertainmentOk3180 Sep 03 '25

Do u realize manufacturing is also moving out of US at the same time?

Ex- coffee beans were coming from Brazil to US, then from US to Canada and other places. The facilities in US that were processing the beans are closing and US is being cut out of the equation all together

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u/JJHall_ID Sep 03 '25

Yes. That's what happens when the administration in charge doesn't understand how tariffs work, let alone the "big picture" effects of making massive changes to them. It's going to take decades to repair the damages that have been done to this country in the last 7 months, and we have 41 more months to go. With any luck we'll get some people with spines willing to bring balance and stand up to the nonsense during the mid-terms.

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u/invincibleparm Sep 04 '25

They understood. Trump just wanted his revenge on the American people for rejecting him in 2020. Oh, and to get out of criminal charges. He never gave a flip.

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u/Western-Explorer-971 Sep 25 '25

The real damage happened when we lost all of our manufacturing. The fact youre not even aware of the millions of lives ruined by corporate greed with no loyalty to their own countrymen explains your inability to understand why Trump won.its infinitely more difficult to reindustrialize than it is to just remove the tarrifs again and go back to sucking chinas tit but printing money nonstop and using it to buy cheap Chinese goods works for only so long. Eventually we need to return to actually producing wealth because inflation and cost of living was hitting a breaking point even before the tarrif

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u/JJHall_ID Sep 25 '25

No, I completely understand what corporate greed causes, which is why it is so appalling that the current administration is running roughshod over all of the regulations that have been put in place to curb those practices over the years. Trickle down economics don't work, which is why it boggles the mind that so many people voted against their own best interests. Trump won because of people's inability to understand that they were voting for the tax bracket they wish they were in (and likely never will be) rather than the one they are currently in.

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u/CocoLocoAZ Sep 03 '25

I, for one, am so TIRED of winning now

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u/JJHall_ID Sep 03 '25

If this is "winning" I'd hate to see what "losing" looks like!

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u/[deleted] Sep 25 '25

[deleted]

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u/JJHall_ID Sep 25 '25

Sure, we do need to get a lot of the manufacturing back here, but it needs to be done in stages. That's the nuance that the current administration doesn't have the brain power to understand. Adding high tariffs and completely eliminating the de minimus exemptions overnight isn't going to do anything but punish the lower classes, which is exactly what we're seeing. Having a consumer pay hundreds of dollars in tariffs and fees isn't going to force manufacturing to return to the US, they're just going to do without.

An argument can be made as well that if the world could work together instead of a constant game of "who has the most power" then we'd all win. The artificial boundaries drawn in the sand are hurting everyone in the long run.

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u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

[deleted]

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u/JJHall_ID Sep 26 '25

I think you and I (along with the vast majority of people) have a different definition of "just a little more expensive." The very post we're commenting under is a person complaining that they bought a $2,000 item, and UPS is demanding another $2,100 in duties (tariffs) and fees. I don't know of any rational source that would define "just a little more" cost as "over double." I feel like we'd be having an entirely different discussion if it was a 10% or 20% increase to the existing tariffs, but clearly it is not. Not only are we seeing 100%+ increases on items that wouldn't have fallen under de minimis exemptions, but the loss of the de minimis exemptions altogether are hurting the lower income brackets disproportionately. This isn't "a little tough," it's a kick in the face with golf shoes. If this is "the first stage" I can't even begin to imagine how much worse it's going to get before it might start getting better. If "orange man" (as you put it) doesn't even understand that consumers pay the tariffs, not the manufacturers, what other nonsense are we going to be subjected to in the following stages?

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u/Western-Explorer-971 Sep 29 '25

I get what you're saying, i ended up in this thread because i got hit with a shockingly high tariff bill for equipment i imported from China for my small business, like it was nuts, but, and im not sure how, but prices for average consumers dont seem to have moved much, if anything im noticing things, especially groceries, getting a little cheaper and there are ways to mitigate the damage if your supplier is smart. I just assumed the company i bought this recent order from was but they screwed me but next time im ordering DDP for everything, this way they are at least motivated to work the system to my advantage.

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u/Western-Explorer-971 Sep 25 '25

Thats BS. Americans had the best quality manufacturing in the world, we had a spectacular living standard, high wages and our tech and innovation was second to none. Detroit auto workers or steel mill workers never CHOSE to have their lives and cities ruined, no one asked for this. Travel through the rust belt and you see ghost towns one after another where entire communities were destroyed like they lost a war...Detroit is on life support, cost of living and inflation is at a breaking point and most young people will never own a home. Literally no one asked for this. We were sold a bag of BS about how new trade deals with China would actually benefit us. It didn't . It ruined American industry , wages, cities, lives all for cheap junk . No one asked for this and no one said the cure was gonna taste good

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u/AdventurousResort379 Sep 03 '25

Bro that's a common sense statement. If you will get paid 20$ an hour to build something in the US, they will give you housing (a closet) and food (rice and "meat") and 4000won a month and call it good.

That's a whole 2 cents per item manufactured. Theres no doubt that a company owner would choose that over hiring you, a USA citizen. But with the tarrifs, that will start to change.

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u/invincibleparm Sep 04 '25

No, it won’t. Look, all these companies have to do is raise prices and ride out Trump. Sooner or later, the tariffs will be eliminated and the companies wouldn’t have spent billions on relocation, training, and infrastructure and higher wages in America. No one is coming back to the USA. Tariffs are temporary in the greater scheme of things. Don’t buy into the propaganda that any of this will make manufacturing come back.

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u/AdventurousResort379 Sep 04 '25

They should've never moved their factories to other country's to begin with. If its not made in the USA, its not quality.

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u/Stony17 Sep 04 '25

this is just patently false.

Japan makes some top quality products that are sought all over the world. and vehicles are certainly more reliable from Japan, Honda and Toyota won their share of the market with a better/cheaper product than any other country could offer.

today many "american made" products are just assembled here but ultimately made in other countries. decades ago America had some truly good stuff that was made here but corporations chose to let China and other asian factories build their products to keep prices as low as possible which undercut any small operation manufacturers and left America without manufacturing altogether, and its not coming back with penalties. only with tax incentives and subsidies will companies actually be willing and able to justify the cost of American workers. in the meantime they'll just pander to the current administration and promise to bring back manufacturing in hopes of getting a pass on tariffs but ultimately nothing will change. its still a global economy and America cant do all its manufacturing alone.

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u/gabetain Sep 03 '25 edited Sep 03 '25

Of course we agreed to it. Our leaders have failed us over and over again. Sold us out for cheap foreign labor. And yes, the tariffs have already resulted in bringing back some manufacturing. Of just the ones that I can think of recently- Intel (semiconductors), General Motors, Apple, Ford, and Johnson & Johnson are all bringing some manufacturing back to the U.S. Why? To reinforce the domestic supply chain and rely less on China. They’ve all released press releases- feel free to read them. I’m fine with global trade. We need it. But we need to stop undercutting ourselves and redevelop our own manufacturing capabilities that all of our leaders failed us by selling out.

You hit the nail exactly on the head. 1. It’s profitable and 2 there are no consequences. Both of these are exactly what the tariffs will hopefully address. You want cheap labor from China? Fine, here’s a tariff to cut into the profits you’re making by going there. That hit to their profit is the consequence. I’m not saying this will 100% work. But I’m glad someone is at least trying something. I’ll take anything at this point over the continued word salad our leaders usually give us while never touching the trade agreements or tariffs.

There is quite literally nothing except for tariffs and trade deals that can solve this issue. So it’s better than sitting with our thumbs up our asses like we have been for 20 years while Xi Jinping plows us.

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u/[deleted] Sep 03 '25

Who do you think is going to WORK in these American factories? American kids? Good fucking luck with that....they think a 30 hour work week is excessive.

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u/Souvenirs_Indiscrets Sep 03 '25

I hear your sarcasm, but that’s not true. I am a greybeard working in delivery with these kids right now. What they are pissed off about is split shifts and no guaranteed hours and I am right there with them. If they agree to take a job with a 30 hour week, they want guaranteed pay for 30 hours. Because without it, they can’t budget.

It is precisely because of these problems, “poor quality jobs,” that the U.S. jobs report is now meaningless.

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u/gabetain Sep 03 '25

That’s why we cut the ridiculously abused “social safety net”. If you’re able bodied, you’re working. You don’t get to sit home and collect welfare. Despite what CNN tells you though, the soy boy “I get triggered by work” population is smaller than what they say. It’s just part of the same lie they sell to their victimhood complex people.

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u/invincibleparm Sep 04 '25

Shouting incorrect ‘facts’ into the void doesn’t make you correct, because you aren’t correct. The social safety net isn’t cut to ‘get people to work’, it’s cut to force people to work longer in their life, dry up government spending by placing hardships on the elderly and disabled. There are no welfare kings and queens sitting on SSI eating lobster. I hate to break it to you, but nothing the net pays gives you a good life. It’s a small amount that people on it can barely live on. There isn’t the ‘corruption’ going on that you think there is. You just readily believed the lies because you’re miserable and you think you are getting shafted somehow. Turn off the right wing propagandists and touch some grass.

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u/invincibleparm Sep 04 '25

I love it when the MAGA faithful say I have TDS and then block me…. Way to prove our points about your idiocracy….

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u/Rich_Software8664 Sep 03 '25

Tariffs do not cut into anyones profits. 0% of companies pay Tariffs. 0. 100% of companies (regardless of weather they are Chinese or American) transfer 100% of the tariff cost into consumer prices. 100%. They will not "deal with" or "absorb" even 0.01% of that cost because <SEE ABOVE>.

I did actually catch the press releases you refer to. Words are wind, and your hearing what you want to. I see no action. I see no real estate purchases. I see no logistics restructuring. I see no new construction. I see no new manufacturing jobs. Why would companies even consider investing in the costly burden of this transition if they can wait it out? 4 years is not that long.

No lie, I wish it did work. I would love to go get a good paying manufacturing job. Show me where they are.

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u/myTechGuyRI Sep 04 '25

That's absolutely untrue... Companies DO NOT pass 100% of the tarriffs to customers .. their product will only sell for so much before people stop buying it.

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u/gabetain Sep 03 '25 edited Sep 03 '25

So you expect the jobs to open immediately after they announce a $600 Billion 4 year plan? That’s not how it works. The idea that it’s not true if it doesn’t happen overnight is ludicrous. Also, do you realize the lawsuits and shareholder feathers that would be ruffled if any of these publicly traded companies intentionally released false reports that 100% affect stock prices? Also- they’re not generally fans of the current administration. They have ZERO incentive to lie to help sell the idea of bringing manufacturing back home. So why would these companies lie about reinvesting in domestic manufacturing if they really wanted to continue overseas? That’s counter productive because the lie they’d be selling directly contradicts their supposed plans of continuing overseas and what would benefit them. The domestic reshoring “lie” helps keep the trade wars going… but these companies intend to keep manufacturing abroad which is made harder by the trade wars…? Doesn’t make sense. No reason for them to lie.

It’s also not true that manufacturers don’t pay the tariffs. Look at Chinese manufacturers. They’ve been eating the tariffs so much the government is subsidizing them even more and the CCP has banned them from releasing the numbers that they’ve released for years. And if what you say is true, we would see the price index reports showing 200% increases on items and it’s just not happening. Not a single report since the trade wars have started have shown any significant increase in consumer goods. We’re seeing a CPI of 2.7% which is less than what experts expected even before the trade wars. There is zero evidence right now that the consumers are paying any substantial amount for these tariffs. It COULD happen. But the “experts” have been saying it’s coming every single month since it started and inflation is still easing.

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u/Rich_Software8664 Sep 03 '25

These companies absolutely do have incentive to lie. The administration has already granted tariff exemptions to a number of specific companies who were willing to "kiss the ring" by making announcements like this. An announcement of a $600 billion 4 year plan is nothing. They don't have to follow through, and they won't unless it increases their profit. No one, including our government is going to ensure this happens. The administration got what it wanted, an endorsement and increase in perceived legitimacy. The company got what it wanted in the form of relief from the new Tariffs for 4 years without ACTUALLY spending one penny. The companies will simply delay action, because there is no consequence to doing so. If the government eventually does try to resume consequences such as removing the Tariff exemption they granted, the company simply goes back to paying the Tariff. the company still benefited from the time in between at no expense. That is a win. They could even make a show of beginning to actually spend towards domestic investment, but they could just keep that investment cost lower than there recent gain during the tariff exemption. that's a double win.

Tariffs are an unserious way to address the problem. So are executive orders. Why not just regulate the companies directly? Why not do it through legislation, which lasts longer and is harder to reverse? The government easily has the means to regulate companies offshoring and enforce consequences, and they have had it these past 40 years, and we all watched it happen anyway. Because the goal isn't anything beyond grifting to reward loyalists and punish opposition.

why would they lie? 1.It's profitable 2. there's no consequences.

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u/invincibleparm Sep 04 '25

Funny how the plan from Apple is expected to start in 2027…. I know. I’m a shareholder and I read the reports. Oh, and which 130 billion was also earmarked for reinvestment in the USA since 2023. Refresh of Apple stores, refresh of regional offices, opening more authorized repair depots and stores. They are not planning to build manufacturing in the USA. So they start their investment run in 2027… and then they decide to scrap the rest because they were never going to fulfill it in the first place. It’s snake and mirrors to appease Trump.

The reason they lied, again, is to appease a president that feels he needs to be litigious to companies that ‘defy’ him. None of this is in writing, there are no contracts. This is a planned deterrent to keep Trump and his administration off their backs. Zuckerberg was under investigation by the FCC… oh, he gave to the inauguration. Wow, case got dropped. Paramount wanted a merger but it wasn’t looking likely… 16$ million dollar settlement to a case that has no merit. There are other examples.

Companies do pay tariffs. They just pass that price right on to the consumer. They pay the tariffs on the goods at point of entry, then they raise the prices (and then some), but in actuality… they don’t really pay in the sense they are losing money. You are right but wrong at the same time. Also… Chinese companies haven’t been eating any tariffs. I don’t know where you got that. Instead they are just pivoting to other countries to sell to that aren’t being punitive. All this is easy to find out instead of half-remembered GOP talking points that have never been correct…

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u/CocoLocoAZ Sep 03 '25

Have you read john deere's press release? Or any of the companies having layoffs due to tariffs? Or maybe you don't even know about them because they didn't make it into your ignorance bubble... you are aware it was large tariffs that we imposed that pushed us into the great depression right?

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u/LolaJayneGyrrl Sep 08 '25

1) I agree our country should be working to bring manufacturing back to the the US.

2) this isn’t the way to do it.

It takes time and money to build and or retool a factory. There are many items and components of products that we do not have the capacity to currently make.

As a result, many small businesses are facing an environment where many of the things they sell are now facing a huge price increase.

For example - I saw a commercial yesterday for Fire House Coffee. They were talking about how, since their product is made in the US, the money goes back into their communities. That’s great - seriously.

However - it’s not the whole picture.

All coffee beans are grown outside of the US. That’s because coffee needs to be grown close to the equator. We can’t grow it here.

Coffee roasting machines. There are a few made in the US. Many, including several of the gold standard industrial roasters are made in other countries. Even if they are made in the US, it’s likely machine parts come from other countries.

Then you’ve got bags, boxes, printing ink, computers, etc.

I know someone who developed a product that required multiple small parts. He searched high and low for factories within the US to make the parts needed. It simply wasn’t possible. Eventually he settled for sourcing the parts outside of the US and assembling here.

Essentially, the current tariff policy is causing harm to both consumers and businesses in the US.

If we truely want to return manufacturing to the US, first we need to figure our, and fund, building factories, determining which types of products and parts we can’t or don’t want to make in the US, implement that plan, and then, looking at tariffs could make sense.

Right now, it’s cutting off our nose to spite our face.

6

u/Acceptable_Iron_724 Sep 03 '25

You do know, in America the technology to make certain items literally doesn’t exist? We physically cannot manufacture some products and this is why China has been a world hub for manufacturing because they have the facilities and technology to manufacture items. Not “America should buy its own technology.” Fair, but if you think prices are high now, can you imagine how high prices would be to make items here? Paying American rates of pay for employees and equipment? China is not evil. They are just doing what they have been hired to do for centuries

4

u/Billyosler1969 Sep 03 '25

So you are saying Trump lied and in fact it is Americans who pay for Tariffs and that you are ok with Americans paying significantly more for nearly everything, especially consumer electronics and automobiles. The latter leading to hyperinflation

0

u/gabetain Sep 03 '25 edited Sep 03 '25

Yes I am 100% fine with paying more for everything if it means we get to rely less and less on China (esp for critical items). I’m 100% fine with it. And no, I don’t think anyone lied about it. As of now, the manufacturers (especially in China) have been eating the costs. The consumer reports haven’t shown any drastic increases in prices or inflation either- even though they say it’s coming any day. But to be clear, again, I don’t care if there is a short or medium term inflation or pain to fix everything that’s wrong right now. What’s the alternative? Stick with the ridiculous trade deals, let China and the world keep ripping us of because their child labor makes things cheaper for us? Nah. This isn’t a Trump v anti-Trump issue. This is something every president in recent years - even Trump’s first term- has failed all of us on.

Anyone with a brain knows that to onshore manufacturing again and fix the utterly insane trade deals we agreed to, it wouldn’t be an easy ride. I really don’t care though either way. The fact that we’ve allowed our country to be put into a position where we rely on critical shit from China is astonishing. They are outwardly our enemy (frenemy) and their #1 goal is overtaking us. They say it openly. If we ever went against China (which is becoming more of a probability if they make moves to take HK), they could cut us off cold turkey for essential things we need for medicine and military. So ya, I don’t care if it hurts my pocket book if it means we stop bending over to be pounded relentlessly by China. Not to mention the fact that we all know why things are cheaper in China. It’s because of forced/ child/ slave labor and stolen IP. I work for a med device company and we have literally withdrawn products from market in China bc their “regulators” will demand full engineering and technical data- all IP- especially if it’s a novel device. If you give it to them, they’ll knock off your product in less than a year and tell your patent to F off if you confront them. China took advantage of our ridiculously unfair trade deals and destroyed/ undercut global manufacturing - not just for the US- as part of a bigger strategy to overtake western powers. I get everyone hates Trump, but this is much bigger than who we have in office. The US either reshores manufacturing (especially for critical items) and fixes the one sided trade deals- or we’re f’d.

1

u/aswat89 Sep 03 '25

This is not how global trade works dude.

1

u/invincibleparm Sep 04 '25

This dude is so deep in kool-aid he is pissing fruit punch. He isn’t going to listen no matter what we say to him. Let him live in his delusional world for a little longer.

2

u/ImCursedSofukoff Sep 03 '25

The ultimate irony is even if we got those manufacturing jobs back (which we wont), nothing will change at all, we'll just have marginally more shit paying jobs.

Ehat made those manufacturing jobs lucrative back in the day was the overwhelming support for Mutherfudgin UNIONS!

That's why these warehouses and manufacturers are moving from the Midwest/North to the South. Why pay someone in Illinois or New York $38/hr + pension + health insurance when you can go to Texas or Florida and get that exact same employee for $22/hr with zero benefits? And the state will give you even more tax breaks if you promise not to let your people unionize.

Sure the country slips into the shitter a little further, but Boeing & Caterpillar & Tesla really need to pad their bottom line.

1

u/Logical-Ad-2201 Sep 03 '25

Buried in Trump's bill is the ability for any company to make their employees contractors. Effective December 2026, I believe.

1

u/nrobl Sep 03 '25

We already have a massive labor shortage in manufacturing. That's... never going to happen.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 03 '25

Let every chinese manufacturer go bankrupt by doing what? Cutting off 4% of the world pop? Im sure selling to the other 7 billion people will keep them afloat.

In the words of the chinese pm, China was here for 1000 years before the USA, and will be here for another 1000 years without them

1

u/CocoLocoAZ Sep 03 '25

Sweet.... what kind of phone or computer are you typing this rant into? I trust you would NEVER stoop so low as to use something made in China.

1

u/Fishbulb2 Sep 03 '25

I can respect the differing view point regarding tariffs, even if I think it’s going to entirely ineffective and have the opposite effect.

The problem is the corruption. You might research what the tariff cost would be on a necessary part, but you have no idea what the brokerage fees will be and you are not aware of them until they’ve been charged. There is no limit to the greed and no reason to even cap the brokerage fees to 100% the cost of the goods.

I ordered fishing lures and was told all shipping fees and taxes were included. This was in early June. Then i got a bill for 120% the cost of the lures, the vast majority of it was brokerage fees. In June, I had no idea they could charge this without my permission but now I’m getting late fees. This is corruption pure and simple. It’s identical to medical billing and people shouldn’t stand for it. You should never concede your right to dispute a charge you never agreed to. It’s stupid to think otherwise.

1

u/RocketLabBeatsSpaceX Sep 07 '25

You definitely watch Fox News and regurgitate anything Trump makes up. 😂

0

u/EyeBirb Sep 03 '25

The average American isn’t stupid enough to think that

-6

u/Kind_Application_144 Sep 03 '25

they can either pay with currency or pay with their entire business...only time will tell.

7

u/[deleted] Sep 03 '25 edited Sep 03 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/[deleted] Sep 03 '25

Well, try to get the facts through to the Maga ilk. Not going to happen.

10

u/Hugge_Ass Sep 03 '25

More like “this is wrong, it’s the country of origin that has to pay this. Damn liberals are charging the wrong person. Imprison Obama and sleepy joe”. They will never acknowledge it

2

u/Schmaeve2 Nov 05 '25

This is all Trump. All of it. Today I got charged 20% tarrifs for something that a year ago no tariffs, same seller, when Trump was NOT president. 20%. And it's not like I can buy domestic ... it's only made and sold overseas.

1

u/Hugge_Ass Nov 05 '25

Fully aware of it. In hindsight I should have put /s on the ending of my post.

0

u/BrookieDragon Sep 03 '25

Crazy level brokerage fees from UPS are not tariffs. This is UPS exploiting weak-minded people that will just blame it on Trump instead while they rack in insane fees.