Mike Wuerthele

neoncat said:

Putting this in the same PR spin pile as Qualcomm's modem "study."

The more Apple twists and turns and tries to control the narrative about their stupid little App Stores, the less inclined I am to care. The war is already lost, they just won't admit it. The sooner they pivot to thinking about how to take advantage of what comes after the feudal rent seeking, the sooner we all benefit. Because it's just a matter of when it will be torn down, not if.

Or, they can keep insisting on how piously right they are, and end up giving the entire farm away like the did with both the eBook trial and the earlier Look-and-Feel lawsuits. Learn from your crushing mistakes, Apple. 

bulk001 said:

Mike Wuerthele said:

ssfe11 said:

It’s one clueless Judge who is making this decision. Once an intelligent tech savvy court hears the details of this case they will shake their heads in amazement that Judge Rogers ruled this way. 

I do not believe that the US has one of these.

So you disagree with her other rulings favoring Apple in the larger case too then? Thought not.

ssfe11 said:

It’s one clueless Judge who is making this decision. Once an intelligent tech savvy court hears the details of this case they will shake their heads in amazement that Judge Rogers ruled this way. 

alterbentzion said:

sbdude said:

So many cute comments in here about "grifter-in-chief" and "hijacking the economy". How soon you forget about the 23.6% rise in CPI between 2020 and 2024. Do you all wear blinders when a Democrat is in office? Or is it like pregnancy - your hormones make you forget about the previous administration when there's a new one to harp on.

Also, "Amazon denies it had plans to be clear about consumer tariff costs" is click-batey at best. Where was the "clarity" on inflation when prices skyrocketed?

Let's try to be factual, please. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the change in CPI between 2020 and 2024, a four-year period, was closer to 9%, peaking in the period from 2020 to 2021. Nobody knows how the whole tariff thing will shake out, but I'm finding estimates of an increase in CPI of between 3% and 4% for the one coming year if the tariffs are as steep as Trump threatens to make them. 

As far as pricing clarity goes, inflation (like deflation) may be something you can account for on a financial report, but it isn't a line item you can place on a bill. Taxes and fees are.

mpantone said:

Mike Wuerthele said:

sdw2001 said:

Oh, look, calling his tariffs “nonsensical” and using scare quotes.  Shocker.

That's because they literally are nonsensical.

They aren't based on anything, they aren't reciprocal by any definition of the word, and the math that they used to derive them makes no sense at all.

And, worst of all, they injure US consumers more than they do anything at all to foreign interests.

They are called reciprocal because when one country applies a tariff to another, in almost all cases, that other country will apply the same tariff. So if Country A levies a 15% tariff on Country B's imports, Country B reciprocates with a 15% tariff on Country A's imports.

There's nothing new about reciprocity between governments. Hell, even interstate wine shipments are governed by reciprocal shipping laws. California wineries can ship directly to consumers in most other states because those states' wineries can do the same and direct ship wine to California consumers.

As for the tariff calculation, there is a formula. It's based on trade balance between imports and exports to a country.

For example, the US imports $136B in products, yet only exports $13 so the trade imbalance is -$123B which equates to 90% (123 divided by 136). The Trump tariff formula just halves that trade balance percentage: 90% / 2 = 45%. So the Trump tariff on Vietnam is 46%.

Thailand: $63B imports, $17B exports, balance -$46B, 72% imbalance pct. Tariff is thus 36%, half of that 72%.

So there is some rudimentary calculation, very crude and basic. Economists don't think it will actually provide any advantage for the US economy. In that sense, yes they are nonsense but the calculation isn't random. It's based on something even if the reasoning for it is defective.

But for sure, US consumers will be paying more for things next year than this year.

The damage to the US dollar's reputation as a reserve currency is by far the more grave effect of these tariffs. Even if all the tariffs were rolled back to more reasonable levels, there's still far less trust by foreign investors in the US dollar and Treasury notes. There has been a significant swing into gold and European bonds, something that will not swing back for years; it will likely happen when a new administration takes over and instills more trust in foreign investors.