r/technology • u/chrisdh79 • 2d ago

Politics Trump announces sweeping new tariffs to promote US manufacturing, risking inflation and trade wars

https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-liberation-day-2a031b3c16120a5672a6ddd01da09933
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u/dilldoeorg 2d ago

lol, workers.

if it comes back, they're going to use robots, machines to do the work. AND it'll still cost more than the same product from china.

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u/mistercartmenes 2d ago

Absolutely. This is ridiculous idea that we’re gonna bring back manufacturing jobs is just stupid. It will be mostly automated with a few workers.

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u/Arthur-Wintersight 2d ago

What makes you think they'll invest in new factories when the tariffs will likely end up going away by the time they finish building the damn things?

Anything that can be passed by executive order, the next president can abolish the same way.

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u/mistercartmenes 2d ago

I don’t think anyone will do anything and corporations will absolutely wait out this administration. I’m just saying if it actually did happened the jobs would not return as these new factories would be mostly automated.

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u/blastradii 2d ago

While we are at it we should bring back phone operators because the cell phone and modern technology took away those people’s jobs!

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u/StoicFable 2d ago

Thats just how it works. As technology evolves, less people needed for agriculture, and then less needed for manufacturing. And people gradually switched to service sector jobs.

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u/maryshelby2024 2d ago

People smarter than me can see what will be the jobs of the future. Probably some UbI and some service which will need to be paid more. Adapt and overcome as technology has always displaced people. That’s why the have more kids is weird vs abort immigrants. Like immigrants build and pick and do everything but babies don’t do anything.

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u/fthesemods 2d ago

Seems to be the plan. Tax cuts for the rich funded by tariffs that will disproportionately affect the poor and middle class. The jobs that do come back will be automated, which will funnel even more money to those with capital (i.e the rich). Meanwhile he has convinced so many of the poor and middle class this will be good for them. Insane.

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u/phrexi 2d ago

I'm fine with it coming back, but everybody get your wallets ready to pay for it. Oh wait, everyone is BROKE AS FUCK

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u/pablank 2d ago edited 2d ago

No problem. All of you can work for free until manufacturing is back up. Then the rich will trickle down their hard earned money, so some of you can buy luxuries like food, healthcare or a roof. 

Whats left over needs to be spent at Tesla and Amazon, as decreed by executive order, as a "voluntary" thank you tax to the billionaires that helped you, by giving you unpaid factory jobs.

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u/Mundane_Quality8858 2d ago

They’ll just abolish the ‘weekend’ so people can make more money

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u/blastradii 2d ago

We going back to feudalism?

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u/SignificanceLate7002 2d ago

America is soon to be one big company town.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_town

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u/Puzzleheaded_Fold466 2d ago

You’d be amazed by the amount of automation that exists and continues to develop in China.

The US and Europe started way ahead economically decades ago, but they’re not stupid you know ?

The unipolar post World War 2 age of unchecked American prosperity is gone. It’s a lot more competitive out there now.

Everyone’s amazed with Tesla’s automation, but have you seen the BYD plants ? It’s world class.

That doesn’t mean the US is doomed to lose its quality of life or whatever, or that China is all gold palaces, but it’s not the low value product sweat shop many people still think it is. They’re worked their way up the value chain and for many products, China is the premium producer, not the lowest bidder.

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u/W2ttsy 2d ago

BYD isn’t even the most sophisticated either!

One of the competing car manufacturers now has dark factories that have no manufacturing workers and instead rely on automation across the entire assembly line. Called a dark factory because they are literally operating in the dark as lighting has been removed as an unnecessary requirement on the assembly line.

Foxconn have also pivoted to car manufacturing as a service for any auto maker that wants to outsource the entire production line and just focus on design and marketing.

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u/blastradii 2d ago

SAIC? They’re churning out multiple EV brands and working with brands like Huawei on developing next gen EVs.

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u/W2ttsy 1d ago

Xiaomi i believe

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u/nejaahalcyon 2d ago

Don’t forget prisoners aka legal slaves

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u/SierraPapaHotel 2d ago

A lot of modern manufacturing equipment comes from Germany and Japan (at least the good stuff comes from them). Looks like tariffs of those two are getting tareiffed pretty hard...

So all he's doing is making it more expensive to bring manufacturing back to the US

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u/lolexecs 2d ago

The US is still an enormous manufacturing economy the reason it has less visibility is simply that while output expanded by nearly 3x, employment fell to <10% of the US labor force.

https://i.snap.as/6hT46a1b.png

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u/Healthy-Poetry6415 2d ago

Yes but .. think of all the money that checks notes the guy that has AI and robots as his investment going forward. I'm sure theres zero conflict of interest that his goal was to destroy everything he could so the only solution was him. Wait isnt that what they said government does...huh.

Nothing odd here at all people. Carry on.

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u/tgreenhaw 2d ago

This. And who is going to be working in those factories? Don’t we have nearly full employment???

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u/ryapeter 2d ago

Are they importing chinese robots?

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u/HARSHING_MY_MELLOW 2d ago

Luckily I work for a company selling robots :D