Just curious about how this works out. At scale, would either decision make any sort of impact? I know most people, including me, will end up avoiding heavily tariffed products out of personal financial reasons. But in theory, would US residents buying or not buying tariffed products be the larger anti-tariff statement? I feel like the obvious answer is “only buy tariffed products” which is why I chose this community but I’m not entirely certain.
I would like to stress again that I am asking this hypothetically, and specifically and only in the context of political statements regarding tariffs. I am of course aware that no single person will have any impact on their own, and I am similarly aware that almost everyone will be avoiding highly tariffed products for non-political reasons either way.
As an individual? Don’t worry about it; show up at your local protest on the 19th.
I’m just trying to keep my spending minimal in general
I don’t see how buying or not buying is going to hit the guy who is doing this.
As long as you aren’t buying trump-coins or whatever they are called, or a Tesla.
Your personal budget is the best reason to avoid heavily tariffed items. But if you really want to make a political statement with your buying habits, the responsible thing would be to research which companies are throwing money at MAGA to encourage tariffs to make their own products cheaper than foreign goods, and avoid buying from those companies. But most people are going to follow straight-line meme-brain logic and go, “Tariffs bad, boycott stuff with tariffs!” as if the tariffs make the seller evil.
Buy used. You can’t put tariffs on used goods.
I don’t think you have the choice. Products that aren’t imported are made with parts that are imported. In fact, there will be products that have several layers of
productstariffs in them, for example cars. Parts are made, assembled into bigger parts and ever bigger parts, and may cross the Mexican or Canadian border each time.These tariffs are a monumental act of economic self harm. That’s what the stock market is saying. Stocks have (rational) value because you are entitled to a share of future profits. The stock market crashing tells you that the pros expects that a lot of value is not going to be created. Trillions of dollars will not be paid out to stock-owners, and further trillions will not be paid out as wages. The real wealth that is the other side of that money - all these new goods, cars, phones, TVs, dishwashers … - will not exist in the USA.
So, don’t worry about hitting them in the wallet.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on an American ball sack—for ever.
Maybe watch out for products from Russia and Belarus, as they are not included in the tariffs. This may start a new era of economic cooperation; putting the US in USSR. Ironically, Russia is still hit hard because of oil taking a nosedive.
Neither. Nobody selling a product is to blame for tariffs on the product, and selling it isn’t a political statement. Shop according to your budget like always. Tariffs might mean you have to do without some of your preferred things for a while, like war rationing did in WWII. Just hang in there, neither tariffs nor MAGA will last forever.
Good luck being naked and starving.
Those two are easy. Thrift stores and farmers markets.
For Americans, it is nearly impossible to escape the tariffs. Either somethig is imported directly, or key ingredients to it are imported. This will be a blood bath.