1w ago

From a purely political perspective, if you oppose the US tariffs as a US resident, should you buy or avoid buying products subject to tariffs?

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.

39 comments

I'm just trying to keep my spending minimal in general

If you have an option that doesn't involve giving money to the US government you should probably do that. You're not going to own them by giving them cash.

As an individual? Don't worry about it; show up at your local protest on the 19th.
- I saw a post saying to show up at your biggest local post office in the afternoon/evening of the 15th (when news channels are covering last-minute filers), with signs to Tax The Billionaires.
  
  Wasn't that more of a thing 20+ years ago? Are people really rushing to physically chuck their tax return into the post office like the Simpsons gag?

Always buy local if you can. It has the lowest climate impact.
Even buying a less-green local product vs. a more eco-friendly import might have less climate impact due to resource extraction, production in areas with possibly less environmental protection regulations, and above all shipping.
Climate cost-benefit outweighs all other arguments for rational people.

Honestly, as an individual there really isn't much you can do with your purchasing power about it.
Next national day of protest in April 19. Find the largest one you are able to attend and join in.
- That link is just awful. Very difficult to tell where events are or how big they will be.
- As an individual, you take your purchasing power and can go to that other country and spend your money on services and consumables there, and not bring any goods back. That would be tariff free.
  
  Because that's realistic advice. You have money for be to buy a plane ticket every time I need groceries? Who's going to fund everyone moving to another country? You got that kind of money? Because I don't.

Full economic boycott to teach these mooks a hard lesson. Buy used, including car parts and cars. Switch to a local credit union. Pay cash whenever possible so the cc companies don't get their cut. Buy from locally owned places, but they could be owned by one of the nutters. Sell your unwanted items or give them to worthwhile charities or directly. Go to your library and cancel streaming services.
- this is what I'm doing. I've canceled every account I have except Costco. No amazon, no walmart, no microsoft, no netflix. I can sew so I'm fixing my clothes instead of buying. Keeping my 2009 car. I buy food, beer, and gas. Cash only. Vote with your wallet.

If you buy products subject to tariffs, on the one hand that puts money into the hands of the federal government to mismanage. On the other hand, it helps out Americans and foreigners who are being negatively affected by the government’s antics.
Personally, I’d recommend just ignoring them where possible and avoiding them where necessary.
For people outside the US: find alternatives, especially to products produced in Republican states.

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 ~~products~~ tariffs 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.

Buy used. You can't put tariffs on used goods.

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.

Good luck being naked and starving.
- Those two are easy. Thrift stores and farmers markets.
  
  You get thrown out of a farmer's market if you show up naked, though. Probably thrift stores, too.

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.

I’m buying local as much as I can, and am avoiding buying stuff from red states as much as I can.

Don't buy anything just go to local markets
- Ah yes, local markets, where nobody is trying to sell anything
  
  😒 I'll sell you a heated blanket out of my trunk for 35$

Buy it later, if possible. Companies abroad are well aware that costumers won't buy their products while tariffs are in place. But it's very likely that those tarrifs will end or be massively reduced after some weeks or months. Buy it then and those companies can sell those products to you just like nothing happened. They can wait some time, it doesn't really matter to them when you buy it.
The same goes off course for buying before the tarrifs take effect. Like apple fans are right now emptying the iPhone shelfs, before the tarrifs hit the component imports from China.
Of course that only works with certain products, that you can actually afford to wait for.
- Which is exactly why the tariffs are stupid at one more level. The only thing they're good for in theory is to level the playing field for non-tariffed products, to make them competitive to make 'here', but no company in it's right mind is going to invest in the infrastructure it's meant to drive knowing they aren't guaranteed in the slightest.

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.

39 comments