Summary

Best Buy warned that Trump’s proposed tariffs on imports from China, Mexico, and Canada could raise prices on consumer electronics, as 60% of Best Buy’s inventory comes from China.

Trump plans to impose a baseline 10% tariff on all imports and a 60% tariff on Chinese goods to boost domestic manufacturing.

Retailers like Best Buy and industry groups like the Consumer Technology Association are preparing for supply chain disruptions by importing goods early or sourcing alternatives to avoid higher consumer prices.

    • hydrospanner@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      24
      ·
      3 days ago

      They absolutely will.

      Either directly, because those goods are now more expensive to Best Buy and they’re not about to eat that, so it’ll get pissed directly on to the consumer (with a mark-up)…

      …or indirectly, when any one or more of the corporate entities involved in the domestic supply chain sees that domestic goods are now cheaper than imports for the consumer, which means that they now have an opportunity to simply raise their prices to match and pocket the difference.

      Nevermind that domestic supply chains often have roots in China anyway, so it’s not like the domestic electronics are going to be able to hold price either, since their imported components will still be getting hit with the tariff.

      My favorite part of this aspect of it in particular is that while electronics are no doubt ubiquitous, most electronics purchases are more discretionary. It’s not like a car where if yours dies you are definitely buying another one. Most times, people are getting a phone because a new model came out, or they decided theirs was too slow. They’re getting a new TV because they want to upgrade or found a good deal.

      So when these tariffs hit and prices lurch up, expect sales to plummet as people decide they can keep going with their current electronics just a bit longer.

      So congratulations, domestic beneficiaries of an electronics tariff, any profit increase you might have gained will now be more than gutted by the nosedive in overall sales!

  • pivot_root@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    73
    ·
    4 days ago
    1. Prices go up.
    2. People stop spending money.
    3. Revenue loss for companies.
    4. Mass layoffs.
    5. Job security concerns.
    6. People stop spending money.
    7. Go to (3)

    Which part of that cycle was supposed to fix the cost of living problems again? Last I checked, those tariffs aren’t going towards universal basic income or social services.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      32
      ·
      3 days ago

      The part where the monopolies buy up even more of the economy and we all get issued life subscription plans because they can cover everything from our housing to our groceries to our jobs. Don’t worry, your WaLife Plan^tm is tailored to be affordable for your Cashier position.

      • pivot_root@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        3 days ago

        Don’t worry, your WaLife Plan™ is tailored to be affordable for your Cashier position.

        I can’t be arsed to actually make the meme, so here’s a transcript:

        [Drake meme]

        Top-left panel: Drake looking away in disgust.
        Top-right panel: Cyberpunk 2077

        Bottom-left panel: Drake looking pleased.
        Bottom-right panel: America 2025

    • Joeffect@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      14
      ·
      4 days ago

      Everything he’s planning is going to have negative effects on the economy…

      Deport every? No one to work the jobs most refuse to do… Means food, housing, and other shortages which makes prices go up.

      Tariffs? Make everything cost more and force companies to charge consumers.

      Reduce education standards? Keep everyone dumb so they vote for us!!!

      • ZigZagZebra@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        edit-2
        3 days ago

        Tariffs can also backfire like with China and their retaliatory tariffs . Some US companies rely on exports for a large part of their business.

        • Cheradenine
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          ·
          3 days ago

          It happened the last time Trump tried it. China slapped a tariff on an ag product, soy (iirc), China stopped buying, the government bailed out the farmers. Everyone lost except China.

      • jj4211@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        3 days ago

        Deport every? No one to work the jobs most refuse to do… Means food, housing, and other shortages which makes prices go up.

        This one kind of makes me a bit sad about the two prevailing sentiments:

        • Heartless separation of families and forcing immigrants back into dangerous situations, frankly in the name of pursuing an ethnic purity/superiority.

        • Maintain an illegal labor class of folks constantly under threat of deportation so they have fewer rights and higher fear to exercise the rights they do have, so they can be cheap and abused labor.

        The “grant these people legal standing” seems to never be a persistent stance. Closest we got was DACA, and even that was pretty limited. No one dares threaten giving the cheap labor any leverage.

      • Sprokes@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        3 days ago

        Deport every? No one to work the jobs most refuse to do… Means food, housing, and other shortages which makes prices go up.

        I agree with everything except this. If companies can’t find workers, it will force them to review the pay and benefit to attract people. If it still doesn’t work, the government will certainly allow immigrants to enter legally for those jobs.

        Right now companies are employing immigrants with shitty pay and without any benefits. It is slavery.

        In France many illegal immigrants are working in delivery jobs. People are not against doing those jobs but the conditions are shitty. So illegal immigrants are doing those because they don’t have a choice and maybe it is way better than in their original country. But that is exploitation and slavery.

        • gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          3 days ago

          If it still doesn’t work, the government will certainly allow immigrants to enter legally for those jobs.

          You do realize we’re talking about the fascists here, yes?

        • Maggoty@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          7
          ·
          3 days ago

          Oh you clearly haven’t met American conservatives. They’ve already done this a few times. It blows up in their face every time and now they want to do it nationally.

        • Joeffect@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          3 days ago

          It’s happened before in the construction industry very recently like the last time trump was president… I just can’t find anything on it… So I can’t really back this up…

          But they couldn’t replace those workers last time it wasn’t even about paying people it was finding people who knew how to do those jobs because they were gone…

          Remember people were told to go to college not to learn a trade… For the last 40 years at least… I lived through it and it fucked me over but that’s not the point…

          They told Americans not to learn these jobs…

          • jj4211@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            3 days ago

            Well, that and these policies shift every few years. So if you try to embrace the ‘new normal’ it stops being normal in short order anyway.

            But in any event, it is a problem that the ostensibly “liberal” side ends of favoring making a labor class exempted from whatever rights and privileges have been granted to the legal labor class. It’s also a problem that the deportation is cruel to the immigrants. Unfortunately, we don’t have any policy in sight that is compassionate and empowering for those that do come to the country.

        • jj4211@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          3 days ago

          If it still doesn’t work, the government will certainly allow immigrants to enter legally for those jobs.

          In such a case, they’d be receptive to something like DACA, which was very surgically set to grant legal status to the “obviously useful” immigrants.

          But no, the same administration that demands mass deportation will let industries burn to the ground before they ramp up legal immigration.

          But you are right that the other side of the argument “but we need labor without protections to make stuff cheap!” doesn’t sound particularly good.

    • Cheems@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      3 days ago
      1. Democrats get elected next major election
      2. Start fixing the problem
      3. People get frustrated with how long it takes
      4. Things start getting better as Republicans get voted in again
      5. Republicans take credit
      6. Republicans start ruining things again
      7. Republicans blame socialism
      8. Go back to 1
    • Cort@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      3 days ago

      Could be even worse than that. If consumers stop spending in anticipation of the tariffs, starting the cycle even sooner

  • hark@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    38
    ·
    3 days ago

    It WILL raise prices and it will raise prices by more than whatever percentage the tariffs are set at because as we all saw from the recent greedflation, businesses will use any excuse to raise prices as much as possible, particularly in industries dominated by an oligopoly (which is most of them).

  • juice702@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    19
    ·
    3 days ago

    Honestly, bring on the bullshit. I’m so sick of these maga idiots so I can’t wait to see how this will affect them and what they voted for.

  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    20
    ·
    3 days ago

    Basically every shop will have to raise prices then. Even a farm shop selling only their own produce, as their own production costs will definitely rise.

    • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      39
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      4 days ago

      I mean yea.

      I wouldn’t trust a phone bought on Amazon.

      Buying on official manufacturers website take a few days to arrive.

      If someone, say broke their phone, they might need their new phone immediately.

      Also, shipping stuff can get stolen in transit, or on the doorsteps.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        10
        arrow-down
        11
        ·
        4 days ago

        You have points with the others, but why would you not trust a phone bought on Amazon? People are constantly buying phones from them. I’ve never heard any major “don’t buy a phone from Amazon” warning before.

        • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          42
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          4 days ago

          Amazon combines inventory from every seller.

          So if theres a third party selling a “Galaxy S24” and theres one thats “Sold By Amazon.com

          Both of these would be combined and stored in the same place.

          When someones buys an “Galaxy S24” the amazon workers are just gonna pick one from the pile, you might end up getting one sold by the third party, who could be lying about the phone’s condition.

          Edit: I mean you can search “Amazon Inventory Co-mingling” and see what I mean

          • Willy
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            3 days ago

            I haven’t searched about commingling in years now, but when I did, they had stopped doing it years before. Did they restart? Seems like an old wives tale at this point.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            6
            arrow-down
            16
            ·
            4 days ago

            In general, phones are tamper-sealed to ensure you’re buying a new phone. So this really doesn’t make sense to me.

            • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              22
              ·
              edit-2
              4 days ago

              Phones may have tamper-seals, but are not impossible to fake. There are already a lot o f fake sd cards in the same sealed package as a real sd card.

              And if you get a phone with no tamper-seals or broken seals, then you’d have to contact amazon and hope they believe you. And unlike cheap items where they just willy nilly and refund you, they pay extra attention to expensive items since most return fraud happens with expensive items. If you get unlucky and they don’t believe you, you’re fucked. The amazon customer service is overworked and they aren’t gonna listen to your story again. And you can charge-back, but then you are banned from amazon.

              If you buy from bestbuy in store, you can see the box is sealed, and bestbuy have almost 0% chance of fake seals, since its harder to even get a fake item in their supply chain. Also, Best Buy customer service in their stores generally are less overworked and have more downtime, so they are more willing to listen to your story. Customer service irl are more forgiving since they have to be face to face, so theres also a psychological factor that play in to your higher likelihood of getting an item returned.

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                8
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                4 days ago

                True, but you don’t go to Best Buy to buy a used phone since they don’t sell used phones, so I think that talking about buying a new phone on Amazon vs. a new phone at Best Buy is the fair comparison here.

              • Chozo@fedia.io
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                3
                ·
                4 days ago

                The condition of the phone was mentioned, so yes. That’s… kinda the whole and only point here.

        • xmunk
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          18
          ·
          4 days ago

          Amazon silently resells used and returned products that are sometimes resold without any inspection. If you’re buying something expensive it’s better to go to the original manufacturer.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            11
            ·
            4 days ago

            I have never bought a phone from them, but every time I have had an issue with a product I have bought from Amazon, I either can return it for a refund or they refund me and I don’t even have to return it.

            I mean fuck Amazon for any number of reasons, but this is just not an issue I have heard about a lot of people having with phones bought from Amazon.

        • can
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          4 days ago

          Would you automatically trust an SD card from Amazon?

          • dan@upvote.au
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            3 days ago

            I trust it as long as it’s a Samsung and their verification app passes. They have a Windows app that checks an SD card and authenticates that it’s a legit Samsung one.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            7
            ·
            4 days ago

            I don’t even know what that means. If it was in its original packaging? Sure. Why wouldn’t I? Are they secretly repackaging virus-filled SD cards in like-new sealed plastic clamshells?

            • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              14
              ·
              4 days ago

              Go on youtube and search “Fake SD Card”

              The packaging is near identical.

              You have too much faith in society. There are scammers and fraudsters everywhere not just politics, but even in commerce.

            • can
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              11
              ·
              edit-2
              4 days ago

              Because the packaging and design on the card aren’t that hard to fake convincingly and amazon doesn’t care where the stock comes from it all goes in the bin so to speak. So if some really good fakes get in the shuffle you could get unlucky.

            • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              3 days ago

              Either virus-filled cards or cards that are tampered with to show up as 2GB but are actually only 100MB or whatever. I got burned twice by that from purchases on ebay.

        • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          3 days ago

          I mean, I’ve been boycotting Amazon since 1999, so it isn’t like I’m buying anything from them. But I really wouldn’t trust any complicated/expensive electronic component from them outside of the Kindle, since that is their own product. It is too easy for Chinese companies to dupe these days.

    • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      29
      ·
      4 days ago

      It’s unironically a really good place to buy consumer electronics, both online and in person. They’re still holding on, they’ve crawled out of the hole they put themselves in a decade ago.

      • can
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        4 days ago

        Not sure about elsewhere but in Canada they’re also an online marketplace for sellers like Amazon.

      • adarza@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        4 days ago

        my last cheap unlocked phone came from there.

        a neighbor just bought one of their laptop specials this week. she hadn’t bought anything from bestbuy since her last one, though… in 2015.

        • Montagge@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          4 days ago

          That’s probably when I bought my laptop there lol I picked up my TV there last year as they carried an Insignia “dumb” TV.

    • dan@upvote.au
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      edit-2
      3 days ago

      Their open box products are good value. Sometimes the product is still in perfect condition in its original packaging, and you still get the original manufacturer warranty with it, but because a customer returned it you can get it for 10% or 15% cheaper.

      • dan@upvote.au
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        3 days ago

        In my experience, their prices are the same as online stores, and in the case where their prices are higher, they price match.

    • tunetardis@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      27
      ·
      4 days ago

      Oh it’ll be a shit show, don’t worry. Imagine a car sold in the US that’s assembled in Mexico using parts manufactured in the US from metals mined in Canada, along with electronics from China. And that’s all within a single company’s supply chain. There will be tariffs on top of tariffs in the auto sector.

  • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.zip
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    18
    ·
    4 days ago

    I can only hope this also kills the ‘i am a youtuber/influencer, buy my astoundingly overpriced merch’ business.

  • JusticeForPorygon@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    15
    ·
    4 days ago

    Thank you bestbuy for making this statement after the election.

    Not that it would’ve made any difference. I’m disgusted with my country.

    • rumba@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      4 days ago

      Trump said himself that prices were going to go way up. There’s not anybody else out there that would have made a difference. When these idiots can’t afford to go to McDonald’s anymore, and they find they can’t get on disability they’re going to change their tune far too late.

        • JusticeForPorygon@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          3 days ago

          Yeah Trump could litterally be holding a knife to their neck and they’d continue making excuses for him. If they were gonna learn, they would have by now.

          The only policy these people have is taking down their perceived enemies.