Photographic film is on the new list of tariffs

A pair of US brand basketball shoes cost $200 retail US but cost $10 to make whether in China, Vietnam or some developing country. So after the freight and whatever costs the difference comes to say $180. Now who makes this $180? Americans right? From the port of Long Beach, CA the shoes are sent to the distribution center in Alabama, or wherever by truckers earning union wages etc. And then the shoes get further distributed, retailed, athletes endorsed, etc. That factory off shore makes the least doesn’t it?
 
retinax said:
P.S.: You think Trump is eliminating tariffs and subsidies? Read more.
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Every country should eliminate tariff (and subsidies).

The North American Free Trade Agreement is 2000 pages long and contains over 600 tariffs: is that free trade. Our Constitution has 54 word free trade agreement between states: it says no tariffs.
 
Either way one cuts it, cheese and film will always be expensive in Canada :D

In amateur photo gear in the 1970s I was lucky to have an Oly OM1 compared to a Zenit E in the UK for their amateurs while visiting, or worse for France, a Zenit B with the lowly Industar 50 as a prime lens . Good photo gear was very expensive for most.

There is always a person worse off than you, so thank your lucky stars and stripes.
 
Kodak films have been one of very few America manufactured products that are competitive in the rest of the world. That's not because the rest of the world treats the US so unfairly. I can't say I'm sure why it is, but I strongly suspect it's because the US has been real shielded from competition, not only through trade barriers, but also because the US Dollar as the world's most important currency has been so strong (for mostly political, not purely economic reasons) that buying foreign products from abroad has been cheaper for Dollar earners for a long time. It's one of the downsides of being a superpower. Looking around here in Germany, what American made products can I purchase? Some fast-food related stuff such as bbq sauces, a few brands of Bourbon, Leathermans, 3M tape. And Kodak films. European manufacturers face the same stiff competition from the far East, but seem to stand up to it better. The German manufacturers have advantages of an (for the German economy) undervalued currency and fairly low labor cost, but other European manufacturers also seem to do ok. If the US think their comparative advantage lies in raw products (petroleum, soy, wheat, meat), oh well. These are important exports that a less developed country could produce. Not all is lost though, American companies earn huge sums with services rather than goods in countries around the world and some of the biggest companies pay hardly a cent in taxes to our governments/societies.
 
x-ray said:
.....It's only temporary.....

....Relax, it won't last forever.......

In the long run we'll be much better off.
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Those that survive will be.

Forever is a relative term. While many will feel many little cuts or pokes, many will have their lives ripped apart. Farmers who are seeing the price of their corn continue to drop. Manufacturers who are wondering about raw material price increases and tariffs to countries they sell into.

All it will take for another farm crisis (remember the 1980's) is more of this.

Sad thing is that we all want the same thing. It seems our approach to addressing the issue is very different.

B2 (;-<
 
HHPhoto said:
...... Some extremely greedy people who even want more money and power. Like the Koch brothers. And these guys have no interest at all in fair trade.
.......
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Those brothers learned everything they know about making money from the Hunt Brothers doing a number on silver back in the late 70s......

B2 (;-<
 
I’m curious for those in Canada paying stoopid high prices for film. Can u not mail order from the US or are there high customs fees etc?
 
mpaniagua said:
So sit on my dollars or buy film to fill my fridge? :)

Marcelo
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Marcelo,

A good question. Depends...

In the worse case trade wars can have unintended consequences like create the Great Depression. During a worldwide economic collapse it is best to hold assets and wait it out. This is what Joseph Kennedy did. He bought distressed assets and moved his family to Florida to enjoy the low cost of living to wait it out. I consider this what the "Smart Money" will do (the very rich).

The other unintended consequence is inflation where paper money looses value and is eventually becomes both worth-less and becomes worthless.

I frame this with my bias as a globalist who is pro free-trade with an understanding that price controls do not work in either capitalist systems, socialized systems, or communist systems.

Tarriffs can be looked upon as a subsidy to support or favor a product or industry, and economic theory indicates that subsidies have the inadvertent consequence of raising prices.

Then there is this thing called "Disinflation" where cheap products from China allowed Americans to maintain a certain standard of living for decades even though their wages have been stagnant over those very same decades.

There is a compounding: places where there is excess labor means labor costs are cheap like China and Asia. Places where there is not abundance of labor like the U.S. and Europe labor costs are high. I don't think I-phones could be made in the U.S. without huge price increases. I also don't think Kodak film will become cheaper either.

What is helpful to understand is that deflation is really "excess supply" and this translates into lower prices. The disinflation we have enjoyed over the past decades is tied to excess supply pushing down prices. The opposite happens when there is not enough supply meaning shortages cause price increases.

No clarity at this point other than if things esculate economies (even in the U.S.) will suffer, especially in the developing world, and expect higher prices. Over the long-long term though, if the U.S. seals its borders, quits NATO, and pretty much isolates itself from the world it is a vast enough country to exist on its own, but I don't think I would want to live here. I don't expect good things to happen with my understandings.

Cal
 
Huss said:
I’m curious for those in Canada paying stoopid high prices for film. Can u not mail order from the US or are there high customs fees etc?
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Huss,

Part of the higher price is their VAT.

Cal

Postscript: Most of the Canadian population actually lives close to the border. Traveling to the U.S. to do shopping binges avoids the VAT. In my border crossings I think about $700.00 worth of goods is allowed if I remember correctly.
 
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Calzone said:
Marcelo,

A good question. Depends...

In the worse case trade wars can have unintended consequences like create the Great Depression. During a worldwide economic collapse it is best to hold assets and wait it out. This is what Joseph Kennedy did. He bought distressed assets and moved his family to Florida to enjoy the low cost of living to wait it out. I consider this what the "Smart Money" will do (the very rich).

The other unintended consequence is inflation where paper money looses value and is eventually becomes both worth-less and becomes worthless.

I frame this with my bias as a globalist who is pro free-trade with an understanding that price controls do not work in either capitalist systems, socialized systems, or communist systems.

Tarriffs can be looked upon as a subsidy to support or favor a product or industry, and economic theory indicates that subsidies have the inadvertent consequence of raising prices.

Then there is this thing called "Disinflation" where cheap products from China allowed Americans to maintain a certain standard of living for decades even though their wages have been stagnant over those very same decades.

There is a compounding: places where there is excess labor means labor costs are cheap like China and Asia. Places where there is not abundance of labor like the U.S. and Europe labor costs are high. I don't think I-phones could be made in the U.S. without huge price increases. I also don't think Kodak film will become cheaper either.

What is helpful to understand is that deflation is really "excess supply" and this translates into lower prices. The disinflation we have enjoyed over the past decades is tied to excess supply pushing down prices. The opposite happens when there is not enough supply meaning shortages cause price increases.

No clarity at this point other than if things esculate economies (even in the U.S.) will suffer, especially in the developing world, and expect higher prices. Over the long-long term though, if the U.S. seals its borders, quits NATO, and pretty much isolates itself from the world it is a vast enough country to exist on its own, but I don't think I would want to live here. I don't expect good things to happen with my understandings.

Cal
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Thanks for you thoughts Cal. My reasoning is, I don't want to contribute to an artificial demand increase, by buying and stocking like there is no tomorrow, like when a film is discontinued and the price goes up even thought film wasn't specially good to begin with.

Lets see how this comes out.


Marcelo
 
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