U.S. shoppers' orders canceled as world shuts down some American-bound shipments

[boojum]

The analogy which works for me in trade, national or international, business or politics or life in general is that it is like we are all standing up in canoes. All we need is one person jumping around and we are all in the water. We have a person jumping around. We have instability. OK, film is always a headache but now everything is in jeopardy and folks are either worried about supply or saying that they have enough to get by. These are not indicators to me of good times. As always, YMMV.

 

[brusby]

Damn, just realized I have a trade deficit at every restaurant we frequent.

Not making fun of what for many will be a difficult situation. Just a comment on the absurdity of putting tariffs on other nations because of trade deficits.

 

[JeffS7444]

Damn, just realized I have a trade deficit at every restaurant we frequent.

We need to eliminate food from our diets: Show 'em who's boss!

 

[Rayt]

I used to work in the footwear business as a legal/compliance manager for a European company. A $200 pair of sneakers sold in US cost $8 to produce ex-factory. So where do that $192 go? Nearly all US/Europe. Shipping, Logistics, huge distribution hubs. Teamsters, R&D, endorsement fees + marketing, salaries, retail mark up. Very little benefits countries of origin: Vietnam, Thailand, China, Etc. Those factories make money on volume. We are talking about many millions of pairs of shoes a year.

 

[wrs1145]

Thanks to trump!

 

[boojum]

Thanks to trump!

I know this is asking a lot, but please, please, please do not let political threads start here. This is a place of respite and repose. Let's not have that change, please.

 

[das]

I can't imagine many things more relevant to the rangefinder hobby than a significant increase in taxes on used (and new) camera gear purchased from abroad, where at least 98% of the cameras and lenses were/are made and where the majority of the used market remains. Those of us affected by the tax increase venting a bit about it is not "political," in my opinion.

 

[boojum]

I can't imagine many things more relevant to the rangefinder hobby than a significant increase in taxes on used (and new) camera gear purchased from abroad, where at least 98% of the cameras and lenses were/are made and where the majority of the used market remains. Those of us affected by the tax increase venting a bit about it is not "political," in my opinion.

Agreed, we are all affected to the worse. But assigning blame then becomes political and will draw out controversy. We all understand hat is going on and why. I would just not want to see this become a debate. We get pissy enough over RF vs (D)SLR.

 

[brusby]

I see and somewhat agree with your point about not discussing politics on this forum. Why taint something that is good and gives pleasure to so many with distasteful and controversial discussions? Makes sense.

But I have to mention the mental picture that keeps running through my thoughts, which is a group of people about to enter the gas chambers, with one among them saying "now lets not ruin such a nice day by discussing politics."

 

[boojum]

I see and somewhat agree with your point about not discussing politics on this forum. Why taint something that is good and gives pleasure to so many with distasteful and controversial discussions? Makes sense.

But I have to mention the mental picture that keeps running through my thoughts, which is a group of people about to enter the gas chambers, with one among them saying "now lets not discuss politics and ruin such a nice day"

I grasp the situation completely. I have two degrees in Recent US History, one with a minor in Political Science. And I can code COBOL! LMAO But while this does affect us all getting into a political debate here makes about as much sense as getting into a camera debate on a political board. Nothing we say here will change much if anything at all. But it does have the potential to create divisions and to lengthen our "Blocked" lists.

Sardonic Jewish humor. It can be very grim. I grew up with Jews and can speak some Yiddish. I have been taken as a Jew a few times because of my ease within the culture and that little bit of Yiddish. Once by a Lubovitcher rebbe. LOL So anyway, this is grim and speaks to the same thing your joke addressed: overpowering fate. If you are sensitive or easily offended read no further. So, two Jews are being led to the gas chamber. One says to the other, "Smool, look at this bandage on my arm, it's filthy." The other responds, "Moishe, don't make trouble."

OK, I have a deep and abiding faith in the nation. Partly from study, partly fo living here, France, Mexico and Canada. Remember the saying that you can fool some of the people all the time, all of the people some of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. I believe that we will be well.

 

[brusby]

For someone who believes with every fibre of my being that evil flourishes when good men and women do nothing, staying quiet in the face of wrongdoing is anathema. But, it's not my call here and I wouldn't want to impose my values on others. So, mum it will be.

 

[Leon C]

We get pissy enough over RF vs (D)SLR

Only the sensitive ones.... 😉

 

[boojum]

For someone who believes with every fibre of my being that evil flourishes when good men and women do nothing, staying quiet in the face of wrongdoing is anathema. But, it's not my call here and I wouldn't want to impose my values on others. So, mum it will be.

I understand and endorse what you say. My position is that this is not the best place for political discussions. It is evident on just the superficial discourse. It's like driving downhill in a car with no brakes. It can go great for a long while and then in an instant it is out of control.

 

[tbhv55]

If, say, the CEO of a large company were to introduce a policy which caused a major detrimental effect on the market for camera equipment, then IMO it would be reasonable to discuss that situation, on here.

Similarly, I think this policy should be open for (reasonable) discussion. After all, the discussion is not about overall political ethos... simply the adverse effects of a particular policy.

 

[boojum]

If, say, the CEO of a large company were to introduce a policy which caused a major detrimental effect on the market for camera equipment, then IMO it would be reasonable to discuss that situation, on here.

Similarly, I think this policy should be open for (reasonable) discussion. After all, the discussion is not about overall political ethos... simply the adverse effects of a particular policy.

CEO's are not a part of government, are not directly paid by taxpayers nor do they run for election in a political party. What you pose as a comparison is apples and oranges and suggest that as they are both fruit they are the same. They are not the same.

This thing is already spiraling out of control. This is where I get off the train. Ciao.

 

[Mos6502]

I would like to suggest that everybody take the seat belts out of their cars because thinking about car crashes makes some people uncomfortable, and driving a car should be fun!

 

[enasniearth]

my dad used to say
" a blind man on a galloping horse would never see it "

& another
" such is life in the putty knife factory "

I still miss him

 

[Tim Murphy]

CEO's are not a part of government, are not directly paid by taxpayers nor do they run for election in a political party. What you pose as a comparison is apples and oranges and suggest that as they are both fruit they are the same. They are not the same.

This thing is already spiraling out of control. This is where I get off the train. Ciao.

Dear boojim,

And yet here we stand as a subjects of a CEO who never once succeeded, ever. Unless you define success by owing so much money that the banks can't afford to call your notes.

Somehow the cow left the barn in 2015, and no one has realized it.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[Mos6502]

I'd hate to trivialize this by making it seem like not being able to buy old cameras and lenses is the sole effect of this. Right now there is a confluence of stupidity in American politics, that is creating a whirlpool of economic ruin that will last decades... but I'll leave the specifics for some other forum.

The trade deficit spiel is really rather stupid. Just for example, the U.S. has never produced a commercially successful precision 35mm camera. So we put tariffs on cameras. For what reason? Is Leica Camera AG going to leave Germany and build a new factory in the U.S. if we make it harder for them to do business here? If the government artificially shrinks their market, are they going to build cameras for Americans in America? And could that even happen? What if one of Leica engineers or experts shared a meme of JD Vance? Would we bar them from entering the country for having a sense of humor? (apparently freedom of speech is dead, we already see people getting fired left and right for the the pettiest reasons... the biggest promoter of ending the de minimis exemption got fired because he attended the wedding of somebody who criticized trump, and no, I'm not joking).

Well who knows, maybe Argus will come back and build a few more C3s.

Oh well. Look at that. Hyundai employees at new American factory taken hostage by the government. It's not safe to move production to the U.S.

 

[Jamie Pillers]

There was a time when I believed we should avoid 'the political' here... protect our photo gear sanctuary. I don't care about that these days... I highly recommend reading Ezra Klein's piece in today's NYTimes: "Stop Acting Like This Is Normal".