Should We Stock Up This Year Before Proposed Heavy Tariff On China?

dilettante said:
But we also repatriate jobs. This benefits working Americans rather than foreign and domestic middlemen. It slows the oppression of low-wage foreign workers standing in pools of unregulated toxic wastes until they throw themselves from upper-story windows seeking relief from long hours and insufferable conditions.

It also lances the boils that are our coastal port cities, which have brought in one invasive species after another.
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We’ll see but I’m skeptical.

We are in a period of historically low unemployment and we are talking about deporting millions of people that are currently working or looking for work.

American manufacturers may be able to increase production with existing factories but I’m not sure that they would be willing to invest substantial amounts in new facilities on what could be a four year experiment.

I have a feeling that most will tighten their belts, which could result in a loss of jobs, and pass the remaining increases on to the consumer.

I agree that the working conditions for many foreign workers is mind numbing and cruel but I know from experience that a crappy job is better than no job.

The idea that American port cities are responsible for invasive species is interesting but I’m not sure that the impact of closing ports or reducing traffic, cutting the number of dockworkers, etc… would be a welcome solution.

It’s still early days and right now all we have are sound bites and opinions to go on but 2025 is going to be an interesting year.
 

Aunt Bea said:
It’s still early days and right now all we have are sound bites and opinions to go on but 2025 is going to be an interesting year.
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Exactly right. Sound bites & opinions.

Will stocking up really make a difference? Panic buying & emptying store shelves didn't last long & the items expected to be impacted by the "proposed" tariff don't quite match.

Panic buying became a major international phenomenon between February and March 2020 during the early onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and continued in smaller, more localized waves throughout during sporadic lockdowns across the world. Stores around the world were depleted of items such as face masks, food, bottled water, milk, toilet paper,[46] hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, antibacterial wipes and painkillers.[47][48][49][50][51][52] As a result, many retailers rationed the sale of these items.[53]

Panic buying - Wikipedia

Since I have no control over what might happen I'm willing to wait until the sky falls.
 

You have never gone job hunting in the US as an immigrant. It is not pretty! And I will not go deeper I to this!
As far as the current job number is concerned - a lot of fudged numbers.
 
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bobcat said:
Thank you, and perhaps hoarding isn't the proper word here because it has connotations beyond what is being discussed here, and I apologize for that. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so this may help.
View attachment 383253

Now here is the result afterward.


View attachment 383256
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Problems consider though, is some folks are dealing with things like IBS and have significant needs for certain products and we have modern plumbing folks. While an old catalogue or a corncob 😖might work in an out house, it ain't gonna fly in our toilets. So, you might be able to get by if you run out of some things, but there are other things that you just don't want to take a chance on.
 
Well folks, it's look like you'll probably be looking at higher costs on your building supplies, food products, building materials, cars and the gas that fuels them. So between China, Mexico (which provides a lot of food too) and Canada, your costs are going up. And in turn, the down turn coming in your purchases because of rising costs, is going to hurt our countries.
 
What does Canada export to the U.S.?
"The United States was Canada’s biggest trading partner in 2022, the most recent year data was available, with more than $960.9 billion in total trade, according to Statistics Canada.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that in the first three quarters of the year, the U.S. exported US$263.5 billion worth of goods to Canada, and imported $309.3 billion.

The following are Canada's greatest exports to the U.S. in descending order in 2023:

energy products, motor vehicles and parts
consumer goods
forestry products and building and packaging materials
basic and industrial chemical, plastic and rubber products
metal and non-metallic mineral products
industrial machinery, equipment and parts
special transactions trade
electronic and electrical equipment and parts
aircraft and other transportation equipment and parts
metal ores and non-metallic minerals.
StatCan displayed the data in a chart on its website(opens in a new tab).

Both countries rely on each other as a main source of imported energy, including oil, natural gas, clean electricity and uranium, with energy trade(opens in a new tab) hitting C$198.2 billion in 2023, according to the Canadian government. Along with exporting crude oil, Canada also sends clean electricity south of the border.

Oil is the top U.S. import from Canada, with a record 4.3 million barrels per day in July, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Energy products overall made up a third of Canada’s $598 billion worth of exports to the south in 2022, according to StatCan.

Canada exported US$438 billion to the United States in 2022, mainly crude petroleum (US$117 billion), cars (US$27 billion) and petroleum gas (US$22.4 billion). Canada also exported services south of the border in 2020 worth US$25.5 billion, namely computer and information services (US$7.68 billion), transportation (US$5.45 billion) and financial services (US$5.08 billion). The data came from Observatory of Economic Complexity(opens in a new tab), an online data visualization and distribution platform.

Motor vehicles and parts from Canada are another major import, making up almost a fifth of the $362.9 billion in imports(opens in a new tab) from the U.S.

Higher exports of aircraft and unwrought gold helped boost Canada's exports to the U.S. by 1.6 per cent in September, according to StatCan. Canada's merchandise trade (opens in a new tab)surplus with the U.S. rose slightly from $7.8 billion in August to $8.3 billion in September, meaning the value of its exports exceeded the value of its imports.

Other products the U.S. imports from the country include wood and other commodities, CNN reported, citing the United Nations’ Comtrade."
This is from CTV online.
 
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I am incensed that we keep selling the US raw products, like logs instead of finished lumber, crude oil,etc. Then there is electricity, the eastern states would be in the dark if we pulled that plug! Really I think some one in the US govt should pay attention to what Canada supplies the US. Lets face it a 25% tariff would force Canada to raise prices on some much needed products.
 
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Canada can keep its stinky syncrude it creates from the bitumen dug up as tar sands. It is of low quality, not cost effective, and gets pumped through pipelines that have had frequent spills contaminating both rivers and groundwater. Worse yet, there is Line 5 running along the bottom of two Great Lakes.

The treaty supporting this is a joke, and on the face of it infringes on the rights of native populations in the region. It's some pretty sour stuff and unless it is almost given away we don't have much use for it. The sludge isn't even used here locally, we're just stuck as a transshipment conduit. We don't need it. Shut down those smokestacks in Sarnia where the tar gets cracked and reblended into something that can even burn.

That's without even getting started on the environmental destruction where it is strip-mined.

Ship the garbage out to China through Vancouver or something. They're already funding this r*** of the land.
 
dilettante said:
Canada can keep its stinky syncrude it creates from the bitumen dug up as tar sands. It is of low quality, not cost effective, and gets pumped through pipelines that have had frequent spills contaminating both rivers and groundwater. Worse yet, there is Line 5 running along the bottom of two Great Lakes.

The treaty supporting this is a joke, and on the face of it infringes on the rights of native populations in the region. It's some pretty sour stuff and unless it is almost given away we don't have much use for it. The sludge isn't even used here locally, we're just stuck as a transshipment conduit. We don't need it. Shut down those smokestacks in Sarnia where the tar gets cracked and reblended into something that can even burn.

That's without even getting started on the environmental destruction where it is strip-mined.

Ship the garbage out to China through Vancouver or something. They're already funding this r*** of the land.
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Well for some reason the US wants the nasty stuff, we watch logs headed south all the time for some reason the US wants that too. They do also want electric power too.
 
Everyone I know is going to stock up on essentials from Amazon and buy as little as possible for the next 4 years. My friends are buying electronics, cars, vacations, clothes now if they actually need them.

Food will be higher and obviously not much can be done except to choose products wisely. A couple of friends have booked vacations two years out so the price is locked in. I really hate what’s coming.
 
Teacher Terry said:
Everyone I know is going to stock up on essentials from Amazon and buy as little as possible for the next 4 years. My friends are buying electronics, cars, vacations, clothes now if they actually need them.

Food will be higher and obviously not much can be done except to choose products wisely. A couple of friends have booked vacations two years out so the price is locked in. I really hate what’s coming.
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only thing coming is the thing that came before. Inflation and higher prices for everything. One specific point to consider. buying a computer today will not be the computer you need 4 years from now. it will be outdated and unable to keep up. Booking a vacation, likewise. If you give up the ability to cancel at some future date prior to the cruise you will lose your money. so you need to think about how far to book in advance.
Most things we need are short term so you either have to buy survival type food or be prepared to do without.
 
rbtvgo said:
only thing coming is the thing that came before. Inflation and higher prices for everything. One specific point to consider. buying a computer today will not be the computer you need 4 years from now. it will be outdated and unable to keep up. Booking a vacation, likewise. If you give up the ability to cancel at some future date prior to the cruise you will lose your money. so you need to think about how far to book in advance.
Most things we need are short term so you either have to buy survival type food or be prepared to do without.
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I frequently book vacations 1-2 years in advance with a small deposit. I keep my computers around 10 years and my cell phones as long as I can get updates so usually 4-8 years. I used to ground my own coffee beans but no longer want to. Also according to my research they shouldn’t be kept in the freezer longer than 4 months for best quality.

In 2024 inflation was down to 2.4% and likely to skyrocket in 25 and 26 due to new incoming policies so I and my friends have done what we can to keep our personal expenses down.
 
JustBonee said:
I’ll just sit back and watch everyone scramble for stuff. … have no desire to stock up on anything.
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I have never stocked up for more than a month before but I bought everything a month ago and now just reach in the closet instead of buying anything. If prices don’t increase it’s not a big deal because everything I bought will be used as they aren’t perishable. So for me there’s no downside.
 
Teacher Terry said:
I frequently book vacations 1-2 years in advance with a small deposit. I keep my computers around 10 years and my cell phones as long as I can get updates so usually 4-8 years. I used to ground my own coffee beans but no longer want to. Also according to my research they shouldn’t be kept in the freezer longer than 4 months for best quality.

In 2024 inflation was down to 2.4% and likely to skyrocket in 25 and 26 due to new incoming policies so I and my friends have done what we can to keep our personal expenses down.
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there is nothing more then you can do then. Life is full of surprises and the best laid plans can go up in smoke in a New York minute.
 

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