Framework “temporarily pausing” some laptop sales because of new tariffs

They're built in Taiwan though right so realistically them being a US company is more to do with where their officers are based. So they really could just move.

It would screw over the people who work there of course.

The good news is it looks like it is only the 13" systems being paused for now. And they likely can get them going again once they figure out the new tariff reqs and get the new prices integrated on the website.

Poor Puerto Rico

Where is Puerto Rico?

I wonder how it works though. Do they get finished laptops off a ship from China, or do they do final assembly in the US?

If they do anything in the US, then they'll have to pay import tariffs to get the things they're using, and then have to make up that tariff when selling it to other countries. I assume that the only way to avoid tariffs is to avoid any part of their products ever entering the US. But, how easy is it to change their business so despite being a US-based business their products avoid the US entirely?

If the Americans could read, they'd be very upset to read this.

I suppose you could just get someone to ship them to you. Of course then you would have to trust them.

They were largely unaffected by the tariffs targeting China, because US trade policy distinguishes between mainland China and Taiwan. Problem was that Trump announced huge tariffs on everyone, including a 32% tariff on Taiwan.

Imagine even a business that is supposed to benefit from tariffs, like garment manufacturing. Previously it wasn't worth it because other countries could do it cheaper. So, now you could set up a garment factory and start making things in the US. You can buy cotton from Texas, spin it into yarn, make that yarn into cloth, do it all from seed to finished garment all in the USA.

But, can you really trust that these tariffs are going to be around for the long haul? If you invest $200k to start making clothing in the US, then Trump, the master negotiator, does a deal with Bangladesh and their tariffs go to zero again there's no way you can compete and you're out $200k.

Even if you're extremely lucky and already had a US-based business that was surviving vs. overseas competition, would now be a good time to ramp up production? Sure, your goods are now much cheaper than your competitor's goods, but with the economy cratering is anybody going to be buying?

There are times when tariffs can work extremely well for certain lucky companies, but they have to be targeted long-term tariffs. Not this chaos.

A big problem with Trump’s tariffs isn’t that they exist

Haven't even finished reading your first sentence before I HARD disagree with you.

But like that article says, automakers have ~3 months of inventory already in the US. They aren't pausing sales, they are just continuing selling what they have here while betting the tariffs get lowered before they run out.