How Companies Design Products To Avoid Tariffs - Cheddar Explains

[@asantaraliner]

In Indonesia, a car with 10 seats are taxed cheaper compared with a 7 seats. Because of that, Ford Indonesia imported the Ford Everest from Thailand in a 10 seater format and converted them into 7 seater in Indonesia between 2007 and 2014. This loophole avoided the 40% tax and got the 10% tax instead.

[@kingjames4886]

I hear about this sort of thing from time to time... seem to recall a while back some company was importing vans and then cutting out windows to turn them into SUVs or something like that.

[@maxjb9941]

@Suddenly sounds like shit

[@nothinglessthannumbers]

This is an all too common practice to avoid taxes. You should look into the similar loopholes the big 3 (GM, Ford, & Chrysler) have taken to get around "chicken tax" tariffs that they lobbied for in the first place. Where there's a tariff, there are fat cats working around it.. 🥴

[@ninjanerdstudent6937]

Fascinating! I wonder if they can export those 3 seats back to the original factory and reuse it.

[@nothinglessthannumbers]

@@ninjanerdstudent6937 Yes, but unfortunately it's usually more cost effective to trash the unused chairs. 💔

[@coyotegreen2772]

I worked as an international shipper/receiver at a guitar company. They had a line of guitar effects pedals that were mostly made in China. By mostly I mean, the whole thing was made there. Only the actual pedal was not mounted on the electronics part, but it was otherwise assembled. That one bolt assembly allowed the company to save a ton on tariffs, but also allowed them to proclaim the pedals as being Made In America. International trade is a trip.

[@ALCRAN2010]

Made in Mexico. Assembled in USA.

[@toolbaggers]

Blame the American company for slapping a "made in US" sticker on it to fool the American consumer.

[@Joostuh]

Same with Tesla's, they ship them to the Netherlands (Tilburg) without the motor installed and bolt it on once in the EU.

[@nikolnolastname4473]

@@toolbaggers I was about to say that. A lot of American made products are made abroad and might only get a small alteration that allows them to claim it was made in the USA.

[@ethantantuco]

which pedals are these? Fulltone?

[@jasongold4312]

A central theme of X-men comics is, at the end of the day, they are human, just like anyone else. Marvel successfully argued in court that they are not human. Placing them in the non human toy category, cutting the terif in half.

[@ALCRAN2010]

Seriously??

[@nanba009]

@@ALCRAN2010 first, I thought it cannot be true. But here we are. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toy_Biz,_Inc._v._United_States

[@Kay-ko9wu]

Yep! They are Mutants not Humans in the eyes of the law.

[@blame7121]

@@Kay-ko9wu So any human with a (significant) mutation that deviates from what others perceive as "normal" is not a human, but instead a mutant? Are siamese twins not classified as human, but as mutants? Are hermaphrodites not human? What about people with extra (or missing) limbs? Mutants? Do mutants have human rights? Or do they even have animal rights? Do mutants have any rights? ¡Ay caramba!

[@Kay-ko9wu]

@@blame7121 that is for the court to decide and only for importing and exporting tariff purposes. /kidding Obviously this should not be applied to real people. Within the comic universe there has been a wide variety of views on if mutants are human or not from non-mutants and mutants alike. Currently the mutants are distancing and differentiating themselves from non-mutants but I am not currently reading so I don't know if they are saying they are not human. It's interesting.

[@gurito4374]

The snuggie looks like a cloak, is worn like a cloak, and can be used as a cloak. And in my humble opinion, i believe that it should be classified as a cloak.

[@gjantonio]

Harry Potter and the wizardring world of snuggie cloaks

[@Losangelesharvey]

except that no one wears it as a cloak. it stay on the couch

[@ThornMage]

Bath robe or housecoat wore backwards.

[@TheBooban]

@@vashsunglasses yeah, and a cloak is just a blanket.

[@peepanugg102]

I’ve seen people wearing cloaks, Iv never seen anyone ever wear a Snuggie That’s shit is made to nap in

[@AnonymousFreakYT]

My favorite ridiculous tariff engineering item is the Ford Transit van - a VERY common "small delivery van" here in the United States. And while Ford is an American company - the Transit van isn't built in America. And I don't mean "The United States of America", I mean "The American continents." It is built in Turkey, in Europe. The United States has a *VERY* high tariff on cargo vans being imported from Europe. But a _much_ lower tariff on passenger vans. Only Ford Transit sized passenger vans aren't popular in the United States. But that same size cargo van? *SUPER* popular. So what is Ford to do? Start up an assembly line for it within the NAFTA trade zone? Of course not, that would cost too much money. Make the van cost more by paying the cargo van tariff? Of course not! So they do the obviously logical thing - they build the vans as passenger vans, import them, then rip out all the "passenger" bits, slap on solid metal "windows", and call it a passenger van. But now they have hundreds of thousands of "small passenger van" seats and windows lying around spare. Sure, I'm sure they keep some as spares for the few Transit vans that are actually sold as passenger vans, but there would still be way too many. So they send them back to Turkey. Even stranger? Because of the combination of tariff and shipping costs - it is cost-prohibitive to send them back intact. SO THEY SHRED THE SEATS AND SHATTER THE GLASS AND SEND BACK THE READY-FOR-RECYCLING MATERIALS! Yep, they build seats and glass - solely to destroy it and send it back to be recycled into new seats and glass. Ford sells over 100,000 Transits a year in the USA. That is a mind-blowing amount of fabric, metal, and glass. Also, the vehicles have to pass US safety standards to be imported, so they can't just slap in "wouldn't even qualify as a seat to most people" seat. It has to be a real US-passenger-worthy rear seat. (I can't find any specific references to how many seats it has to have when being imported - and obviously even the cargo variants keep the front seats, so I'm assuming it is imported with just a standard second-row three-passenger-bench rear seat., not a full three rows, or bucket seats or anything fancy. Just what you'd find in a "commuter van".

[@katatat2030]

It's a good solution for them given the alternatives. But god, it's still so inefficient it's crazy

[@Max-qq4td]

And then I feel guilty when I forget to recycle my shredded cheese bag or stay in the shower for too long

[@Damien_N]

This definitely reminds me of the old apocryphal stories from the Soviet Union of factories that made useless widgets intended to be delivered to another factory solely tasked with destroying them.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

But much of turkey is in Asia! The sole part of turkey in Europe is very small and technically in the northwest of the whole country, near northeastern Greece.

[@alakani]

Capitalism at work

[@bra24hnt52]

7:06 "So they dont have to lay off workers" Lol, more like so they can increase shareholdervalue

[@matthewbanta3240]

I was a bit confused when I watched this because I was sure that Chucks didn't have a fuzzy sole. Then I realized that it has probably been 20 years since the last time I bough Chucks. I like Chucks (or maybe we should say that I liked Chucks) but they only seem to last 6 months or so if you wear them all of the time. Come to think of it, maybe they really are slippers.

[@JironBMohamad]

Well not all slippers wear out in 6 months. I still use my rubber slippers I bought 5 years ago

[@sliderx1897]

@@JironBMohamad slippers have never been permitted in the NBA

[@salaltschul3604]

I've got a pair of Chucks I bought a little over a year ago and they don't have a fuzzy sole. I'm in Aus, though, so it might be just a US thing. I can't imagine how unsafe a fuzzy sole on a shoe would be...thing of the slipping!

[@sliderx1897]

@@salaltschul3604 its not as fuzzy as u might think. Its like peach fuz. Kts a really thin layer almost like when u peel a sticker off of clothing and it has that lint on it. Usually wears off after 1 wear

[@leifforrest]

@@sliderx1897 Nowhere nearly as good as they were before the fuzz, way less traction even after they're "worn down".

[@veggiestew9127]

It would be nice if modern goods were engineered for quality sometimes, but I guess that's off the table.

[@nonsequitor]

Thanks to consumers constantly rewarding crappy cheap products by buying them... pretty much (except in niche markets).

[@Boby9333]

@@nonsequitor Furniture is a good example. Less than 100years ago furniture was made out of hard wood, heavy but it's lifetime was way longer than what you find at IKEA.

[@Morhua1]

@@Boby9333 There is lots of furniture at IKEA made of solid spruce, pine or birch. Maybe not the hardest wood but that stuff can still last a long time.

[@Boby9333]

@@Morhua1 True, I should have said light/composite wood and what not. I think you get my point still. One of the only commodity that have a legit reason to be "less resistant" are vehicles. Old vehicle wouldn't absorb the shock of a crash and pass it all to the occupent meaning much more injuries.

[@Losangelesharvey]

engineering can be done for both

[@Retrochick330]

“You can’t lie about the product……. Unless you’re converse trying to pass off your shoes as slippers…..”

[@TheAkashicTraveller]

That's more just that particular tarrif having been written by a moron. Well someone said to make a slipper tarrif seperat from shoes and then someone else got stuck trying to define the difference. Think about that for a moment what is the differnce between a shoe and a slipper? The difference is more how it's used than what it is, there really isn't a definable difference.

[@Losangelesharvey]

it's not in any way a lie. Customs understands completely how the shoe is made.

[@gothnate]

Not just Converse. Nearly every shoe in Walmart has felt on the sole. Felt on the sole means it's technically a slipper.

[@WanderTheNomad]

It's all about definitions. The law follows definitions and not feelings, and sometimes those definitions don't match up to the definitions we have in our head. So decisions that seem ridiculous to us happen.

[@Retrochick330]

Guys- I get the concept. I watched the whole video. I just thought it was funny/ironic.

[@wafkt]

Years ago, during the height of the US/Canada softwood lumber dispute, I worked for a roof/floor truss manufacturer in Canada. We had arrangements with several truss manufacturers in the US. They would send us their cut sheets and we’d pre-cut all their lumber and ship the pieces to them. Apparently, if the lumber had square cut ends, it was “lumber” and charged the appropriate tariff, but if it had non-square cut ends, the pieces were classified as “parts” and charged a much lower tariff.

[@ClickLikeAndSubscribe]

This may explain why none of the 2x4s are straight at my local Home Depot! :-D

[@DIOsNotDead]

"Have you ever had the grand-standing debate of wether or not a hotdog is a sandwich? Spoiler alert: it's not." _multiple "A Hot Dog Is A Sandwich" podcast fans are typing..._

[@redstonerelic]

a hotdog is infact, a taco. It has bread on three sides

[@TheCurtor]

@@redstonerelic Right, but a taco is just another type of sandwich.

[@chuckasualty]

Merriam-Webster defines a sandwich as: a : two or more slices of bread or a split roll having a filling in between b : one slice of bread covered with food a hotdog bun could be considered as a split roll & thus making it a sandwich BTW I don't really care either way...just thought I'd put this out there

[@akkesm]

@@TheCurtor he's referencing the mighty cube rule, which, as we know, it's true

[@DIOsNotDead]

@@chuckasualty i like how humans try to define everything to make them more rational, but then end up with arbitrary messes that sparks endless debate for no reason lol

[@MrUnsuspiciousName]

You forgot the best example of a smoke detector being classified as an instrument

[@wolfhelm8078]

Wait really?

[@MrUnsuspiciousName]

@@wolfhelm8078 watch Nathan for you

[@leifforrest]

@@MrUnsuspiciousName what episode was that? I love Nathan for You. HAHAHAH this episode- kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGelf3hsZ916p6c

[@ScooterinAB]

That's dumb.

[@zumabbar]

can't believe mayonnaise isn't though

[@ironsniper13]

Converse website advertises and sells their shoes as "shoes" so how does the "iTs A sLiPpEr" argument work

[@nikolnolastname4473]

A slipper is a shoe

[@IbbiAhmed]

@@nikolnolastname4473 A shoe is a slipper

[@Dantick09]

@@IbbiAhmed No, a slipper is a specific kind of shoe meant to be worn indoors which for some reason pay a lower tariff Putting a patch of felt on a sole does not make it a slipper IMO

[@leifforrest]

@@nikolnolastname4473 yeah, all slippers are shoes, but not all shoes are slippers.

[@nikolnolastname4473]

@@leifforrest unless it's a converse with its fuzzy soles 😁

[@bhzucker]

Best argument against tariffs I've ever seen. Imagine all the hours of human effort squandered by companies trying to get around tariffs, and governments trying to enforce them, all in an attempt to artificially "protect" certain special interests at the expense of the consumer.

[@ScooterinAB]

Yep. All the money wasted trying to save a few bucks.

[@Findecommie]

You could go even further and say it's an argument against capitalism - tariffs incentivize a whole bunch of basically pointless labor hours, but tariffs themselves still* exist to prop up a system that otherwise wouldn't produce enough consumers to keep it running. *They evolved from ancient harbor tolls and became popular under feudalism when pretty much all tax was based on goods produced so keeping as much industry domestic as possible meant more tax for you and less for the other monarchs and was directly correlated with military strength. Obviously that's not how it works nowadays, but they're important for post-industrial countries to stay wealthy. As soon as shipping became cheaper than paying the higher wages of workers in the first world capitalists started to migrate production elsewhere, but tariffs allowed most countries to maintain enough production to avoid economic collapse. It's even worse now since thanks to technology the minimum number of labor hours needed to produce everything we consume is much lower than the minimum number of hours every worker needs to work in order to pay for that consumption. Instead of paying people more to work less, the system becomes less and less efficient and generates increasingly pointless forms of labor to compensate. Tariffs are one of many forms of artificial complexity that helps maintain enough work to be done so enough people earn enough money to buy more than the very basic necessities

[@SendarSlayer]

@@Findecommie "argument against capitalism". How..? Tariffs aren't created by the capitalistic system, they're created by bloated and overgrown bureaucracies that refuse to simplify the systems and make them easier to understand. Place a higher tariff on international items, a lower one on national items. High on items made at home, low on items you need shipped in. Done. Why is the position of a pocket on a garment changing what its taxed at? Because the governments of the world work to make themselves larger.

[@Findecommie]

@@SendarSlayer Yeah, no. You're confusing size with power. All forms of government in use today work to consolidate power among the ruling class, but they do that with as few workers as possible. The system you're describing doesn't (and hasn't ever) exist(ed) because very few countries can produce everything their people need, never mind everything their people want. Individual countries set tariffs that made sure different types of trade flowed in the direction most beneficial to them and that worked ok for awhile, but as the market got more crowded the actual producers were incentivized to lobby for more complex regulations to protect their market share (basically this but for companies making almost the same product en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niche_differentiation) Then, over the course of the past century, the human population skyrocketed while the actual amount of socially necessary labor to maintain society plummeted, and countries started to look at tariffs as a tool to keep as many redundant jobs as possible (as opposed to reevaluating the wage system). Tariffs are a control on capitalism in the sense that they're an obstacle to the global super-monopolies capitalism naturally trends toward, but they still serve to maintain capitalism because capitalism without limits causes such misery to so many people that their anger is a threat to the whole system (see: labor militancy in the gilded age)

[@ratm183]

I'm pretty sure I remember hearing the PS3 allowed you to install your own operating system so it could be considered a computer instead of a gaming system for tax purposes in specific countries (EU I think)

[@writinguy]

Ironically for a video about taxation from a company located in New York, starting with the statement that a hotdog wasn't a sandwich when it is considered such by the New York tax code.

[@mmboiler10]

That's litterally as far as I've made it in this video. Heard that, paused, looked for this comment, and will now go about my day without watching the rest 😂.

[@namele55777]

"had a dispute, slapped on a tariff and forgot all about it" 1964 CHICKEN TAX also, how the US missed out on a whole generation of cool light trucks

[@Lightningflamingice]

additionally, one of a series of steps that led to the decline of the American Auto industry by shielding us from real competition.

[@All.Natural.Dirt.]

I just want a Hilux..

[@KevinKickChannel]

Yup here in Europe we don’t buy your Ford F150s and Silverados, you don’t buy our VW Caddies, Opel Combos and Mercedes Citans. I do think you somehow have a few Ford Transit Connects possibly as parallel imports from a country like Mexico.

[@sterlingodeaghaidh5086]

@@KevinKickChannel We have the whole Transit lineup including a few domestic versions that aren't available in Europe, the reason being is because the Transit is built domestically in Ford's Kansas City assembly plant. We also have the Mercede Citan, VW Caddie, and the fiat series (Sold under the Dodge brand) as well for the same reason. Only small pickups are lacking in the U.S and the reason is because while professionals go with a cheap van even if its not American made. Pickups are domestic vehicles to us, so if we go for something we want something large enough for our families hince we go with larger than the Ranger and Hilux (called the Tacoma state side). Tho, that is slowly changing so we will see. Personally, I am sticking with my 98' F-150 and thats it.

[@lzh4950]

Here in Singapore we have Euro vans too e.g. Renault Kangoo, Fiat Doblo, Mercedes-Benz Citan but they aren't as common as Japanese vans e.g. Toyota HiAce, Nissan Urvan probably as the latter is more space-efficient by placing the driver cab above instead of behind the engine & front axle, though at the expense of safety as the crumple zone is eliminated. The closest we have here to American-style pickup lorries are 10' lorries e.g. Toyota Dyna, Nissan Cabstar, which is also more space-efficient for the same reason. The latter is also available in longer/larger versions e.g. Hino 300, Mitsubishi Fuso Canter, Isuzu NPR, Daihatsu Delta & can legally transport workers on their flat-bed for business purposes e.g. transporting construction workers to worksites, though there're safety concerns as there's less crash protection there. These vehicles are almost exclusively used for businesses instead of domestic use though probably due to our regulations.

[@MountainHawkPYL]

In the early days of Scrabble, the tiles were manufactured outside the US. If they were delivered as sets, they were taxed as complete games, so they vowels were sent separately from the consonants to avoid the tariff.

[@NovelNovelist]

I'd say an Apple Watch IS legitimately more of a telecommunications device than a watch. Because despite having "watch" in the name, telling time isn't really a central use. Converse are definitely slippers though...

[@hieronymusnervig8712]

Or a bracelet, because we all know that it really only exists to be a status symbol and nothing else.

[@Foolish188]

Come on, it is just a watch for posers.

[@ScooterinAB]

Absolutely not a slipper. I know Americans wear their shoes in the house, but the rest of the world doesn't.

[@ukraineme96]

I wonder if this has anything to do with why women’s pants sometimes have those fake pockets. Maybe pockets translate to higher tax?

[@samuelshaw7730]

Also encourages people to buy handbags and purses

[@anniejuan1817]

But then, why don't men's pants have fake pockets?

[@wyattbarron2734]

Well it did say in the video that the clothing was divided by sex as well as material and it's features. But I think the main reason why the pockets are so small is because companies factor in handbags, so they can save a penny or two by making small pockets

[@ukraineme96]

@@anniejuan1817 the hand bag reason that other have mentioned. Women carry handbags. If men’s pants had no pockets then they’d be SoL trying to carry literally anything. It was just a thought though, I’m probably wrong lol

[@sergeantbigmac]

@@ukraineme96 People usually bring up handbags, as like an insidious thing out to get women. But ive actually asked a pattern maker this before and the reason almost always comes down to the lines of the garment. Women want tighter more form fitting garments and that apparently makes integrating pockets more difficult. IDK if this is the legit reason im just repeating what i was told. But I mean women do go to the degree of wearing butt-floss (thongs) so they dont get panty lines, so I can kindve see this as logical reasoning that sortve spiraled out of control in the garment business.

[@J3scribe]

Most consumers in a general sense are more brand conscious than tariff savvy, and that determines how much they are willing to pay for a product. The Columbia apparel example made me chuckle because it is one of the more expensive sport apparel brands on the market. I doubt they, and other upmarket brands, pass along much savings from their tariff costs.

[@caseysmith544]

Yes but Colombia/Monitrail yes they own Monatrail as well in a recent acquire a few years back are more for trail running or fastpacking sports even a hiking, they are not really a Nike, Adidas, Puma, or even ASICS where the brand is sold so non athletic people as well as athletic people. The Colombia/Monatrail is made for more use like that though some of the less high performance hiking gear you see that worn more casually but almost never the shoes except maybe in places with cold/snow winters with some of the hiking models or some on sale previous model/lower price model, yes some are like that from Colombia/Monatrail brand that the shoes are sold to people or used more causally as well as the odd few high top trail running models of the Columbia line for made for heavy duty trail running or some fast packing but are used for those with ankle issues and do not want to have to wear only a stiff bottomed boot that does not bend well. I have seen less and less of the strictly Colombia models of shoe being used for trail running/running in the last few years and more for hiking where they want less boot more sport shoe feel with more and more the models that have both Columbia and Monotrail on them or models once made by Monotrail but are now under only the Colombia name. When Monotail was its own company there was really only one or two models with the same/similar name with a similar design you saw people using from the brand.

[@sdgvlkjnasdlfkjawlk]

Lower consumer prices are not the only potential benefits. For instance Columbia Sportswear is a publicly traded company which means that the additional profit margin is good for retirement savings for the average person. Or it can be used for additional quality, R&D, higher pay and benefits, etc., etc.

[@Sadowsky46]

Higher revenue. Dead simple.

[@ikmnification5737]

Cheddar: You can't lie. Also Cheddar: Says Converse gets Chuck Taylors classified as slippers because fuzzy bottoms.

[@MoveAlongPeasant]

English is hard for you. It’s okay, it’s hard for Cheddar too. Blind leading the blind

[@Tommorow1994]

Appreciate these vids, very informative. Keep it up!

[@mortimersnead5821]

Less finished products like raw sugar and blankets tend to have lower tariffs on the assumption that domestic industry will use them as feedstock. Products with more value added are seen as taking more employment away from workers in country.

[@nicolescats2]

Also higher profit margin items are easier to establish high tariffs on without consumers protesting/voting the officials out. Setting a high tariff on lets say bananas, without enough domestic and low tariff country supply, would lead to a spike in both food costs and angry people. While high tariffs on jewelry, a non essential high profit margin item, doesn't provoke the same level of anger.

[@alwaystired1]

Just know that when she was like "they pass that cost saving onto the customer, and let's the company not lay off workers" is complete bullshit. 90% of the companies can afford to pay all their workers (including the children in sweatshops over seas) 5x or 10x the amount they do. Sure we get a shitty Chinese product for 2$ dollars less but it certainly is not to the benefit of the worker.

[@223556762308]

It’s funny because you could tell she knew she was lying as she said it.

[@Buick_GSX]

Cheddar likely has to make sure they don't piss off these corporations and their own investors by saying the truth because that's probably where a lot of their money comes from.

[@Foolish188]

Good idea, raise their wages above market and a better quality of employee will get the jobs. The kids and other workers will get fired and starve. Great thinking.

[@Buick_GSX]

@@Foolish188 lmao just keep being deliberately obtuse won’t you

[@Foolish188]

@@Buick_GSX Sorry, not obtuse, history. It has happened many times. Learn some basic Economics.

[@LucidDreamer54321]

The Subaru BRAT was a cool little four-wheel drive pickup truck imported from Japan. For the first few years that the BRAT was sold in the US, it had two plastic seats in the cargo bed. The seats were included so the vehicle could be imported as a car rather than a truck.

[@sannn9]

That was literally my job, but I never considered cheating the classification. If you got caught the goods would be delayed and that is a bigger problem. It's so frustrating how huge and detailed that list is, I always thought they could simplified things.

[@arturrosa3166]

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) describes a sandwich as “a meat or poultry filling between two slices of bread, a bun, or a biscuit.” By that definition a hot dog is a sandwich."

[@Leslie-I]

- MatPat 2020

[@Peizxcv]

Hotdog is mostly old Chinese newspapers according to The Simpsons so it’s not exactly “meat filling”🤣

[@alwaystired1]

A hotdog bun is often ONE piece of bread with the slice in it, that just happens to surround the mystery meat in question. Bread with a slice in it =/= two slices of bread, as described by the USDA.

[@arturrosa3166]

@@alwaystired1 so, the issue seems to be whether one loaf of bread cut in half with only a tiny bit connecting the two parts is considered one or two slices of bread. It seems clear to me that it’s two connected slices. How would you define it otherwise? It’s clearly not one slice…

[@alwaystired1]

@@arturrosa3166 I think it's a single unit of bread because it starts as a little loaf and is cut into to get a hotdog bun shape. Also, that the average strategy for eating hotdogs assumes that the bun stays in a V shape, keeping all the condiments and meat in. I think a hotdog can become a sandwich, but I think the standard hot dog doesn't have enough sandwich traits.

[@justinwhite6787]

I know now why my Converse have Felt on the soles! Fascinating, would never have guessed this, what a great episode, for that fact, and so much more. Thanks again for an enlightening and really informative episode!

[@semirhuskic8028]

Nicely done presenting, kudos to the presenter

[@patrickmccarthy6430]

Except for posing a question...and then calling it a great question. That was just weird.

[@semirhuskic8028]

@@patrickmccarthy6430 🤦‍♂️

[@shawnthompson8016]

I love how China is included as a tariffed item

[@toolbaggers]

*terrified. Another victim of America's war of terror.

[@Losangelesharvey]

it's not included a "tariffed item" - it is a possible country of origin that may affect the duty rate along with the classification

[@heybagley]

Also Turkey, right?

[@warcrafthumanlord]

@@Losangelesharvey She said it wrong, go to 8:27 , the tittles in the video are correct but she read it wrong

[@alegsb3943]

I think it means like suramics, that is also called china

[@MrChainsawAardvark]

In 1893 the US supreme court ruled whether Tomatoes are considered a vegetable by usage, or a fruit by botanical classification. This was a major lawsuit because there were alternate tariffs on the different classes of plant. This case also set precedent on common usage of terms, and if you could just point to a dictionary to define something legally.

[@alancranford3398]

In 1964 G I Joe was "not a doll" but a toy soldier or an action figure and since G I Joe was made in Japan (and then in China) the lower import tariff was very attractive. Now you know why G I Joe was "not a doll."

[@villewintermaul1907]

That isn't the actual reason for this though. It was a marketing attempt to distinguish this product separately for boys. Action figures for boys, dolls for girls. Obviously it worked!

[@alancranford3398]

@@villewintermaul1907 I heard the same story from Don Levine's lips at the GI Joe Collector's Club Convention at Walt Disney World's Contemporary Resort while on R&R from Operation Iraqi Freedom II in 2004. It's the official story. It's marketing versus manufacture. GI Joe was marketed as an "action figure" but imported as a "toy soldier." Mattel's Barbie was imported as a doll, GI Joe was imported as a toy soldier. Both Mattel and Hasbro went to Japan because even in 1958 and 1963 it was less expensive to make the toys in Japan than in the USA. Three decades later Hasbro had GI Joe made in China because China was less expensive than Japan. Lower "toy soldier" tariff was attractive compared to the "doll" tariff. The patent process had some verbiage about manikin, too. The reality? I got my first GI Joe in 1965 and it was fun--whether it was a doll, action figure, toy soldier or manikin. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4XVc3tnapeXj8k

[@zacharypalmer2247]

Haven't seen the whole video yet, so I don't know if it touches on this, but the age-old debate of "is a tomato a fruit or vegetable" is important for the same reason. Learned this in college. Now I'm in law school figuring out how to stop companies from doing this.

[@fr3shSwag]

DSLR cameras have a 30min max video recording time to prevent from being classified as a video camera and not a DSLR so they won't pay a higher tariff.

[@arbitrary_username]

Just recently found out about that on my canon m10.

[@djp_video]

Not in the US. It’s a Europe thing. But it does affect us here in the USA.

[@davidcalhoun1648]

I have been a fan of Cheddar for a while, but this video produced and presented by Natalia Ryzak pushed me to finally hitting the Subscribe button. There was just something in the way she presented the information; most of the videos I have watched from Cheddar are always informative; but Ms. Ryzak's video was truly outstanding. I will admit; I have never had an interest in International Tariffs, but Natalia's way of giving the information had me glued to this video. I am now a 100% fan of Natalia and looking forward to future videos presented and produced by her.

[@Je.rone_]

This is kind of fascinating

[@lucasbiaggini]

Sometimes tariff engineering works in reverse, where customs will purposefully missclassify a good to be able to charge higher tariffs. I once tried to import an stethoscope into Brazil and was told there would be a 60% import tariff because it would be classified as a comercial use device, even though there are models specifically made for students.

[@Ekyllier]

"Tariff engineering". So, this is the fabled 'capitalist innovation' I keep hearing about.

[@sanangelo7926]

This is what Ross Perot was saying when he said that sucking sound will be jobs leaving the US.

[@scottwydra6365]

I voted for Perot, wish he won.

[@brucevtl7378]

capitalist? are you crazy? tariff been around since the early civilization.. and people has been trying to cheat it every since. true capitalist economist, wouldnt want such a complex tax n tariff (for the sake of protectionism) anyway..

[@sdgvlkjnasdlfkjawlk]

Capitalism, as far as it is allowed, is very good at minimizing the damages of socialism such as high and complex tariffs. So I guess you're right by accident / for the wrong reasons.

[@FrankiieeC93]

@@sdgvlkjnasdlfkjawlk We have very complex import tariffs in the U.K because of Brexit. Was that socialism?

[@WizzardLizzardd]

yeah, I don't consider Converse as a shoe too. they're so uncomfortable that it's illegal to consider those as shoes.

[@jackcurrence263]

A Snuggie is a bathrobe worn backwards. NOW what??

[@cheddar]

AHH

[@toolbaggers]

It's obviously a hospital gown which has a significantly reduced tariffs than a fashion garment. Proof? - you have to be a mental patient to either wear a snuggie outdoors or a bathrobe backwards.

[@graham1034]

The classic examples that comes to mind of this are in the automotive industry. Like the "chicken tax" that charges extra duties on imported trucks. Some companies have gotten around this by including seats in the truck bed when importing and removing them once in the country.

[@antwonefernandez7554]

Loved it. Easily digestible information without the inflection and high talk. Nice work. 👍🏻

[@yocornhb2214]

The second she said "a hot dog isn't a sandwich", I disregarded any further information she wanted to tell me.

[@lelouchunderground]

I'm crying in Brazilian with the "crazy high duty rate of 60%". For private citizen, every import here is taxed in federal level at 60%...

[@mushfiqamin]

Same man. Here in Bangladesh the Government taxes imported chocolate at 137%. FML.

[@Dantick09]

@@mushfiqamin I am guessing everyone crosses the border to stuff themselves with chocolate

[@mushfiqamin]

@@Dantick09 yeah man it's basically tradition here to bring chocolates whenever someone comes home from abroad 😂

[@Hauketal]

Here cameras are categorized into photo cameras and video cameras. The former have a lower tariff. There is now a limit of 30 minutes on photo cameras.

[@MrTurbo_]

In 10 years from now we're probably back to "you wouldn't download a car would you" because it's cheaper to just download the design of the thing you need and print it rather than buying it

[@TheLiverTea]

for plastic items yeah lol, once they make a single stage SLA printer it'll all over lol

[@CascadianBraeden]

There should be a tax on convolution; making systems and things within those systems way more unnecessarily complicated than they need to be.

[@sinecurve9999]

Yet more litigation on the definition of the word "is".

[@whatever5922]

This was soooo interesting I never knew about this, thank you

[@sablejase]

That pocket looked tight 6:49

[@3DJapan]

A company in Moscow sent me their product to review on KZbin. This was a very expensive item so I had to return it when I was done. The return shipping was a nightmare due to those tariff codes.

[@pluspiping]

"but aren't lower prices for the consumer good??" Nope. Not always. If you took manufacturing jobs out of the USA, relocated them to a country that we're now in debt to, created horrific working conditions in those overseas workshops, suppressed wages at home and abroad, shipped the goods back to the USA, where Americans have lost their jobs and are making less money, all while contributing to pollution every step of the way... I'm gonna say NO, that's not good at all.

[@UlexiteTVStoneLexite]

You know there is another solution right? You can penalize companies that outsource all these jobs. These companies are already outsourcing as many jobs as they possibly can phone services get outsourced and that can lose just as many jobs as a manufacturing plant. The only solution is to penalize these companies that are outsourcing their jobs. If the company is based in the United States and sells their products in the United States then slap on a penalty for outsourcing their products and services. The tariff doesn't really do anything.

[@pluspiping]

@@UlexiteTVStoneLexite I agree, tariffs as they are now, are not nearly enough. Companies that screw over hundreds or thousands of people into losing their jobs (all so their owners and shareholders can be richer faster) SHOULD be penalized. We need stronger disincentives to moving their production overseas. Are they going to pay their workers to get educated or trained for new jobs? Support them and their families if they can't find new jobs for a couple years while they learn for a new job? Who says there will even be a job to take, if automation keeps replacing the need for human work hours? The prospect of "we don't need this many humans to keep working" should have been a good thing! Are the company owners going to pay enough in taxes to support a Universal Basic Income, for when we don't all need to work 40 hours a week to make everything we need in this economy? Yeah. If we can't justify the national economic cost of shipping jobs overseas, maybe it should be prohibitively expensive to do it.

[@sdgvlkjnasdlfkjawlk]

If I gave you a present last year, but not this year did I screw you out of a present? No. If I gave you a job last year, but not this year did I screw you out of a job? No. People that are laid off don't stay laid off because someone will find a use for that opportunity cost and due to comparative advantage the new use of that labor will usually be more economically efficient than the old one.

[@pluspiping]

@@sdgvlkjnasdlfkjawlk you did actually screw people out of a job by firing them, idk what planet you're from also humans do not exist to be "profitable" or to be "efficient economic resources", thanks

[@sdgvlkjnasdlfkjawlk]

@@pluspiping It is the morons who voted for the morons that imposed the taxes and regulations that screwed the worker out of that job. Other than the annoyance of finding a new job being laid off isn't that big of a deal anyway. Higher efficiency means higher pay which means higher standard of living and (most) humans prefer a higher standard of living.

[@musikSkool]

Those Tariffs were based on intended use cases. If you wear them outside your house they are shoes, if they are worn inside then they are slippers. If you wear it only when sitting down in your own house, blanket makes sense, if you wear it outside around town, then sweatshirt would make sense. What is the smartwatch for? If it is for receiving messages from your phone then it is the same as a pager, if it couldn't connect to a phone then it would just be a watch. And finally Tomato. If people cook tomatoes with vegetables, then it is used as a vegetable, if people put it in a fruit salad, fruitcake or eat it by itself when they are craving something sweet, then it could be considered a fruit. But last time I checked, people reach for an orange, banana, or apple when they crave a sweet fruit. A tomato is used as a vegetable so that is how it should be taxed. An action figure is a toy, we shouldn't even be questioning that. If you collect them, then they are a collectable toy. If you think of them as a figurine, you can do that, but the primary market for action figures is a doll that you give little boys instead of the normal type you give little girls. Or do you consider Army Ranger Barbie an action figure? Nope, a toy doll for a girl is how it should be taxed.

[@TheDuckumz]

"Is a Snuggie a blanket or a sweater?" "Yes"

[@Lohoris]

The comparison with accounting doesn't hold IMHO, because this causes the final product to be altered, which is a very significant difference.

[@Vinyl_guy]

fuzzy sole sounds like a great album name

[@MikeBaxterABC]

I imported trigger locks for guns as "Rifle Parts" once .. cut the duty from 20% down to 1%

[@heybagley]

Wait, what? Converse belongs to Nike? I didn't know that!

[@LucidDreamer54321]

A hot dog is a sandwich. Sandwich: “two or more slices of bread or a split roll having a filling in between” ~ Merriam-Webster Dictionary

[@lukepilsbury3841]

In the UK we know this as the jaffa cake debate

[@keir92]

100% cakes since they’re made of cake and not biscuit.

[@dylankitson7724]

Damn straight. If it goes hard when stale, it's a cake. If it goes soft when stale, it's a biscuit :)

[@bcubed72]

@@dylankitson7724 Biscuits get pretty hard if you don't eat them right away. You can try microwaving them along with a moist towel, but that only works so well.

[@kezkai]

@@bcubed72 no.

[@bcubed72]

@@kezkai Uh...yes? You've never had a stale biscuit the day after? Baked a few too many for breakfast and had them go dry on you? What a sheltered life you must lead.

[@gl_tonight]

all of my chucks have all-rubber bottoms, and I've bought some in Canada, Jamaica, Mexico, and the Philippines. Am I missing something or are felt-bottoms unique to the USA?

[@kingjames4886]

so someone removed the molasses from the sugar... then someone added molasses back to the sugar and it's still considered white sugar?

Nope, it was classified based on the color, thus as brown sugar, even though it was refined.

[@kingjames4886]

@ pretty sure they said it was somehow "tested" and proven to be white brown sugar or w.e lol

[@tudorjason]

Tariffs aren't only about international trade. Tariffs also include how much is paid for a product or service paid by the government.

[@archiewoodhouse6509]

tariffs aren't costs to the company, they're really costs to the consumer. Protectionism is an absolute joke.

[@Will-bo7kg]

When it comes to the final question at the end of the 3D printer. It's likely that the product will be treated in accordance to the location 3D printer rather than where the software was developed. Following the logic of schematics/blueprints which the software is essentially a digital version of.

[@Kenjiro5775]

A tariff has never benefitted an end purchaser. Ever.

[@rowananderson8318]

They aren't supposed to. They're supposed to protect domestic industries and manufacturers against imported competition. Saying tariffs don't help end users is like complaining that a butcher can't make you a cake. So? That's not his job. And those industries which get protected employ hundreds/thousands of people - 'end users' in their own right - ask some of them if the tariff which keeps their industry from insolvency and secures their pay/job/livelihood is helping them or not.

[@julianshepherd2038]

Deliberate dumping to destroy a country's indigenous industry in order to create a monopoly and push prices back up past the original level.

[@Kenjiro5775]

@@rowananderson8318 Protectionism never benefited an end user either.

[@justayoutuber1906]

That's why we HAD NAFTA...until bonehead Trump got rid of it.

[@user-vn7ce5ig1z]

Like Mr. Beat made clear in his video "Every Type of Tax Explained", the government finds a way to -double-- -triple-- -qua-- infini-dip; they take a cut from every step and everybody they possibly can. ¬_¬ Why do you think they've invented so many different kinds of taxes, especially VAT and excise-taxes? The only thing governments do is make up new ways to take money from people.

[@gerardmontgomery280]

Nissan used to send 'kits' to the UK that where essentially complete cars made in china, they just needed a few bits bolted back on. These then counted as being built in the UK, allowing Nissian to import to the entire EU without paying import tariffs.

[@UlexiteTVStoneLexite]

I'm just going to start printing my own shoes.

[@arshsingh8353]

A hotdog is a sandwich, An edible item that is not a condiment in between bread should be considered a sandwich.

[@warcrafthumanlord]

"The trump administration raised tariffs on certain items like aluminum, steel and of course china" 8:27 Glad to see they consider China a product that has to be taxed...

[@matthewburno]

China is now a building material lol

[@danic_c]

You do know that china is the name of a type of clay used in porcelain?

[@matthewburno]

@@danic_c True but the way she used it makes it sounds like the county is a building material

[@warcrafthumanlord]

@@danic_c I'm not aware of extra taxes that Trump made on porcelain...

[@danic_c]

@@warcrafthumanlord Well, I don't know if this video is factually correct, but if he put tariffs on china (which doesn't only come from China) then he indirectly puts a tariff on porcelain.

[@LikaLaruku]

Anything encased in bread or bread-like material is a sandwich, including tacos. If you wanna argue that is has to be between two slices, hot dog buns & taco shells break in the center all the time.

[@YourMajesty143]

That's a ridiculous excuse. By that logic if a pizza breaks in half, it becomes a sandwich. Just bc bread "could" break, that doesn't mean it's a sandwich even while unbroken. Is ice a liquid just bc it "could" melt? Is a woman a mother just bc she "could" get pregnant? Is every car a taxi, just bc it "could" pick up passengers? No that's not how the world works.

[@ianmiller4195]

It doesn't even need 2 slices of bread, open faced sandwiches are a thing that exists. Therefore, hotdogs, tacos and even pizza are sandwiches

[@gabrielgomescunha]

The more I learn about taxes the more it sounds like organized crime

[@eee2861]

The more I learn about companies' tax evasion the more they sounds like organized crime

[@titan133760]

@@eee2861 What they're doing is technically called tax avoidance, which is legal. Dick move, yes, but it's legal

[@eee2861]

@@titan133760 Corporate sponsored laws kinda undermine the sanctity of "legal" in this case. So, not just a dick move - an oppressive move.

[@ex0stasis72]

7:19 all of those "can nots" can be lumped into "don't lie."

[@johnnguyen6159]

In the 1970s Subaru wanted to bring a pickup truck to the US, but at the time there was a 25% chicken tax on light trucks so Subaru installed 2 rearward facing seats in the bed and classified it as a family car to avoid the tax.

[@tz8785]

Weren't those two extra seats so unsafe that insurers basically refused to provide insurance?

[@petesmitt]

Subaru did the opposite in Australia; commercial vehicles had much lower tariff than passenger vehicles, so Subaru removed rear seats from hatchbacks and called them vans.

[@ccubsfan94]

It's kind of like Mazda with the Rx7 having "back seats," same with the Subaru Brat. Also the Rx8 having rear doors for a cheaper insurance bracket

[@drunkenobservations7483]

I knew it. Snuggles are not apparel people!

[@senselessbabbledotcom]

I once worked in a store that sold cases for pool cues. The cases arrived with a (very cheep, you'd never actually play with it) pool cue shafts in them. This was because with this piece of wood, the case qualified as sporting gear, and not luggage, and thus had a lower tariff. It was cheaper to include this piece of wood that it was to pay the difference in the tax!

[@petesmitt]

of course it was cheaper than the tax, otherwise they wouldn't bother..

[@sophieadam9702]

The USA has cheap , prison workers in jail to compete with prices from some goods overseas

[@vortexknight6420]

"Overseas" countries has cheap prison workers too.

[@toolbaggers]

Prison workers by definition must be in jail.

[@Losangelesharvey]

incorrect: prison industries are required to pay minimum wage

[@marcusbergman6116]

This is the best TIL I've learned today.

[@nousernamesarevalid]

Classification should use how the product is marketed as a big part of the decision.Chuck Taylors are not marketed as slippers!

[@sdgvlkjnasdlfkjawlk]

Classifications shouldn't exist. Just impose a single tariff on everything or, even better, don't impose tariffs at all and let the market rather than political whims and bribes sort things out.

[@nousernamesarevalid]

@@sdgvlkjnasdlfkjawlk Yeah, sure. Let all the products from other countries bankrupt your own country's workers and not pay taxes, either. Consequences don't matter, right?

[@sdgvlkjnasdlfkjawlk]

@@nousernamesarevalid Bankrupt your own workers? You don't understand how trade (or economics in general) work. Trade - ALL trade - works the same way. You do what you have a comparative advantage at and they do what they have a comparative advantage at and everybody enjoys a higher standard of living. Taxes should be paid by voters. Hiding taxes creates excessive taxation and spending which is destructive to the country.

[@nousernamesarevalid]

@@sdgvlkjnasdlfkjawlk You don’t understand. Some tariffs are to make prices higher to give domestic industries a chance when competing with foreign cheap labor. If you remove that, you can upend entire industries. And your opinion about voters is just that, opinion. It has zero to do with trade or economics.

[@sdgvlkjnasdlfkjawlk]

@@nousernamesarevalid No, some taxes are higher because some rent seekers successfully bribed their politicians into screwing the country for their selfish benefit. "Protection" aka government enforced monopolies creates bloated inefficient and non-competitive industries that constantly "need" more "protection" from "cheap foreign labor". The price of labor is strongly correlated with production efficiency. The dishonest and the ignorant tout labor price per hour, but the honest and correct measurement is labor cost per unit of production. A high wage earner will have high efficiency equipment and a low wage earner will have low efficiency equipment greatly evening out the equation. If the cost is still less using foreign labor then the correct response is to NOT compete in that market segment and find a market segment in which the country is competitive. (That's called comparative advantage. Look it up.) Even if you deny it this is real economics I am describing to you.

[@like90]

The Snuggie is literally a robe that you wear backwards. I’d rather wear a Oodie because at least it covers the back and neck areas too.

[@chefnyc]

Another role of governments: Pile up bureaucracy so (unnecessary) jobs are created. Humanity’s brightest minds are wasted.

[@LeReVaQ]

clearly you aren't one of those minds 🤡

[@sdgvlkjnasdlfkjawlk]

@@LeReVaQ He's still bright enough to place the blame in the right direction.

[@kibawhitefang7176]

Really liked this video 😙

[@Abell_lledA]

One doesn’t experience self-transcendence, the illusion of self only dissipates.🎈

[@ex0stasis72]

I don't like siding with corporations, but I agree with Snuggie. You only "wear" a Snuggie when you're sotting or lying down. The use case is more similar to blankets than apparel.

[@mjallen1308]

“We’ll get to that later...” you gotta stoop that low and make me watch to find out the answer? Well jokes on you, I’ll just fast forward.

[@WatchMeSayStuff]

Spoiler alert: a hotdog is just the meat. The combination of a hotdog and a hotdog bun is a hotdog sub, which is a type of sandwich.

[@GyroCannon]

Mixing white refined sugar with molasses literally makes it brown sugar though lol (like, culinarily speaking)

[@app103]

Or "Sugar in the Raw" if it's just a little bit of molasses for color, and doesn't change the texture.

[@CharliMorganMusic]

The Snuggie was never marketed as clothing. Every ad was someone laying an the couch. Nobody would EVER wake up and say, "yeah, let me get my Snuggie and we can go."

[@DavidTanisDreams]

Anything shipped should be taxed at a rate proportional to how far it is traveling so the green house gases from fuel used to move becomes an economic consideration encouraging people to buy local and use less fuel.

[@scallopohare9431]

The automotive parallel is the PT Cruiser, which is classified as a truck, thus getting al sorts of tax breaks.

[@joeybaseball7352]

Natalia Ewa Ryzak is very beautiful and has a pleasant sounding voice.

[@highland_persuasion]

She does sound like Tyra Banks at times - without the fake enthusiasm, of course.

[@petesmitt]

half right.. her voice is pleasant for an American.

[@joeybaseball7352]

@@petesmitt racist

[@petesmitt]

@@joeybaseball7352 wanna race?

[@MindsEyeTHPS]

2:34 - LOL the _CoD Zombies_ rebuild sound 🤣

[@justin_time]

Eliminate tariffs. Spur competition. Provide more choices of goods to consumers to increase their quality of life. This is what the study of economics tells us. We live in a single, globally connected economy. No modern economy exists in a vacuum and haven't for over a century.

[@Boby9333]

So it become a race of what country choose to subsidize? Yeah, but no. The USA subsidize the farming industry far more than the Canadian government so farmers in Canada would have no way of competing.

[@danielnicolette152]

My only concern with that would be the subject of labor rights. If a third-world sweatshop is the competitively-superior approach globally, then it kneecaps more developed nations at no benefit to them and the suffering of the third-world workers persists.

[@tobiasc4559]

Only a very narrow view of economics would tell you that.

[@phil2544]

You'd change your mind if your job was threatened

[@11O100]

Interesting, makes sense why some items are partially assembled overseas.

[@MrGrombie]

They say to pass on the savings to consumers. But every time I hear that, I think of the CEOs just giving themselves a bigger bonus.....

[@LC-uh8if]

This kind of dispute is why there is an actual Supreme Court precedent declaring incorrectly that tomatoes are a vegetable (rather than a fruit). Apparently, back when fruits and vegetables were taxed at different rates. Botanically, a tomato is a fruit, but the court ruled that it was a vegetable because it was typically consumed with the entree rather than after the entree. One does wonder if under this ruling, wouldn't ice cream be a fruit? After all, it is eaten after the meal...

[@Sinaeb]

How Companies Design Product To Avoid Paying their Fair Share Of Taxes

[@Chrischi4598]

Tariffs aren’t taxes!

[@toology55]

Taxes that would be otherwise passed on to the consumer.

[@Sinaeb]

@@Chrischi4598 Tarriffs are taxes

[@Sinaeb]

@@toology55 They don't care about that, for the majority of products, lower taxes just means more money to the ceo

[@xrizbira]

Higher taxes = Higher prices

[@henrikharbin5521]

In the early 2000s j bought a KISS shirt that wasapparely made in Pakistan... A country that the band has never played in. I suppose that the tariff in Pakistan was much lower than China, Japan or the US. It was a really nice shirt, BTW :)