Tariff BS costing us money.

I bought a new car battery this week. I bought the same exact battery back in December. The new battery this week was $74 more than the one I bought just a few months ago. When I asked the guy at the parts store why the price went up so much he told me it was because of the tariffs. When I pointed out that the battery had a 1/25 sticker on it, well before tariffs were implemented he had nothing to say other than the computer tells the price. Do you think corporate America is taking advantage of the tariff issue?

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NerdyPotato · M

What does a 1/25 sticker mean? But yes, when foreign products become more expensive, of course national producers are going to match the price increase, especially for products people won't stop buying. Consumers won't switch to something cheaper because that no longer exists, so why not make some extra profit? Economists predicted that blanket tariffs would make everything more expensive btw, both imported and locally produced, well before the elections.

Sevendays · M

@NerdyPotato the battery arrived at the store in January of 2025.

NerdyPotato · M

@Sevendays ah, okay. Yeah, the price is probably based on the costs to replace the stock when it gets sold.

Sevendays · M

@NerdyPotato but they are charging a tariff price on a product that had no tariff on it. They will sell the new battery with a tariff on it.

NerdyPotato · M

@Sevendays yes, that too. But if the new one after that doesn't have tariffs on it, they may sell the last one that did for a lower price, if they're kind. Or they may just keep the higher price forever once people are used to paying that much. Isn't capitalism beautiful? 🙄

sstronaut

@Sevendays You're using fair logic, they're are using their profit logic

Sevendays · M

@sstronaut taking advantage of their customers. This isn’t a tariff rant for me it is a rant about corporations taking advantage of a situation.

sstronaut

@Sevendays Yes, but that's capitalism

Sevendays · M

@sstronaut it is but record profits when so many are struggling irks me

NerdyPotato · M

@Sevendays yep, but that's the goal of capitalism. Poverty is a key part of that. Companies need the example of how much worse their employees could be off, or those wouldn't put up with how much the companies demand of them.

Sevendays · M

@NerdyPotato do you mean to keep the rich white men in power?

NerdyPotato · M

@Sevendays yep, being rich isn't an advantage if everyone else is too. The goal of capitalism is to create distance between the "successful" and the rest, and keeping it that way. That's why it not only includes mechanism to make the rich richer, but also to make the poor poorer.

sstronaut

@Sevendays

it is but record profits when so many are struggling irks me

Oh it can get even worse, how about record profits when so many are struggling, AND tax dollars are subsidizing the company money to (in theory) keep their prices low, while they're making those records profits.

Welcome to the US gas/oil business.

Normally you only subsidize companies that are struggling or new areas that you want to grow (like in theory they tried with electric cars).

But, the US taxes are subsidizing both US has/oil that are making record profits too.

Also, I believe the US college and universities as well, now not all of them are making great profits, but a lot of the most famous ones are making records profits and the US government is helping to subsidize their customers, er, I mean their students.

So not only are they making record profits while charging more, but they're also getting tax dollars to help while doing it, so the American tax paying citizens are paying twice.