Basically title. I’m a digital artist in the USA and not rich by any stretch. In fact, somewhat in debt. (Aren’t we all.)

I also try really hard to not be a mindless consumer. I use old equipment as long as I can, repair, refurbish, etc…

All this talk of upcoming tariffs has me worried that, rather than being able to get a day-job at newly opened US manufacturing for electronics or something, I’ll instead be paying +60% more on like everything.

I know tech is a depreciating asset, but should I try to upgrade now to hold out for the next ~5 years or so?

I was considering hunting down a motherboard/cpu/RAM combo for instance.

Are worries about tariffs overblown? Trying to figure out how to prepare as best I can with my meager resources before everything just…keeps getting worse.

I am getting paid for my digital art, it’s not living money though. My spouse has a more stable income that enables me to keep trying.

Thanks in advance. <3

  • MrEff@lemmy.world
    15·
    5 months ago

    For as much as everyone is saying to buy now out of economic fear, I wouldn’t say they are wrong, but there are several steps that will have to happen first. Tarrifs must be congressional approved first. That means the bill must be presented, debated on, voted on, then signed. I would start to worry a little when we see the bill presented, but even then if he presents some insane ranting that everyone knows will kneecap the economy for the rich, then it won’t go through and I wouldn’t worry. But if he lets his economic hit men write it and it is airtight, targeted, and specifically- then I would be buying my computer parts before the effective date hits for the reasons people are saying.

    • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      14·
      5 months ago

      Tarrifs must be congressional approved first.

      Well it’s a good thing that Trump bootlickers control both houses of congress as well as the courts they might be challenged in.

      • slumlordthanatos@lemmy.world
        5·
        5 months ago

        Their majority in the House is historically slim: they can afford to lose only a single vote. Something that is this obviously terrible for the economy will have some trouble there.

    • bostonbananarama@lemmy.world
      9·
      5 months ago

      Tarrifs must be congressional approved first. That means the bill must be presented, debated on, voted on, then signed.

      Unless Congress has already given the president that authority.

      In early 2018 President Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. This law states that the president can raise tariffs on imports that pose a threat to national security. Section 232 allows the President to implement these tariffs without the approval of Congress, following an investigation by the Department of Commerce. The Commerce Department has noted that threats to national security may include “fostering U.S. dependence on unreliable or unsafe imports” or “fundamentally threatening the ability of U.S. domestic industries to satisfy national security needs.”1

    • Nollij@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      7·
      5 months ago

      You’re assuming that the tariffs exist in a vacuum. They do not.

      As soon as vendors feel they can blame Trump/tariffs/whatever and not lose income, they will raise prices. Their costs don’t need to actually go up - and if called out, they can say they’re just responding to the uncertainty or whatever.

    • tburkhol@lemmy.world
      7·
      5 months ago

      There are several reason why a President can impose tariffs without congressional approval. If he wants to do them, all he needs is a pretense, regardless how non-credible, and his own pen. Like the ‘immigration emergency’ that let him loot the military construction budget to build bits of border wall.

    • Mushroomm@sh.itjust.works
      5·
      5 months ago

      Except they’ll jack prices anyway then if the tariffs don’t stick they will say it was a precautionary cushion against potential tariffs while collecting the profits.

    • Scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.techEnglish
      3·
      5 months ago

      That’s the biggest thing. More than anything they want us to keep buying, and they want to maximize profit. The guaranteed thing that will happen is they won’t do anything that will jeopardize profits. So I’m really curious how much was just politicking, because more than anything they want the public to be dumb with their pocketbooks open.