One thing I don't see mentioned enough with the whole "the consumers paid these tariffs! we should get refunds!"... We "paid" not just in higher prices, but in many layoffs, reduction in working hours, skipped bonuses and raises. Companies that get 'refunds' will have an opportunity to use that money to rehire and repay workers. I'm cynical enough to think that will happen in large measures across the whole country, but I'm hopeful enough to want to see it happen nonetheless.

Delayed refunds won't even start to repair the damage done by bankruptcies triggered by high tariffs, the snowballed cost of tariffs impacting multiple steps in the supply chain, the emotional toll on families and communities having to deal with less money and rising prices. But rehiring and getting some regions and communities back to work might be a step in the right direction.

EXCEPT WE NOW HAVE A 15% GLOBAL TARIFF ONGOING. And a lunatic administration that will fight tooth and nail for years to keep this going as long as possible.

Trump "loves" this country so much it hurts me.

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zoobab a day ago | parent | next [-]

"use that money to rehire and repay workers"

or give it to shareholders.

	▲	philipallstar a day ago \| parent \| next [-]
		They only do that after tax, so there'll be more tax paid if they do that.
	▲	crazygringo a day ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Shareholders only want money when a company can't reinvest it effectively. Reinvesting it to generate more revenue now that prices are lower again is the obvious capitalist thing to do. The companies aren't going to rehire workers out of charity. They do it because it makes them more money.
	▲	xp84 a day ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Everything is taxed including payroll.

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marcosdumay a day ago | parent | prev [-]

> Companies that get 'refunds' will have an opportunity to use that money to rehire and repay workers.

Why on Earth do you expect a single-time payment with no strings attached to make companies think some market is profitable so they should invest in it?

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mgkimsal a day ago | parent [-]

Unsure where you got that from? If a company that has had to lay off staff and reduce hours because of increase in expenses because of tariffs, then they get a chunk of money back, trying to 'get back' to where you were before - headcount, wages, etc - might be on your mind, and might be possible with a one-time refund of ideally a sizeable portion of your tax. However... we still have extremely high tariffs in place so the effects of higher input prices are still ongoing (and ramped up in some cases).

If our tariff structure went back to, say, October 2024, and companies who'd paid some inordinate tax - forcing layoffs and reductions - got a chunk of that back - and the taxes went back to what they were - there'd likely be some return to hiring and raises as before. But we can't get back to that any time soon with an administration hellbent on extracting as much from us via tariffs as possible.

	▲	marcosdumay a day ago \| parent [-]
		The reason companies invest is not because they have money. And edit because I explained it badly: That means that yes, getting the tariffs back can make them hire, because there may be more people wanting to buy things. Sending them the tariffs money will do absolutely nothing. But even the first part isn't guaranteed, because you can't rollback the economy, things don't return to where they were, they go into some other place.