from Hacker News

Trump's Tariff on Cheap Chinese Imports Will Cost Big Tech Billions

by uxhacker on 5/3/25, 9:18 AM with 7 comments

  • by uxhacker on 5/3/25, 9:24 AM

    I’m trying to understand something broader about the U.S. tech economy and wondering what others think. How much of the money flowing into U.S. tech — particularly advertising spend on platforms like Meta and Google — is actually, indirectly, the result of America running a massive trade deficit? If dollars are going out to pay for imports (like ultra-cheap goods from Shein and Temu), those dollars have to come back in some form — often as investment in U.S. assets, including digital advertising.

    Add to that the role of U.S. universities in driving innovation and attracting international capital, and it starts to look like this whole engine is powered by the very things that Trump’s tariffs and restrictions are pushing back against. Doesn’t that make his actions — while ostensibly protecting U.S. jobs — potentially anti-university and anti-investment in the longer term?

    I’m genuinely asking this as someone without a background in economics and curious how others see it. Does anyone else think this crackdown might undercut the very ecosystem that’s funded a huge part of American tech?

  • by uxhacker on 5/3/25, 9:20 AM