Hackaday Newsletter 0x81

Tariffs Terrify Tinkerers! [Hackaday] Retrotechtacular: Voice Controlled Robot from 1961 [Read article now »]( The Econonomics Of Electronics By [Elliot Williams]( The big kerfuffle this week was the announcement of a [steep 25% tariff on a wide range of electronic goods imported into the US from China](. While it's still not entirely clear which of the various schedules will be implemented when, and what the minimum quantities will be, this truly stands to make the DIY and small-scale electronics manufacturing in the US more expensive. We at Hackaday try to steer clear of politics -- the machinations of which party wins what -- but we're not afraid to comment on policy, and we're going to stick to economics here. There is a lot to be said about tariffs, both in the short run and the long run. If the US is a big enough consumer of Chinese electronics, it's even conceivable that there [could be some net benefit to the domestic electronics components producers]( even though increasing tariffs generally decrease global welfare. (Keywords: "optimal tariffs" or "optimal trade policy".) But it's also economics 101 that the [consumers of the goods subject to the tariff always lose](. And we are those consumers. Why? The reason that so many electronics components are imported is that their production is cheaper overseas. Adding a 25% tariff to their importation can make domestic production profitable again, assuming that the domestic components weren't more than 25% more expensive to begin with. But even if there is a net win for US domestic chipmakers, they're not going to be competing with the cost of the goods abroad, but that cost plus 25%, and they're not going to cut their prices lower than they need to. US consumers of electronics parts will see a price increase whether they buy foreign or domestic. Bummer. And while the idea behind the tariff is to bring some electronics parts manufacturing back into the States, it's going to have a negative effect on domestic design and assembly because those sectors are parts consumers like us. Why? The new policy only taxes raw components, not assembled products. If the combined cost of foreign parts plus assembly is cheaper than the cost of importing the parts, plus tariff, plus domestic assembly, then assembly will just move overseas where it's cheaper. [Bunnie Huang], who runs an electronics kit business, [makes this point clearly]( from his personal perspective. We wish that we could see any good coming of this from the hacker or small-run manufacturing perspective, but frankly it looks like we are the unintentional casualties of a bigger trade war. Write your representative. Come Together! It's just passed the (northern hemisphere) solstice, and you know what that means! Hacker conventions are sprouting up like the weeds in your garden. But in a good way. Last weekend saw the [Vintage Computer Festival East]( Hackaday sponsors, and [Tom Nardi] was there. If you're on the Left Coast, [yours is coming up in August](. This weekend is the [East Coast RepRap Festival]( a fresh new gathering in Bel Air, MD. Let us know what else we should cover! And those among us who are badgily inclined are already looking forward to this summer's DEFCON -- probably the epicenter of global badgelife culture. A dirt-simple interface format, poorly named by our own [Brian Benchoff], lowers the bar of entry to anything that'll connect to power and I2C. [Check it out](. And then take part in the most welcoming hardware scene on the planet. Hack Chat [Ladyada] is in the virtual house on Friday! [Limor Fried], founder of the ridiculously successful Adafruit store, is swinging by the Hack Chat to talk about [Creative and Interactive Robotics]( using Python on embedded platforms. Sensors, motors, audio, animatronics, kinetic sculptures, science experiments -- it's all fair game. Come on by! From The Blog [Fatalities vs False Positives: The Lessons from the Tesla and Uber Crashes]( By [Elliot Williams]( In one bad week in March, two people were indirectly killed by automated driving systems. The two cars are very different, but have one thing in common. [Read more »]( [What is Our Martian Quarantine Protocol?]( By [Al Williams]( If you somehow haven’t read or watched War of the Worlds, here’s a spoiler alert. The Martians are brought down by the common cold. What about us? [Read more »]( [Teardown: Box of Pain (Gom Jabbar Sold Separately)]( By [Tom Nardi]( This thing is called the “Breo iPalm520 Acupressure Hand Massager”. You’re supposed to stick your hand into it. I tore it apart instead. [Read more »]( If You Missed It [Lawn From Hell Saved by Mower From Heaven]( [Arduino Watchdog Sniffs Out Hot 3D Printers]( [An Arduino Powered Tank Built To Pull Planes]( [Learn Six Oscilloscope Measurements with One Arduino]( [Move Over Aluminum: Cast Iron for the Home Foundry]( [Hackaday]( NEVER MISS A HACK [Share]( [Share]( [Share]( [Share]( [Terms of Use]( [Privacy Policy]( [Hackaday.io]( [Hackaday.com]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} [why did I get this?]( [unsubscribe from this list]( [update subscription preferences]( SupplyFrame, Inc · 61 South Fair Oaks Avenue · Suite 200 · Pasadena, CA 91105 · USA