[Thor Joachim Haga]

For many years now, there have been FOUR main threats to my soundtrack CD purchasing. Technically SIX, but the first two have to do with my personal situation (lack of money and lack of space), and not the world situation at large, which are:

1. Steep prices on CDs
2. Insane shipping costs
3. New, expensive customs and taxes
4. Terrible exchange rate (for the Norwegian krone)

….and now, on top of all this, there are the braindead Trump tarrifs. For a while, I thought it would only affect cars, steel and industries that don’t personally affect me, but I suppose it will also affect the price of CDs, and their import both from the US and Europe.

How do you relate to all this?

[Nick Zwar]

I’m actually not too worried about tariffs. Not because I don’t think they are harmful, but precisely because I believe they are harmful. I can repeat what I said already some time ago on the Film Score Monthly Message Board. Tariffs are of course a political instrument, which can be sensible or beneficial or not, depending on why and how they are implemented, but they should be implemented with caution and for a specific time and for specific things. The current situation, smacking tariffs on everything across the board, is foolish, it’s stupid, and therefore is likely more of a short burning fire. I don’t think — at this point — that we’ll have long lasting super tariffs across the globe… as that would benefit no one, really. Not the EU, not the US, not China, really nobody. That’s why they won’t last. It’s just economic “saber-rattling” right now, it’ll pass. In fact, since I wrote these last words on FSM, ALREADY the US has done a sudden U-term and stopped the proposed tariffs for 90 days. Possibly because it’s already become clear how much economic damage this would do. The key to prosper is global international free trade, with clear and specific rules, not isolationism. It’s okay to restrict certain things for certain reasons, but nobody, really no country at all, benefits from a trade war tariffs.

[Thor Joachim Haga]

First of all, thanks for joining, Nick!

And yes, I also cling on to the hope that it’s just “saber rattling” at this point, like Trump likes to do.

[Author]

Posts