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50% Tarriff now in effect for diamonds from India

Texas Leaguer

Texas Leaguer

Ideal_Rock
Trade
Joined
Jul 27, 2009
Messages
4,151
As of yesterday the tariff on diamonds from India doubled to 50%. The Indian diamond sector is paralyzed.

We have heard from suppliers of both natural and lab grown that the business in India is now at a standstill. India cuts some 80% of the world's diamonds and there are millions of workers dependent on the industry.

It is true that there were significant quantities of diamonds proactively sent from India to the US prior to the first tariff going into effect. As it stands now, when those inventories begin to be depleted, we will see shortages and price increases.

Sourcing diamonds currently in the United States is still an option, but any special manufacturing, such as we do with our A CUT ABOVE brand, is not feasible unless there is a change.

What are your thoughts on the current market situation?
 
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Just more stupidity that resembles a Monopoly game except that this affects real people and their livelihoods. I can only hope that this will be another short lived debacle.

What changes to A Cut Above manufacturing would occur if the diamonds were sourced in the US? A change in the cut quality or a change in pricing? Both? I am so sorry that this is happening for buyers and sellers alike!
 
MissGotRocks said:
Just more stupidity that resembles a Monopoly game except that this affects real people and their livelihoods. I can only hope that this will be another short lived debacle.

What changes to A Cut Above manufacturing would occur if the diamonds were sourced in the US? A change in the cut quality or a change in pricing? Both? I am so sorry that this is happening for buyers and sellers alike!
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There is no option to do this manufacturing in the US at scale. Many other industries affected by this misguided economic extremism likewise will not be able to bring these manufacturing jobs to the US. Factories might possibly move operations out of India to other countries, but those jobs won't come here. Meanwhile, re-tooling in another country takes a lot of time and big investment. If some Indian companies do manage to do that, it will be those other countries benefitting from the investment and the jobs. Not the US.
 
What if the specialist diamond sellers like WF, BG etc opened a satellite office in a country outwith the US?. The diamonds received at the satellite office wouldn't be subject to the tariff and could still be vetted in person (maybe the diamond sellers club together and employ this person as a shared resource).

The diamonds/finished product could then be sent to the final consumer without having suffered the 50% tariff. Even if the final consumer is based in the US they still might not be subject to the same level of tariff as goods being received from India? (I'm just brain storming here).
 
I think that diamonds will again only be an option for the very richest of Americans. Let's hope that isn't a permanent reality as it will change long term buying habits over time.
If people are struggling with basic necessities, they cannot consider anything else.

I think this will be remembered as the most ignorant self inflicted wound of the century.
 
Bring in the African rough for cost + 15% tariff ....then do the value add in US factories with robots ? Shoot a video of the entire process... Might be fun for customers.

1756411307776.png
 
There will have to be major workarounds and adaptations for the companies that can manage it. Many companies have been weakened over the years by a string of challenges starting with the pandemic, sanctions on Russian diamonds, competition from synthetic diamonds, and other events and trends. The tariff war represents perhaps the greatest challenge, and an existential threat for many.
 
ItsMainelyYou said:
I think that diamonds will again only be an option for the very richest of Americans. Let's hope that isn't a permanent reality as it will change long term buying habits over time.
If people are struggling with basic necessities, they cannot consider anything else.

I think this will be remembered as the most ignorant self inflicted wound of the century.
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Some would argue that decimating the CDC and NIH might be in the running for that award. It's particularly worrying that it's not just trade policy.
 
Really nothing to worry about. One line from a sharpie will fix everything!!!
If there’s a hurricane approaching, or negative economic or jobless numbers it will all be fixed. Thank the gods for sharpies!!!
 
Texas Leaguer said:
Some would argue that decimating the CDC and NIH might be in the running for that award. It's particularly worrying that it's not just trade policy.
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Oh, I meant all of it. I fully agree.
 
freddyboston said:
Bring in the African rough for cost + 15% tariff ....then do the value add in US factories with robots ? Shoot a video of the entire process... Might be fun for customers.

1756411307776.png
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There are diamond cutters in the USA to jump start the industry in the USA and use training and automation to fill it out.

Low-Med volume precision cutting is exactly the kind of thing that could be done in the USA.
 
Currently the workaround is setting diamonds in jewellery in Canada and Mexico, then importing to the USA.
 
Texas Leaguer said:
There will have to be major workarounds and adaptations for the companies that can manage it. Many companies have been weakened over the years by a string of challenges starting with the pandemic, sanctions on Russian diamonds, competition from synthetic diamonds, and other events and trends. The tariff war represents perhaps the greatest challenge, and an existential threat for many.
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Russia deserved the penalties but what has India done to get slapped with 50% ?
 
Daisys and Diamonds said:
Russia deserved the penalties but what has India done to get slapped with 50% ?
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Being the worlds largest customer for Russian oil.
Not allowing forgiven businesses to operate free and easily in India.
Having some of the worlds highest tariffs.
 
Garry H (Cut Nut) said:
Being the worlds largest customer for Russian oil.
Not allowing forgiven businesses to operate free and easily in India.
Having some of the worlds highest tariffs.
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thank you Garry
i only know what i read in the news
 
There’s also the changes to the diamond business over the past 20 years.
Either the Indian government subsidized the meteoric growth- or Indian diamond companies are smarter than Israeli or Belgian cutters. Both places used to have vibrant cutting and trading centers. They are both just a shadow of themselves now.
I’m definitely not one who feels the entire world has been taking advantage of the USA ( despite what some politicians are saying)….. but clearly India took steps to monopolize the diamond industry
 
Rockdiamond said:
There’s also the changes to the diamond business over the past 20 years.
Either the Indian government subsidized the meteoric growth- or Indian diamond companies are smarter than Israeli or Belgian cutters. Both places used to have vibrant cutting and trading centers. They are both just a shadow of themselves now.
I’m definitely not one who feels the entire world has been taking advantage of the USA ( despite what some politicians are saying)….. but clearly India took steps to monopolize the diamond industry
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From the time the first scanners were made available Sarin OGI Helium etc, Indains were the largest adopters.
"You don't need gadgets my Son..I teach you all you need to know".
But the government has been helpful too.
 
Daisys and Diamonds said:
Russia deserved the penalties but what has India done to get slapped with 50% ?
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Supposedly, the new additional 25% is punishment for India buying Russian oil. Which would be understandable if it tracked with his other behavior toward the Russian dictator.
 
Texas Leaguer said:
Supposedly, the new additional 25% is punishment for India buying Russian oil. Which would be understandable if it tracked with his other behavior toward the Russian dictator.
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Right, but not those stiff tariffs on Russia that many in government want.
 
Air traffic in and out of USA down by 5.5%
 
Texas Leaguer said:
Supposedly, the new additional 25% is punishment for India buying Russian oil. Which would be understandable if it tracked with his other behavior toward the Russian dictator.
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Brian, we can only hope this extra tariff is short lived, many seem to be.

Is it OK to ask Brian where WF cuts their ACA’s?
 
A US appelate court has just ruled that most tariffs are illegal.
"Tariffs are a tax, and the framers of the Constitution expressly contemplated the exclusive grant of taxing power to the legislative branch," the ruling said.


But they left them in place anticipating that the ruling will be appealed to the Supreme Court. And we kind of know how that is likely to go ...

We can only hope that sanity will prevail.
 
Texas Leaguer said:
A US appelate court has just ruled that most tariffs are illegal.
"Tariffs are a tax, and the framers of the Constitution expressly contemplated the exclusive grant of taxing power to the legislative branch," the ruling said.


But they left them in place anticipating that the ruling will be appealed to the Supreme Court. And we kind of know how that is likely to go ...

We can only hope that sanity will prevail.
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The madness needs to stop and this would be a great first step! Let’s hope the court decides to hear this case sooner rather than later.
 
The tariff tantrums seem to be short lived. Nothing like economic whiplash and barriers to goods to bring stability (eyeroll). I think the actual unimagined outcomes of these knee jerk policies will create a pressure for reversal. Elections are coming up.

I do feel for vendors and sellers caught by changes to long standing supply chains.
 
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MMtwo said:
The tariff tantrums seem to be short lived. Nothing like economic whiplash and barriers to goods to bring stability (eyeroll). I think the actual unimagined outcomes of these knee jerk policies will create a pressure for reversal. Elections are coming up.

I do feel for vendors and sellers caught by changes to long standing supply chains.
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It's not just vendors and sellers, though we are among the first to feel the pain. Consumers end up footing the tariff tax in the end, which many might think is no big deal for discretionary purchases. But these largely indescriminate and exorbitant tariffs are impacting almost every supply chain. Consumers are not yet feeling a dramatic impact due to existing pre-tariff inventories, and new orders often take months to process, and because exporters and sellers are trying to absorb some of the increased cost so as not to lose market share. But that is not sustainable. Some huge chains have already announced that prices are going up because of tariffs.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said his company's costs keep climbing: "We've continued to see our costs increase each week, which we expect will continue into the third and fourth quarters," he said on an earnings call.

The cumulative effect is to supress economic activity overall. For example Home depot CEO talked about the trend of consumers putting off home improvement projects, or scaling them back.

"The number one reason for deferring the large project," Home Depot CEO Ted Decker told investors on an earnings call, "is general economic uncertainty that is larger than prices of projects, of labor availability, all the various things we've talked about in the past. By a wide margin. Economic uncertainty is number one."

The impacts are starting to show up in the economic data. But it's like a snowball rolling downhill - it starts out small and gets rapidly bigger as it picks up speed.
 
I agree wholeheartedly. Eventually this will reverse and we can only hope it is written in the text books as one of the most foolish economic blunders of our time.

The ineptitude between this and the slash and burn across many systems of oversight will haunt those that decided hatchets make great tools for surgery.

My own field (services for homeless/ working poor) was disassembled too. I am beyond furious.
 
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