How We Lost Our New [Big Island] Home To Trump's Illegal Tariffs

[HiloJulie]

Who said it was foreseeable?  OTOH, Trump did campaign on a pledge to hit China with much higher tariffs.
Looking back at this story, it seems that the big increase in port storage and clearance fees are what really took them by surprise. I can certainly understand missing this one.
And the changes POTUS made to these, btw, look like they are immune from the SCOTUS ruling.

Edit:  It's not reasonable to compare buying a home from a local contractor to buying a prefab from China.  There's a BIG difference!

Sorry, DF, the comparison is exactly the same thing, just expressed in a different way. It's the un-stability of the financial markets being "yanked around like a yo-yo" that is the issue. At least Will, with some creative income tax guidance, will be able to get his full loss eventually recovered in the next 5 to 7 plus years. 

But, alas, life nowadays where today up is down, tomorrow its sideways. The next day after that is anybody's guess. But no need to keep twisting your self into a pretzel justifying all this, I said my point as you have!

[ironyak]

DF - It's not reasonable to compare buying a home from a local contractor to buying a prefab from China.

But there was a local contractor involved - "Without payment of the duty, the container would not be released. It remained at the port, and the house we had bought stayed there with it — until the contractor was able to resell it to another buyer."

As for tariffs, the only way the effective rates on China could be whiplashed from ~10% to 50% to ~30% (charts are ironically also from Upenn Wharton) that Will got caught in, was from the illegal use of IEEPA as struck down by the Supreme Court. The new imposition of increased Section 122 and such tariffs are much more limited in scope and time, requiring studies and ultimately congressional approval to be upheld.

As a state that is heavily reliant on imports (anyone see a lot of #2 pine forests out your Puna window?) Hawai'i's cost of housing is deeply and directly tied to tariffs and other import taxes. Trying to find alternatives to the usual stick-built 3/2 $300,000+ HPP home is essential for most people to be able to afford to live here.

[kalakoa]

Hawai'i's cost of housing is deeply and directly tied to tariffs and other import taxes.

It happens on the mainland too. By some estimates the US is short about 4M homes.

[MyManao]

anyone see a lot of #2 pine forests out your Puna window?

Actually, mine are build with second and third growth Fir, with a nice topping of Hem-Fir for the aesthetics. And the cane shack.. if you do time in Waipio you eventually figure out it helps to keep an 'up-top' house as a refuge when needed.. is good ol' first generation Fir.. with a lot of termites thrown in for good measure. And no, when I cruz around all I see is Eucalyptus. And nobody seems to what to build anything with that stuff. LOL!

But hey, the details.. such as whether a contractor was involved or not.. are where the devil lurks. And we've all been warned, by our illustrious astronomer, to avoid that buggah.

except Kona coffee

I think you're, for the most part, wrong Edge about the coffee, unless you're talking 100% pure local, which is already priced, astronomically, out of this world. The rest is in some measure imported and as such I have to assume has that orange maniac's taxes added..

As to the gist of this story.. man I feel for Will and his wife. What a shame we, even out here so far away from it all, have to contend with the insanity brought on by MAGA. I hope when that pendulum swings it hits them hard.. real hard.. and swing it will. It always does. The only question, really, is will we live long enough to see it.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Still, if the final price was $30K for a constructed house that seems like a helluva deal!

It would be for many people.
But if your budget allows for $20,000, and you don’t have $30,000 it’s as unaffordable as a house that’s $100,000 or $500,000.  Unaffordable is any amount above your budget.

[Punatang]

Help me out Punawebbers.  As a Puna person known for low IQ, extreme sloth, and advanced dyslexia, maff is extremely hard for me so please be kind. 

If Durian Fiend and The Google are correct about the tariffs we faced here in Puna, when we purchased products from China in 2024, then we were at a 20% illegal tariff rate pre-Orangemageddon when Will, who lives in Puna, got into the import game. Then, extrapolating from DF, a purported resident of Puna, the illegal tariffs rose by 10% after The Orange He'e (local gals know what I'm sayin') started his Ali'i reign - didn't Will and Mrs. Bailey, residents of East Hawaii, lose 1/3 of their New [Big Island] home to "Trumps Illegal Tariffs" and 2/3 of their "New [Big Island] Home" to Biden's "Illegal Tariffs"?

[MyManao]

didn't Will and Mrs. Bailey, residents of East Hawaii, lose 1/3 of their New [Big Island] home to "Trumps Illegal Tariffs" and 2/3 of their "New [Big Island] Home" to Biden's "Illegal Tariffs"?

I won't pretend to do the math, other than to say, if Will folks were set to go and happy as pie to spend whatever it was originally quoted, before the orange god in DC reigned his omnipotent tax upon us all, then Will folks lost their's 100% because of the orange guy. The other guy you mentioned had no skin in the game.. methinks it's a non-starter.

[Durian Fiend]

Help me out Punawebbers.  As a Puna person known for low IQ, extreme sloth, and advanced dyslexia, maff is extremely hard for me so please be kind. 

If Durian Fiend and The Google are correct about the tariffs we faced here in Puna, when we purchased products from China in 2024, then we were at a 20% illegal tariff rate pre-Orangemageddon when Will, who lives in Puna, got into the import game. Then, extrapolating from DF, a purported resident of Puna, the illegal tariffs rose by 10% after The Orange He'e (local gals know what I'm sayin') started his Ali'i reign - didn't Will and Mrs. Bailey, residents of East Hawaii, lose 1/3 of their New [Big Island] home to "Trumps Illegal Tariffs" and 2/3 of their "New [Big Island] Home" to Biden's "Illegal Tariffs"?

First, Biden did not dishonestly use IEEPA to raise tariffs on China. Given that the 20% rate was a known quantity at the time of purchase, that number would  have been built into the price, right? 

 Again, I suspect that the other port fees Trump enacted actually raised the price more than the 10% jump in the tariff rate.

My house is built out of PNW Douglas Fir, milled at the time they were still using the CCA process for wood treatment.  It has zero rot or termite damage 30+ years later.

There is a tiny house FS on Facebook right now locally for $116,000.  I still say poor old Will had a helluva deal, if only he could have come up with the difference.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

"New [Big Island] Home" to Biden's "Illegal Tariffs"?

If Will bought a factory built home for $20,000 to put on his property in Puna under existing laws that did not require a Supreme Court ruling, then those tariffs were not illegal and the price was already factored into the final cost.

It’s not that every tariff is illegal, it’s the application.
You can drive a car from Pahoa to Hilo.  Legally if you have a license.  Illegally if you don’t follow traffic regulations and don’t have a license.

[Punatang]

Thanks Puna Peeps.  Here I think I fixed it:

Help me out Punawebbers.  As a Puna person known for low IQ, extreme sloth, and advanced dyslexia, maff is extremely hard for me so please be kind. 

If Durian Fiend and The Google are correct about the tariffs we faced here in Puna, when we purchased products from China in 2024, then we were at a 20% illegal perfectly legal tariff rate pre-Orangemageddon when Will, who lives in Puna, got into the import game. Then, extrapolating from DF, a purported resident of Puna, the illegal tariffs became illegal and rose by 10% after The Orange He'e (local gals know what I'm sayin') started his Ali'i reign - didn't Will and Mrs. Bailey, residents of East Hawaii, lose 1/3 of their New [Big Island] home to "Trumps Illegal Tariffs" and 2/3 of their "New [Big Island] Home" to Biden's "Illegal Legal Tariffs"?

   


ETA:  Given that the 20% rate was a known quantity at the time of purchase, that number would  have been built into the price, right? - Durian Fiend

No Sir I do not believe that is "right".  It could be right but that depends on the contract - a complex legal device that importers of expensive stuff who know what they are getting into, and what risks they are willing to take, enter into.  I'm sure HJ can add color.  The fact is the article is a tad vague on the deets.  I wish Will had asked Punaweb about this before signing whatever he signed.  I wish he had just bought it from Rob (keep it local dontchaknow), or at least consulted Rob who I feel confident has a handle on the reality.  Any way you slice it  - it sux bigly, but the only way to guarantee that there are no surprises once your prizes hit the high seas, is to have a contract that eliminates those risks and puts them on the seller or other parties.  Caveat emptor.