Tariff is NOT a four letter word.
The taxes on holding inventory are horrendous.
I remember my dad saying decades ago it got so bad his company made them totally Destroy brand new engines to keep from having to pay the sky-high inventory taxes.
Excellent point on inventory taxes—and they vary by location.
The smart business (imho) will keep a large inventory—but go wherever they need to find a location (including offshore if necessary) where it will not be subject to tax.
Tariff is NOT a four letter word.
I am old enough to remember working in an auto parts store where one person did the job of “INVENTORY”.
He had a card for every item in the store.
When purchases were received from vendors, he added the amount to the cards.
When sales were made, he subtracted the items from the cards.
At any time, he could see how many of whatever were in the store.
LONG before UPC codes, also.
Someone asked me how old my can of heavy axle grease was....
I answered: “WHEN did UPC codes start? This can has NOT got a UPC code number”.
They just looked at me. Axle grease still good in closed can...also Johnson Paste wax.
End the inventory taxes....Keep the warehouse.