American Car Companies Are Pissed About Trump's Japan Trade Deal
By: Malcolm Ferguson (The New Republic)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
U.S. automakers say they're being screwed over by Trump's trade deal with Japan.
U.S. automakers are reporting that Trump's trade deal with Japan is favoring Japanese automakers over them in yet another reneging on the president's so-called "America First" agenda.
Trump initially announced a 25 percent tariff on all foreign car imports in April. But on Tuesday, he announced a trade deal that lowered tariffs to 15 percent for Japanese automobiles and car parts. Meanwhile, U.S. car companies still have to deal with the 50 percent tariffs Trump placed on the steel and aluminum they need to actually build their product.
"We need to review all the details of the agreement, but this is a deal that will charge lower tariffs on Japanese autos with no U.S. content," said Matt Blunt of the American Automotive Policy Council, which represents General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis.
The United Auto Workers union has stated it is "deeply angered" by Trump's deal with Japan.
"For decades, Japanese automakers have exploited open access to the U.S. market while failing to do right by American workers. Now, instead of addressing the problem, this deal gives them another break—at the expense of the very companies and workers that built the American auto industry into the global standard for good jobs and world-class products," the statement read.
"A better deal would have held Japanese automakers to the same standards U.S. workers have fought for at GM, Ford, and Stellantis.… If this becomes the blueprint for trade with Europe or South Korea, it will be a major missed opportunity," the UAW statement continued. "We need trade deals that raise standards—not reward the race to the bottom. This deal does the opposite."
The president is folding to the countries he tried to strong-arm a few months ago, all while hurting domestic industry in the process. Trump plainly prioritizing Japanese cars over American ones is also likely to hurt working-class people who supported him in states like Wisconsin and Michigan, where auto manufacturing plays a crucial role in the economy.
Article is LOCKED by author/seeder
Tags
Who is online
115 visitors
Oops.
Trump had already screwed the American auto makers with his tariffs on Canadian and Mexican auto parts.
Pretty sure that Trump has never considered the ramifications or consequences of any decision he's ever made.
The trump Administration was played. No self respecting Japanese citizen will buy and American built car. No one has cared for 85 years that Japan was closed to American autos & trucks.
The last two cars I owned were Japanese, Toyota Camrys, and I liked them better than any other car I had ever owned. This was my last car sitting in my driveway. My wife's car was a Volvo.
I could not get my bride to replace her 15 year old Camry until I found a 2024 that still operated with a key and had as few bells and whistles as possible.
Now I had to maintain and repair the previous Camry so I was not as impressed as she was but her previous ride was a Plymouth Horizon with the VW engine and all of the associated problems, so her appreciation factor was skewed.
She won't learn how to drive the Mercedes (push button start) but she acknowledges that the 2016 C300 is so much nicer and better appointed that the 2024 Camry
À chacun son goût
There’s an old saying:
One man’s meat is another man’s poisson.
It depends on one's diet.
When will his supporters break free of the spell and recognize this incompetent dolt for what he is?
2030 depending on what happens in 2027?
Never
Was just reading that Toyota is planning a new plant to make trucks in the US.
Like it or not , pick up trucks are a very large segment of the US market .