Quote from: KdogIf it is a game, why didn't America subsidize electric cars. Or do we have arbitrary rules. Nobody asked me if I wanted to play Yellen's game. Regarding a tariff, the only issue should be are the Chinese auto workers getting a fair wage. And there is no Yellen about that, and there never will be!
It ain't about the wages, because if it was, Amerikan manufacturers could simply put the factories in Mejico or half a dozen other SA countries where there are gobs of UE people looking for jobs at any wage. It would slow down the immigration problem also. It's just an epic failure to compete, and the response is so knee jerk simplistic and bound to fail it boggles the mind.
First off, it means FSoA EVs won't sell in Europe EITHER because they will not drop on 100% tariffs, they want cheap EVs people can afford. Besides that, the Eurotrash have their own EV models coming in at close to the same prices as the Chinese ones. So unless we add 100% tariffs to those, they will hit the market here instead. The Euros might drop a 25% tariff on since their cheap EVs aren't as high tech and cool to keep them somewhat competitive, but no way will they go up to 100%.
This leaves FSoA car manufacturers with ONLY the local market to sell to, they are shut out globally of the rest of the world. GM & Ford international divisions are a substantial piece of their annual revenue stream. They can kiss that goodbye.
The question is, will the Amerikan Konsumer rebel here? The same people who buy EVs are the ones who travel overseas and take vacations in Europe and China too. Don't you think a few will be a little ticked off when they walk around Paris or London and see EVs in showroom windows brand new listing at €15K?
Also, what's to stop you from buying one down in Mexico and driving it back home? Are they going to charge you the tariff at the border when you cross? How do they know WTF you paid for the car? As long as you have it registered and have legal plates on it, it's none of their bizness how much you paid for the car. Maybe you won it in a poker game.
Want a Chinese EV? Here's my instructions.
Contact a car dealership in Tiajuana. Give their address as the importer. Pay the Dealership maybe $500 for receiving and storage. Pay the Chinese exporter for the car and the shipping cost. Maybe $2000 in shipping. Find out the tariff they will charge at the port when the dealer picks it up. I'll guess 10%, Mexicans aren't in a trade war with the Chinese. So on a $15K car, $1500. Your cost flying 1 way to Mexico to pick it up, max $300 from anywhere in the lower 48. Your total cost, $19,300 for the car.
After it arrives at the dealership, get the VIN number, make & model from him over the phone, and have him fax you the bill of sale. Go to your local DMV with the paperwork and your home address and get plates for the car before you fly down to pick it up. Arrive in Tijuana, stop for a Dos Equis and Burrito on the way to the dealership, hand the dealer $500, bolt the plates on the car and drive it home. You can stop and pick up some cheap antibiotics and opiates if you have a prescription, and stop for some dental work also before crossing the border coming home.
The only possible problem I see is in the registration, I don't know if the VIN numbers will work at the DMV. It's possible that the way they do the tariff is the manufacturer has to pay the tariff in order to get the VIN number authorized in the FSoA, but I don't *think* it's done that way. DMV is a State agency, not Federal. I think they handle the VIN numbers. I may be wrong there though. If it is done that way, perhaps you would get caught if the state doesn't find the VIN number as authorized, then they wouldn't let you register the car
In this case, you would either have to register it in Mexico and get Mexican plates on it, or take plates from another car and use them. They wouldn't match the car though, which gets you in trouble if you get pulled over for a traffic violation. However, I don't think it works this way. Obviously, find out first before you try this. If any of you do try it, le me know if it works.
RE
Normally, I think import tariffs are collected at the port where the vehicles arrive and they are listed in the manifest of the containers on the ship. So when a car arrives from China in Mexico, the importer pays the tariff to the Mexican goobermint before they will release it from the Customs impound lot. Once you've paid that, the car is yours.