Photo: Mercedes-Benz
Trump is upset you don't see too many Chevrolets in Germany, if any. Coincidentally, that American brand withdrew from Europe a few years ago, but this is not too relevant to the message Trump was trying to convey.
He was upset Americans buy German cars, whereas Germans don't return the favor by spending their euros on American-build models. He singled out the U.S. citizens' appetite for luxury models made by Mercedes-Benz, and then proceeded to ask rhetorically “How many Chevrolets do you see in Germany? Not many, maybe none, you don’t see anything at all over there. It’s a one-way street.”
This new Trump rant appeared in an interview for The Times and it was followed by a suggestion that the U.S. would impose a 35% tax on all imported cars. Unfortunately, logic appears to fail Trump if he thinks this measure has any rational backing.
The only wat it would be fair is if already Germany had a similar tax in place and that was the single reason you couldn't see Chevrolets driving around in Munich or Berlin. In fact, the only reason American manufacturers don't even bother to enter European markets is because they know all too well their vehicles would not cut it there.
The reply from the Teutons came through the voice of Sigmar Gabriel, the Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy in Germany and Vice Chancellor. He told Bild he thinks “the American auto industry is getting worse, weaker and more expensive,” and that if they want to find more buyers abroad, they should "build better cars."
At the end of the day, the question is this: do you want a free market where the only differentiator is the quality of the products, or do you want to protect the national economy and workforce at all costs, even though that means preventing some of your citizens from spending their money the way they would like?
With Trump, the answer is clear. He has made it plainly obvious he believes the U.S. automotive industry needs a jolt, and he identified the only way of doing that is to release a series of protective decisions that keep production within the country's borders and convince (force) buyers to opt mostly for local brands.
They say competition is how the economy is driven forward, and the kind of measures proposed by President-Elect Trump don't encourage it. Instead, they seem to lock the American car industry inside a bubble where everything is warm and fuzzy. Not sure if that's the right call.
This new Trump rant appeared in an interview for The Times and it was followed by a suggestion that the U.S. would impose a 35% tax on all imported cars. Unfortunately, logic appears to fail Trump if he thinks this measure has any rational backing.
The only wat it would be fair is if already Germany had a similar tax in place and that was the single reason you couldn't see Chevrolets driving around in Munich or Berlin. In fact, the only reason American manufacturers don't even bother to enter European markets is because they know all too well their vehicles would not cut it there.
The reply from the Teutons came through the voice of Sigmar Gabriel, the Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy in Germany and Vice Chancellor. He told Bild he thinks “the American auto industry is getting worse, weaker and more expensive,” and that if they want to find more buyers abroad, they should "build better cars."
At the end of the day, the question is this: do you want a free market where the only differentiator is the quality of the products, or do you want to protect the national economy and workforce at all costs, even though that means preventing some of your citizens from spending their money the way they would like?
With Trump, the answer is clear. He has made it plainly obvious he believes the U.S. automotive industry needs a jolt, and he identified the only way of doing that is to release a series of protective decisions that keep production within the country's borders and convince (force) buyers to opt mostly for local brands.
They say competition is how the economy is driven forward, and the kind of measures proposed by President-Elect Trump don't encourage it. Instead, they seem to lock the American car industry inside a bubble where everything is warm and fuzzy. Not sure if that's the right call.
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