Why is competition for US auto makers a bad thing ?
This isn’t competition, it sounds like the CCP heavily subsidises the manufacture, in an attempt to kill the American industry off.
Thinking in decades or centuries is a very powerful tool!
This isn’t competition, it sounds like the CCP heavily subsidises the manufacture
China: “Here, have a bunch of cheap electric vehicles to replace your aging fleet of ICE engines. Don’t worry, we’re picking up a part of the tab.”
Americans: “What a great deal! We’ll buy them in droves.”
State Government: “Not so fast! This wouldn’t be fair to honest, hard working domestic car companies like Tesla and Volvo and Toyota.”
Thinking in decades or centuries is a very powerful tool!
Shame we’re only capable of thinking about the next quarter’s profits.
There’s something very amusing about the nominally communist China beating the capitalist powerhouse USA at its own game.
Large professional centrally planned economies do a better job of managing scarce resources than a pack of ill-informed and uncoordinated Wall Street Lemmings.
Sometimes. And when they dont, there is no one to stop them. It’s the age old problem of a wise despot. Just dressed in different clothes.
It’s the age old problem of a wise despot.
When you’re governing wisely, there is no need to be despotic. Conflicts and contradictions necessitate a large militant police state to keep the lower class in line. But when you’ve got generous surpluses and a rising quality of life, people are generally happy and easy to govern.
Despot means you have absolute power. It doesn’t mean you use it badly. It just means you have the potential to.
Or , hear me out, what if US auto makers stop trying to force overpriced oversized trash on us? Maybe try to compete?
Electric cars in the US are more expensive mostly due to higher costs of overhead. For example, we have a minimum wage, and China uses forced labor.
Good luck buying anything made in the US for less money than on AliExpress.
Edit: Is this really the same group of people that want US businesses to divest from Israel, defending products made with the slave labor of Uyghurs?
In Xinjiang, the government is the trafficker. Authorities use threats of physical violence, forcible drug intake, physical and sexual abuse, and torture to force detainees to work in adjacent or off-site factories or worksites producing garments, footwear, carpets, yarn, food products, holiday decorations, building materials, extractives, materials for solar power equipment and other renewable energy components, consumer electronics, bedding, hair products, cleaning supplies, personal protective equipment, face masks, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and other goods—and these goods are finding their way into businesses and homes around the world.
https://www.state.gov/forced-labor-in-chinas-xinjiang-region/
Electric cars in the US are more expensive mostly due to higher costs of overhead. For example, we have a minimum wage, and China uses forced labor.
:-/
Is this really the same group of people that want US businesses to divest from Israel, defending products made with the slave labor of Uyghurs?
Americans are just mad that we have a perfectly good exploitable population at home.
I agree. That’s also terrible. They work mostly in farming. If you can avoid these food brands, I suggest you do so.
There are plenty of automobiles manufactured in the US, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and the UK that don’t use forced labor. I also recommend supporting those factories instead of China.
Also, your second link about Chinese retirement has nothing to do with Uyghur slave labor.
There are plenty of automobiles manufactured in the US, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and the UK
And they’re all complicit. BMW, Volkswagon, Jaguar Land Rover all source parts from China.
In fact, the entire US supply chain is reliant on Chinese parts.
Earlier this month, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) said it would be temporarily halting production at a plant in Kragujevac, Serbia due to a lack of parts from China, while Hyundai and Renault have done the same in South Korea.
You can whitewash your supply chain by slapping an western label on Chinese parts. But this isn’t demonstrating any kind of concern for labor rights or ethical insourcing. FFS, we won’t even let Volkswagon plants in Tennessee unionize.
Nevermind Uyghur slave labor. Americans can’t even bargain for better salaries. Its too much for our fragile economy to handle.
That was true of those brands. They’ve since been pulling out of China, leaving abandoned factories that are now being used by the Chinese market. There are still plenty of other ethical options for automobiles.
Many nations are cracking down on imports related to Uyghur labor.
In December 2021, Congress passed, and President Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) – the strongest tool the United States or any other country has forged in the fight against the atrocities of forced labor.
https://www.dhs.gov/news/2024/05/23/enforcing-uyghur-forced-labor-prevention-act
https://www.politico.eu/article/china-forced-labor-ban-europe-us-uyghur-xinjiang/
They’ve since been pulling out of China
Firstly, no they haven’t. US trade with China has only ever increased year-over-year going back to the 1960s.
Secondly, our hunger for cheap labor is sending us to penal colonies across the rest of the Pacific Rim. This isn’t something that began or ended with a single factory in a single country.
Many nations are cracking down on imports related to Uyghur labor.
They’re not. The business is just being laundered through front companies.
Upon the review of the ASPI report, Skechers said it contacted senior management at Luzhou prior to conducting two additional audits of the factory — none of which revealed any indications of forced labor. Luzhou, however, did confirm that members of the Uyghur ethnic group did comprise a portion of its workforce but were employed under compliant terms and conditions.
Shoving thumbs in my ears and saying “I don’t see the non-compliance, its all fine actually!” and letting the provisions go completely unenforced.
And that’s before you get into direct sales through Ali Baba and Temu
Again, I agree, but my comment was about automobiles. You have the habit of misrepresenting my point.
https://boydcoddingtonwheels.com/car-companies-pulling-out-of-china/
https://www.ft.com/content/d88955d4-2bc8-476e-9cdb-882ca3c3b10d
As for other consumer goods, Biden has expanded Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to include more imports.
https://ustr.gov/issue-areas/enforcement/section-301-investigations/tariff-actions
Tariffs aren’t great solutions, but the only alternative would be outright banning. The latter would have a sudden and financially profound impact on American consumers.
