FCA Proposes a Merger with Renault

wilber1 wrote:

ShinerBock wrote:


I know why it its there but if you are handed a 25% advantage over a competitor you wouldn't take some of that in profit? The UAW and the industry are the same thing. You can't say it protects the union and not the companies as well. The original target of the tax was the VW van.

Again, unless you have actual data showing that it costs manufacturers 25% more to built overseas and ship here versus building in the US, the 25% advantage you keep quoting is and assumption based on an subjective perception.

The interest of the UAW and US makes are NOT the same, and it wasn't made to the protect US companies. Not only did they have competition since light truck were added to the chicken tax, but they also had to abide by the same rules as foreign brands when they wanted to bring their global models to the US. The only ones that it protected was American jobs by forcing anyone who wanted to sell a truck on US soil(foreign or domestic) to force them to hire US workers to build them here or pay a heavy fine.

Answer me this. Has the US truck makes have competition from foreign truck makes since the chicken tax and do they still have foreign competition? If your answer is no, then that would be false. If the answer is yes, then how did it protect them from competition if they had competition and still do?

Look, a 25% tariff adds 25% to the cost of an imported vehicle, period. What is good for the companies that are represented by the UAW is good for its members. They are one and the same. Out of one side of your mouth you say the tariff is to protect American jobs and out of the other side you say it doesn’t make any difference to the prices the companies can charge as if company earnings have no bearing on what they can pay employees. Make up your mind.

The tax actually increases the profit margins of Toyota and Nissan because they have a protected market using non union labour in right to work states.