FCA Proposes a Merger with Renault

RobertRyan wrote:

One free trade deal in particular with Thailand(TAFTA) signed in 2005, was especially bad for potential Australian truck production jobs since most of the small trucks sold in Australia are produced in Thailand like the Toyota Hilux, Holden Colorado, Isuzu D-max, Ford Ranger, Mazda BT-50, and Nissan Navara. Australia is a big enough auto market to apply high tariffs on their auto imports to protect domestic jobs without giving into high subsidies, but their hands were tied once they signed a free trade deal that lasts for decades with other Asian countries. Australia had to shell out more and more subsidies to get them to stay until it was no longer profitable.

There were no " truck" production jobs before the TAFTA was signed, all these vehicles were produced in Thailand. It is when the US companies were not given subsidies they pulled out, nothing to do with tariffs

GM and a few others decided to build a factory in Thailand for truck production after TAFTA was signed. If it weren't signed and Australia had higher tariffs on their utes, then that would have forced these companies to build their trucks in Australia without having to give away as much tax payer money through subsidies on a federal level.

Australia and New Zealand have a big enough truck market to support multiple truck brands. With a higher tariff, Australia would essentially have the truck makes by the balls if they wanted to sell there without having to give away a lot, if any, subsidies because the tariff would eliminate global competition for those factories and jobs.

In a country with a very small truck market that cannot support enough truck sales to force truck manufacturers to build in their country then I can see them having low tariffs on trucks, but not in a country like Australia who has enough potential truck sales that manufacturers would be stupid not to build and sell there.