"Dwight Stewart" wrote in message thlink.net...
"N2EY" wrote:

In the case of cars, this has already happened in some cases.
Many Japanese companies (Honda, Subaru, Toyota, to name
just a few) make cars in the USA because it's cheaper!

VW started that trend way back in the '70s by buying the
Westmoreland, PA facility from Chrysler, and building Rabbits,
Golfs and Jettas here instead of Germany. VW later sold that
plant to Sony, who uses it to make CRTs (because it's cheaper
to make them here!)


Wasn't that much more the result of our own import tariffs, significantly
increased in the 80's to "protect" companies like Chrysler from foreign
competition?

As I understand the tariffs, they were/are only imposed beyond a
certain number of vehicles/yr imported. Vehicles *exported* reduce the
total. Toyota, for example, set up a line to build Corolla sedans in
Japan and Corolla wagons in the USA (might have been the other way
around, but the principle is the same). Cars were actually *exported*
to Japan - but the Japanese did not count them that way because they
were made by a Japanese company.

VW's trick was to build power assemblies in Germany but the rest of
the car in the US, Canada, and Mexico. Final assembly was in the PA
plant.

There are rules which determine whether a car is "domestic" or
"imported" based on how much of its content is made here. The
companies are careful to stay above the limit.

Also, the cost of transporting larger cars is greater, so at some
point it makes sense to build plants here.

Then there's Saturn, a domestic company (actually a GM division) that
turns out a quality car for a competitive price. Only problem is they
don't have a complete line - yet.

73 de Jim, N2EY