Most Favored Nation Status for China.

[jbfalaska]

“The Chinese government is pushing electrics with a subsidy that amounts to about $19,000 per car — but only if the car is made in China. No imports allowed,” writes Chris Woodyard of USA Today. “There also are tariffs on cars imported to China, which lawmakers argue are unfair and may violate world trade rules.”

GM is trying to get help from our Government, but is finding little. Apparently MFN status given to them years ago, means they can apply a 25% tariff on American made vehicles, and we can, if in dispute, apply a .025% tarrif.

I'm nicknaming free traders, free traitors from now on.

CHEVY VOLT, American-made, American-FUELED, although for how long.

[jbfalaska]

Thanks again to everyone here buying American made cars, fueled by American and Canadians. P.S., I've bought jointly made cars (Buicks and Lincolns) made here and in Canada. Very high quality, decent prices. Why are we selling ourselves out to unfair traders/traitors. China is doing everything possible to export cars to the US and Canada, and unfairly. The shock, they're getting so much help from our own politicians, especially the groups here profiteering off their Chinese cheap labor alliance.

[KyleH]

I think GM also supplies Buicks successfully in the Chinese market. They have a vested interest in their China presence.

There is a strong "American compromise" to have access to the Chinese middle-class market, and I think GM is trying to balance everything. There are a lot of Chinese that wants a Buick over some german brands. Having "Buicks built in China" by Chinese has allowed them avoid the trade tax which makes them highly more affordable than competing luxury brands such as Lexus, Mercedes, etc.

I think one original strategy that GM announced at the beginning of the Volt was to introduce the Volts at a price of $30k MRSP with very low profit margin. Once introduce in the market, they planned to keep the price for future release while trying to lower the cost of the battery, manufacturing costs, and and assembly so GM can increase the profits over time. Obviously, the MSRP is $39-45k, but I think the strategy is still there.

I suspect that one way to make the Volt/Voltec more affordable or to increase the profit margin is to utilize cheap Chinese resources. Maybe one day a new Voltec cars made in China will cost $20k as an "old technology". A new American technology will probably be $40k, but I suspect it will run on Hydrogen fuel cells, natural gas, or some revolutionary battery-catalyst technlogy.

-KyleH

[pavers123]

KyleH - the answer is not capitulation.

[alanlpa]

It may be hard , but we should all search out American made products, we need to stop corporate greed, and put Americans back to work, If we don't buy the product ,that is made in a country, where the labor rate is comparable to ours, we are all doomed to be paupers.
Help bring back the working class BUY American.

[thequickad]

If we don't buy American, then "Death-by-China" becomes a reality. Too bad Nixon opened the relationship with China backed in the 80's otherwise we would still be enemies with China and I wouldn't have it any other way. China is an extremely corrupt communist country where the rich government officials profit from the poor population.

I tried to avoid anything made from China, not only are these goods low quality but they are usually made with toxic materials ignoring our safety standards.

Don't confuse made in Taiwan with Made in China, Taiwan has been an US Ally since WWII. Taiwanese items are high quality Chinese items are junk.

[jbfalaska]

Breaking a paradigm, what is the world's number one and two exporter? What style of government are they? And which nation is the number one and two creditor nations?

China No. 1, Germany No 2. Communist, Socialist, China, Germany. Capitalism died when Corporatism took over.

[KyleH]

Oh, that was not my suggestion.

I think the Chinese are good at making old stuff and many of them. But when it comes to something new, innovative, and important, they are generations behind. I think it comes with the society and the culture. Their lack of advancement and maturity of a free/fair market is what I think will keep them behind. The constant supression of employees and paying very little will probably not change merchandising for another 100 years.

For instance, in the west, if you are damaged, deceived, or injured by a merchandise, you can seek retributions. Many American stores allow for returns to reflect confidence in the products that they sell and hope for future and repeat business. The average Chinese merchant still have a 1 sale goal. Many products have a "guarantee a cure for cancer" label on the packaging just so that they will make that $0.10 sale. (Seriously, no Chinese believe that this $0.10 item will cure cancer, but that is just the culture.) But there is no way that yoiu can sue that merchant for false advertising; you would be lucky if the same merchant is at the same location in a week's time for you to buy a second item, let alone complain about one.

The quality is simply lacking. People are paid very little, and they are measured by quantity.

I believe buying America goes beyond that, and people should not go in the blind mantra of 100% American-made. America should be more than the mediocre products that the world creates. Rather, it should be items where quality matters and people would pay for--such as in a car where you life could be at stake. Other examples are medical equipment, quality food, etc.

But at the same time, knowing that there are some items that 1st class nation will never be able to compete with a country like China--cheap plastic toys, some mass produced furniture, etc. Basically, start focus on American-made strengths.

-KyleH

KyleH - the answer is not capitulation.

[mbepic]

It may be hard , but we should all search out American made products, we need to stop corporate greed, and put Americans back to work, If we don't buy the product ,that is made in a country, where the labor rate is comparable to ours, we are all doomed to be paupers.
Help bring back the working class BUY American.

Strange how the global economy works and affects corporate decisions in many ways; GM has (or will be) shutting down the Equinox assembly line in Oshawa, Ontario and moving to the old Saturn plant in Tennessee. Although the reason was not publicly announced, you can bet it is because the Canadian Auto worker is making equivalent $32./hr. compared to those in Tennessee that make about $15./hr. Canadians are now doomed to be paupers.

You can't blame corporations for making those decisions but makes you wonder with all the restructuring costs that are involved in that move, how much is really saved in the end.