It was part of the a petrol scam, where in addition to massive subsidies and regular petrol bailouts (unnecessary preemptive wars) that the so called big 3 especially Ford tried to move people to pick up which are less aerodynamic and heavier to help evade fuel economy standards by forcing people (coercive focus of value and marketing- other products and revenue internally subsidizing trucks) to buy more pick ups to move the fuel consumption curve back toward inefficiency to protect useless petrol fuel energy. Ford was all about this more than other members of the Big 3 and curiously while always "structurally bankrupt" it was on the only former Big 3 member not to have gone bankrupt although its stock price currently reflects failure and defacto bankruptcy. Remember GM got bailed out, and Chrysler got bailout out again (it was bailed out under Iacocca) even though it had become a foreign firm (for a moment prior) and now it looks like as a member of FCA its about to become part of Hyundai. But lets put this in context now when Ford which is about the biggest electric vehicle laggard on the planet tries to troll Tesla for moving forward on electric production. There sure as heck should be no 25% tariff protecting these petrol hog trucks in the US, quite the opposite and I hope other countries introduce a huge tariff on any petrol vehicle especially trucks. The total ignorance and stupidity of Ford execs who don't see what time it is or the real position they are in is astounding. Their future includes bankruptcy/liquidation or acquisition for pennies on the dollar which will still include a lot of liquidation. They can all go home to their blue blooded families with that legacy to follow them around for the rest their lives. And lets also remember that in the entire history of Ford, which quite apparently is about to come to an end, no generation ever put the number of reservations down- nothing even close that the current generation has for the Tesla Model 3. This is what happens when a population evicts a rent seeker- Ford consider yourself FIRED!
Neglected to add that the Big 3 also benefited (but not their workers) from having a hard cap placed on Japanese imports during the 80s. Presume its still in place. Of course Japanese companies moved their factories over here. Imagine if it were a cap on the wealth of the wealthy with the difference to be taxed away? Cap on their incomes and their total holdings. Roosevelt seriously proposed it. He got progressive taxation out of it. Progressive taxation is an interpretation of wealth that includes stewardship. It says the wealthy who generally have very little to do with actual wealth creation use loop holes to act in a steward roll to keep their names associated with wealth they didn't generate or they pay a huge tax in a given year for abuse of the power of money for trying to pocket the income or they go to jail for not paying it for the abuse of that power.
Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/chicken-tax-4159747 The Chicken Tax is a 25% trade tariff (tax) originally imposed on brandy, dextrin,potato starch, and light trucks imported into the United States from other countries. Intended to restrict the importation of those goods, the Chicken Tax was imposed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1963 as a response to a similar tariff placed by West Germany and France on chicken meat imported from the United States. While the Chicken Tax tariff on brandy, dextrin, and potato starch was lifted years ago, the tariff on imported light trucks and cargo vans remains in place in an effort to protect U.S. automakers from foreign competition. As a result, major automakers have devised imaginative methods to circumvent the tax. . . . Bob Wilson
Yes by doing what Tesla will attempt to do in China. Really I think hope China will come around on this and tax petrol products and hand the savings on to green. Its not picking winners, petrol is a proven loser.
