The tariff trap

Trump and the auto industry can throw tariffs around all they want, but they won’t work. There’s one thing tariffs cannot control, and that is the heightened positive image in American consumers’ minds of imported cars.

Except for the Ford F-150 pickup and a couple of others, imported cars have won the perception battle and the quality battle.

If you play this movie through — which I doubt will happen — US-made vehicles will jump in costs and sales will decline. Who knows? Maybe black-market sales of Toyotas, Benzes and Audis will flourish. Your son’s new status symbol will be a black-market Porsche.

Carmakers must be hoping against hope that Trump’s plan to bring auto manufacturing back to the U.S. can work. But how will Ford, GM and Chrysler deal with the high cost of UAW labor? And won’t carmakers building new U.S. factories need to recover their costs for those two tickets?

Good luck, automakers.

Dan Brown

Des Plaines