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Only Teslas exempt from new auto tariffs thanks to 85% domestic content rule

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Re: Only Teslas exempt from new auto tariffs thanks to 85% domestic content rule

#421

Post by nosefurhairdo »

davidw wrote: post #348
jongjong wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. I agree that the system shouldn't be creating so many billionaires. It's a flaw in the system. But Musk is among the best of them IMO and his contrarian position makes him essential, even if you disagree with him and his politics. There needs to be opposing forces among the elite or else we're sure to walk down the path of totalitarianism. I generally agree with Musk's politics but I wouldn't want all bil…

> I generally agree with Musk's politics Children are dying in Africa as a direct result of his actions right now. https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/04/14/g-s1-...

Why should we send $240 million to Zambia? Is it the United States taxpayers' responsibility to treat all of the developing world's problems? How much foreign aid is enough?

The United States is approaching 37 trillion dollars of debt. There will be no aid to Zambia or any other country if we default on that debt.

Re: Only Teslas exempt from new auto tariffs thanks to 85% domestic content rule

#423

Post by goatlover »

kibibu wrote: post #183
andrekandre wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> reflect what voters want. and what do they want?

Change.

Change what though? I'm convinced a lot of this has been right wing media portraying government as corrupt and broken for decades while demonizing the Democratic party as being responsible. True, some of this is likely the result of globalism and neoliberalism, but instead of an educated debate on the tradeoffs involved and how the world has changed, there is a culture war.

Re: Only Teslas exempt from new auto tariffs thanks to 85% domestic content rule

#424

Post by nosefurhairdo »

viraptor wrote: post #207
ryandrake wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I was forced to say one good thing about the guy, it's that he is quickly and faithfully delivering on his campaign promises, moreso than any other president that ever served in my lifetime. He's blasting right through the Project 2025 checklist and doing exactly what he said he'd do. Those campaign promises are destructive, thoughtless, cruel, and self-serving, but he said he'd do them, was elected, and then subs…

> on his campaign promises (...) the Project 2025 He never backed that officially though, right? It's just that everyone rational knew what's happening anyway, but otherwise - even the not knowing about it was a lie, not an explicit promise.

He explicitly stated that he was not familiar with the contents of Project 2025 on numerous occasions. This did not stop the media from pushing it as yet another hoax. It is unclear whether anyone has actually read Project 2025 or if it just sounds scary.

It's truly remarkable how much honest material there is to criticize Trump with, yet folks insist on repeating blatant lies.

Re: Only Teslas exempt from new auto tariffs thanks to 85% domestic content rule

#425

Post by lazide »

_heimdall wrote: post #294
matheusmoreira wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no doubt that they could be. Just not as cheaply.

Access to raw materials may be a fundamental blocker there. I had seen stats putting China's control of certain rare earth minerals as high as 80% and products like lithium batteries as high as 97%. I don't know the industry well enough to validate that, but I couldn't find anything refuting or disproving those numbers either. If true, we very well may not be able to make them here if China were to cut off those reso…

These all have potential mines in the US. They’re currently shuttered however, because of cost, because China is cheaper and has been for a long time.

Re: Only Teslas exempt from new auto tariffs thanks to 85% domestic content rule

#426

Post by lazide »

pca006132 wrote: post #388
anonymousab wrote: post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Though to be clear, "not as cheaply" can mean a difference of several orders of magnitude and many years of effort.

It probably also means that companies will not do it: It seems impossible to keep the tariff this high for years, and Trump will only stay in office for a few years...

Trump has been replacing anyone who would realistically force him out with flunkies as his first order of business. No one is getting rid of him in a few years.

Re: Only Teslas exempt from new auto tariffs thanks to 85% domestic content rule

#427

Post by bruce511 »

leereeves wrote: post #238
throwaway5752 wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

That's pure speculation, but quite possible. Corruption is nothing new in Washington. The real question is whether people support bringing auto manufacturing back to America. As always, people who like the policy/candidate/official will overlook the corruption, while people who dislike the policy/candidate/official complain about it. The people who demanded evidence about Biden will accept speculation about Trump, ju…

American Manufacturing never left. Total goods manufactured in the US peaked in 2018 and 2019. It dropped during covid but has returned to those levels now.

Of course manufacturing jobs left. Replaced by automation. A much smaller number of people are making things. Americans have moved on to Services jobs (many of which are poorly paid) and Knowledge Worker jobs (many of which are highly paid.)

Even industries that are traditionally thought of as solid blue collar (Boeing, Ford etc) are producing more, but with way fewer people.

Fundamentally of course, automation is cheaper, and more consistent than human labour.

Naturally the US does not make everything. Nowhere does. Some industries resist automation. Construction and some agriculture crops spring to mind. The high cost of US labor makes these attractive to foreign labor. Mexico for example produces 80% of produce that is cultivated or picked by hand.

Incidentally foreign labor doesn't have to be executed in foreign lands - the primary industries for undocumented (and hence cheap) labor in the US are agriculture, construction, child care and so on. Things that cannot be automated.

(On the agriculture front, the major outputs are crops that can be automated, thing wheat, corn, chickens, pigs etc. The major imports are things that are more labor intensive to harvest, like vegetables and flowers. )

So no, factory jobs are not coming back. Because they were replaced with robots, not foreigners. You may see local production increase though as more robots come online.

Re: Only Teslas exempt from new auto tariffs thanks to 85% domestic content rule

#429

Post by ethbr1 »

vlovich123 wrote: post #413
somenameforme wrote: post #378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a much more informative article here. [1] It's by value. And it's not just domestic only but USMCA (US-Mexico-Canada). And the tariffs are seemingly prorated by percent 'domestic' (their example math is nonsensical, but I think that was just a math fail on the writer's part) with numerous relief and rebate options available to help ease in the transition period for various auto manufacturers. GM, Ford, and ot…

> GM, Ford, and other companies have chimed in positively. Given how Amazon tried to start showing the cost of the tariffs on their site, Trump publicly threatened them, and they backed down with hours, I’m not so sure I read too much into anyone praising the policies of this government as it’s clear that companies are erring on the side of staying on this governments good graces publicly regardless of personal opini…

> Given how Amazon tried to start showing the cost of the tariffs on their site, Trump publicly threatened them, and they backed down with hours...

The facts:

   - There was a report that Amazon was going to begin showing prices
   - Amazon clarified that was for their low-cost Amazon Haul site, not their main one
   - The White House griped about them at a press briefing
   - There were reports Trump called Bezos
The whole thing is murky at best.

Re: Only Teslas exempt from new auto tariffs thanks to 85% domestic content rule

#430

Post by tritipsocial »

sinuhe69 wrote: post #212
AlotOfReading wrote: post #123

I'm not sure even Tesla unambiguously qualifies here. Looking at the NHTSA part 583 list for 2025 [0], none of the Tesla vehicles have a "US" content higher than 75% (which I think includes Canada?). The highest is the base Kia EV6 at 80%. This seems to be coming from the Kogod manufacturing index. That's a more qualitative ranking that attempts to deal with things like corporate structures rather than just origin li…

If the origins are so fuzzy, I guess other manufacturers would very soon adjust their part lists/part origins to avoid the tariff?

It’s not actually a fuzzy concept. CBP determines it at the port of entry and they basically have this huge list of every type of product. Fraud is taken extremely seriously so its not something companies mess around with.

The fuziness mentioned comes from when outside firms try and estimate the % domestic content. Unlike CBP they’re largely making estimated guesses, but luckily that’s not how the tariffs are calculated.

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