Bernie Sanders Says Free Trade Is Ruining The US Auto Industry - Is There More To It Than That?

The obvious lack of free trade in the Japanese car market has not had a good effect on their economy either. THe problem is not the agreements - it is with the car companies and the cars they produce.

IF Cadillac had always produced the "American Standard for the World" - instead of resting on its laurels - the influx of German premium brands would not have happened. ANd if Gm or Ford were as reliable as Toyota is all along - Toyota would not have gotten to its position.

Americans are not as loyal to locally produced cars as some Europeans are - especially the Italians. Now - that the american manufacturers are producing reliable and desirable cars again - the people have moved to imported options and have no reason to shift back to american cars.

And of course - the other problem is deciding what is an American car - and what is not. Lots of the "imported" cars are actually assembled in the USA - while many of the domestic ones are from Canada and Mexico. Gm will be importing cars from China this coming year.

To say that free trade is ruining the American Auto Industry is just ONE of the problems. Just go to the parking lots outside the American car factories and look as what cars the workers are driving - and you will see that even THEY don't support their own company.

Yeah, there's more to it than that. State economies first became national economies, and now global economies. When every automaker knows that, the ones who don't take advantage beyond their borders become non-competitive. Even American car companies (GM, Ford, and Chrysler) leverage foreign advantages. Also note that foreign companies sometimes leverage American advantages, such as BMW, which made every one of the world's Z3s in their South Carolina plant.

The narrowing of the middle class in the US is an entirely different problem. It has to do with two of the principles that are embraced as part of The American Way: Free enterprise, and wealth. US lawmakers tend to be affluent people, and they create laws that help the affluent keep their wealth and get more. For example, a recent law was passed to change inheritance taxation. It was positioned as being good for the masses because "why should you be taxed on your grandfather Ted's estate?" In reality, existing inheritance tax laws were unfavorable to those who inherited over $10 million (i.e., the very wealthy), so the changed law benefitted only the very wealthy to allow them to keep more of the money in the family through inheritance. There are many more examples of this kind of thing. It's easier to blame "the foreigners" for our woes than to look internally at what ails us.

I remember hearing an ex auto worker here in Michigan prior to the government bailout saying the auto problem was putting plants in other states and spreading out the supply chain. Never a shortage of excuses.

Trump will be in the White House in a year.

Old Bernie Sanders never met a tax he didn't want to hike or car he didn't want to tax.
The moron old communist did not earn a single dime until he was in he 40's. Today, he net worth is a MINUS $68,000. which is comprised of unpaid credit card debt. And this lame brain commie wants to be the president? Didn't America learn anything by electing the corrupt lame brain outlaw, total clueless failure hussein odumbo!