• ShepherdPie@midwest.social
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    2 months ago

    Japanese and South Korean governments aren’t massively subsidizing their vehicles in order to undercut everyone else in a foreign market which is why they aren’t subject to the same tariffs as China.

    What evidence is there to make the claim that this is all about protecting the oil industry, and if that is the case, why isn’t every other EV on the market being targeted as well? Why is China the only country on the planet that can sell cars for this low of a price? Why do fleet MPG regulations continue to rise if the whole point is to sell more gasoline? This argument falls flat when you actually scrutinize it.

    • acargitz@lemmy.ca
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      2 months ago

      Boom, there, you just dropped the environmental argument, and started talking about trade practices and undercutting competition.

      Even if my argument about protecting the traditional automotive technology stack is wrong (and I will not litigate that here) I sure am right that these tariffs are nothing about protecting the environment.

      • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
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        2 months ago

        I never once said the tariffs were about protecting the environment as that doesn’t make any sense. I was countering your argument that “people need these cheap, brand new cars in order to protect the environment” by explaining why cars built under lax environmental regulations and then shipped halfway across the planet aren’t good for the environment to begin with.