This time it’s different. How tariffs are slamming Asia’s carmakers
The greatest threat is not the tariffs themselves – it is the uncertainty they inject into a capital-intensive, globally dependent industry. That volatility may prove to the most damaging tax of all.
In the 1980s, Japanese car makers were accused of gutting the US car industry. In response, the Reagan administration negotiated voluntary export restraints – politely worded, but unmistakably coercive, pressuring them to make more cars in the US to maintain market access.
As the Trump administration imposes a new round of tariffs on foreign-made cars and components, it is tempting to draw parallels to the past.
